CPFM:Announcements Archive

Blog excerpts: "Fathers' rights activists are livid that their e-mail bombing and phone calling of PBS has not resulted in "Breaking The Silence: Children's Stories" being pulled off the air. They claim that this documentary is biased and bashes fathers. It does nothing of the kind. Fathers' rights activists also claim that only one side of the issue is being aired, and they are demanding what they think is their "fair" airing time for their views. Nonsense. Their views are all over the place. They permeate the Internet, and they get more than their fair share of one-sided articles printed in newspapers. They don't like that the side of the abused mothers and children is getting massive public airing.

I'm glad that PBS is not backing down to the massive pressure from fathers' rights groups. As anyone with a blog who has gone up against fathers' rights activists knows, they can be unbearably nasty."

"Fathers' rights groups and activists outnumber the protective moms who need for this documentary to air. These men have the time to write angry protest letters and make angry phone calls that the moms don't have to time or energy to handle. These moms are too busy trying to raise their families and fend off the control tactics of these abusive dads who fight for custody. "

"Breaking The Silence" outs fathers' rights custody tactics for the abusive behavior that it is, in particular the use of bogus syndromes like Parental Alienation Syndrome. PAS is used to by abusers and the courts to take abused children from the mothers who are protecting them, and giving them to their abusive fathers. Professionals who make their living from these kinds of cases don't want this documentary to air, because airing the truth about these ugly contested custody cases will put a big hole in their pockets."

Take Action in Support of PBS and "Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories" - Please visit Stop Family Violence at:

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/194

It is particularly important to hear stories from survivors, so that PBS can fully see the scope of this problem.

Let us continue to work together in peaceful determination so that the voices of abused children are not drowned out by the angry rhetoric of father's rights groups.

Custody Prep for Moms in coordination with Stop Family Violence urges survivors, professionals and other concerned citizens to use Stop Family Violence's webform to submit comments of support and appreciation to PBS.

December 2005

Father's Rights Groups Unsuccessful in Smear Campaign Against Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories

PBS has completed its post-broadcast review of the program "Breaking The Silence: Children's Stories." In a public statement, they found that the documentary was well-researched and fair. This comes as no surprise to true domestic violence and child abuse professionals who have viewed the film and know the research. Our thanks to PBS for standing behind this very necessary documentary and the issues it raises that have been swept under the rug for too long.

Father's Rights groups attacked the film, the film's producers, PBS, CPTV for it supposedly being one-sided and lacking balance. As if there really is another valid side or even a neutral side to child abuse and wife-beating. We still wonder-- if Father's Rights groups are for good, non-abusive fathers, they too should have been outraged that an abusive father could obtain custody from a non-offending mother. Instead, they were outraged that a film exposing deficiencies in our court system favoring abusive men existed and did everything possible to harass everyone involved in the making of the film, tried to squash its airing in some locales and demanded review after review.

Perhaps there really needs to be a documentary done about the background of the leadership of these groups and their real agendas. Could it be that the ones raising such a ruckus about talking about domestic violence and child abuse are the ones causing it?

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Statement from PBS Programming

"Breaking The Silence: Children's Stories" chronicles the impact of domestic violence on children and the recurring failings of family
courts across the country to protect them from their abusers. In stark and often poignant interviews, children and battered mothers tell
their stories of abuse at home and continued trauma within the courts. The producers approached the topic with the open mindedness and
commitment to fairness that we require of our journalists. Their research was extensive and supports the conclusions drawn in the program.
Funding from the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation met PBS's underwriting guidelines; the Foundation had no editorial influence on program content.

However, the program would have benefited from more in-depth treatment of the complex issues surrounding child custody and the role of family courts and most specifically the provocative topic of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). Additionally, the documentary's "first-person
story telling approach" did not allow the depth of the producers' research to be as evident to the viewer as it could have been.
PBS has received a substantial body of analysis and documentation from both supporters of the documentary and its critics.
It is clear to us that this complex and important issue would benefit from further examination. To that end, PBS will commission an hour-long
documentary for that purpose. Plans call for the documentary to be produced and broadcast in Spring 2006. We expect that the hour-long
treatment of the subject will allow ample opportunity for doctors, psychologists, judges, parent advocates and victims of abuse to have
their perspectives shared, challenged and debated.

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