A dramatic and frankly inexplicable situation experienced by hundreds of mothers still remains the shame of Quebec today. Yes, I say the shame of Quebec.
As a reminder, a report to the DPJ for domestic violence often ends – and unfortunately in an inexplicable way – by withdrawing custody of the children from the mother and instead granting it to the violent father, as revealed by the team of QUB in recent weeks.
However, we can guess that if a doctor or a police officer takes the trouble to make a report to the DPJ, it is because he considers that there is a danger of leaving children thus exposed to these violent fathers…
However, against all expectations and against all logic, we learned thanks to QUB, the DPJ too often concludes that it is better to withdraw custody from the mother who is a victim of domestic violence and grant it exclusively to the violent father.
In doing so, DPJ stakeholders find themselves determining, without anyone really knowing why, that it is the latter who is the instigator of the father’s violence against the children.
In fashionable jargon, we call this “parental alienation”.
- Listen to the interview with Monique Jérôme-Forget, former minister of the Quebec government and holder of a doctorate in psychology, via QUB :
Petition
Even today, according to dozens of testimonies that I have received since I took a public position to denounce this situation, this scourge continues.
However, for my part, this matter is serious, even very serious.
The Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) even urged the government to act by presenting to the National Assembly on 1er Last February, a motion denouncing “the inaction of the CAQ in matters of parental alienation”. Prime Minister François Legault’s ruling party has refused to debate the issue.
As a former MP and minister, I understand the causes of this refusal.
Indeed, the political game has always existed and will always exist.
And unfortunately this is the whole odious side of politics, which leaves me with an unpleasant memory when I think about it…
Let’s hope that the CAQ will take this crucial issue more seriously with the submission of a petition to the National Assembly by the Movement of Families Victims of Post-Separation Domestic Violence…
Missed opportunity
During my public outing to denounce this affair, I asked Minister Carmant to meet these women who denounced the situation.
His evasive response to columnist and host Yasmine Abdelfadel, who questioned him on this subject, simply disconcerted me.
For the minister, these mothers just have to “go [se plaindre] to their MP in their riding”!
This is a great missed opportunity to make a difference as a parliamentarian and as a minister, Mr. Carmant!
In the minister’s place, I would have jumped at the opportunity to act.
However, the latter does not seem to have any statistics on this issue. Despite the fact that he knew the purpose of the interview with Yasmine Abdelfadel, he was in no way prepared to respond adequately to her.
I am well placed to know that, sometimes and even often in politics, we have to escape our bureaucratic environment to get to the ground, as we say in popular language, in order to fully understand what is happening.
Today I am calling on all MPs from all political parties to take stock of this tragedy experienced by hundreds of mothers from whom their children have been “torn away”.
These always traumatic separations are accompanied by screams and tears that they will never forget.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
Monique Jérôme-Forget CMOQ PhD, former minister of the government of Quebec, former member of the National Assembly, holder of a doctorate in psychology