#3: Breaking the Silence Presents a False View of Child Custody Cases

In Breaking the Silence viewers are told that "All over America, battered mothers are losing custody of their children,” and that between 1/3 and 2/3rds of abused mothers lose custody. It is further asserted that when mothers claim that fathers are sexually abusing their children, the fathers usually win custody.

In reality, mothers rarely lose custody of their children to anyone, ever. Claims that fathers win custody when they choose to seek it are spurious.  In those few cases where fathers are awarded custody after a mother's accusations of molestation, the courts usually have good reason to believe the accusations are false and malicious. And false domestic violence allegations are often used by mothers to drive fathers out of their children's lives.

To learn more, see Where's Dad? (Boston Globe, 6/19/05) by Ned Holstein, president of Fathers & Families, Do fathers have the edge in divorce? (Detroit News, 12/10/99) by Cathy Young, Fathers Bear the Brunt of Gender Bias in Family Courts (Insight magazine, 8/19/02) by Dianna Thompson and Glenn Sacks, Ruling in High-Profile Marks Custody Case: Painful but Correct (MND, 9/14/04) by Jeff Leving and Glenn Sacks,  Hitting below the belt: Easy to get, hellish to deal with, restraining orders have become the ultimate weapon in domestic disputes (Salon.com, 10/25/99) by Cathy Young,  No Restraint on Restraining Orders  (Human Events, 8/5/02) by Stephen Baskerville, and  Baseball Player's Domestic Violence Arrest Demonstrates How Men are Presumed Guilty in Domestic Disputes (Los Angeles Daily Journal, 8/8/02) by Glenn Sacks.

#4: Breaking the Silence Presents a False View of Parental Alienation Syndrome

Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) occurs when a parent turns his or her children against the other parent after divorce or separation. PAS is committed by both mothers and fathers and is most frequently perpetrated by the custodial parent against the noncustodial parent.

The filmmakers assert that PAS is "junk science" which “has been used in countless cases by abusive fathers to gain custody of their children” by accusing the mothers of PAS. In the film family law attorney Richard Ducote states that "All experts have disavowed” PAS.

However, research shows that parental alienation is a common facet of divorce or separation. For example, a longitudinal study conducted by Stanley S. Clawar and Brynne Valerie Rivlin, published by the American Bar Association in 2003, followed 700 "high conflict" divorce case over a 12-year period. Clawar and Rivlin found that elements of PAS were present in the vast majority of the cases studied.

To learn more about PAS, see "Parents Who Have Successfully Fought Parental Alienation Syndrome" by Dr. Jayne A. Major of Breakthrough Parenting, Inc.

#5: Breaking the Silence Presents a False View of Domestic Violence and Domestic Violence Policies

The filmmakers equate "domestic violence" with wife-beating. This ignores a large body of research, including data from the National Violence Against Women Survey in 1998, which shows that women also frequently abuse their husbands or male partners. While women's violence against men is in general not as severe as vice versa, studies show that women often employ the element of surprise and weapons to balance the scales.

In the film, “divorced dads” and “batterers” are practically synonymous. The film claims without any evidence that the vast majority of divorced dads who refuse to cede sole (or de facto sole) custody to their ex-wives are “abusive.”

Because PBS is a publicly funded institution, its conduct is of concern to all citizens. PBS's Mission Statement states that one of the central aims of its programming is to "provide multiple viewpoints" and "treat complex social issues completely." Breaking the Silence misses the mark by a wide margin.

The film does not "treat the issue completely," but instead gives only one side of the story, a side which cherry-picked a few highly unusual cases and pretended that they represent a widespread problem. Our campaign's demand--that fatherhood and shared parenting advocates be given a chance for a meaningful on air response to the film--is entirely consistent with PBS's stated goals and aims. In fact, it is far more consistent with them than Breaking the Silence is.