New York Family Court

July 2, 2010 

Is there something in the water in upstate New York that turns people into civil rights leaders?

 In the same brave spirit of the founding mothers and fathers of our civil rights movement, The Battered Mothers Custody Conference meets each winter in Albany, New York.

The following is from the Battered Mothers Custody Conference website: 

 

ABOUT THE BATTERED MOTHERS CUSTODY CONFERENCE 

Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody: A National Crisis was created in 2003 by two mothers, Mo Therese Hannah, Ph.D. of Latham, NY, and Liliane Heller Miller of Charlotte, NC.  Our on-going goal is to host a national public forum to address the many complex issues facing battered women as they strive to protect themselves and their children during divorce, custody, and visitation disputes.      In addition, we seek to  raise public awareness by documenting civil, legal, due process, and human rights violations perpetrated on victims of domestic violence (women and children) by  family courts, their professional appointees, Child Protective Services, other government systems, and all who have built an industry which profits from the suffering of mothers and children trying to escape domestic violence.          Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody: A National Crisis is a completely volunteer-driven, self-sustaining, grassroots phenomenon.  We have no paid staff, nor are we financially supported by or affiliated with any one particular group, organization, gender-based ideology, or political agenda.  We recognize that the abuse of women and children by America’s family court system is not a “father’s rights vs. mother’s rights” issue, but rather the result of  the a severely flawed system.        The format of the conference continues to develop along with the growing body of scholarly research and case law documenting this issue.  It includes presentations, round-table discussions, and question & answer sessions with nationally distinguished attorneys, researchers, writers, and mental health professionals, as well as domestic violence survivors and their children.  We also seek to foster healing and support for the thousands of mothers, children, and supporting professionals whose lives are being permanently affected on a daily basis.                    The conference is open to lay persons and is of special interest to domestic violence advocates, social workers, psychologists, attorneys, judges, lawmakers, and others concerned with the civil, constitutional, and human rights violations of battered women and their children occurring in family courts nationwide.