PBS's Breaking the Silence:
An Assault on Fatherhood
Why We Protest
Breaking the
Silence: Children's Stories, which aired on
many PBS affiliates on October 20 and subsequent
weeks, is a direct assault on fatherhood. The
film portrays fathers as batterers and child
molesters who steal children from their mothers.
Breaking the Silence aims to reverse the
minimal, hard-won gains shared parenting
advocates have made in protecting children’s
right to have both parents in their lives after
divorce or separation. The film is extremely
one-sided, and presents a harmful and inaccurate
view of divorce and child custody cases.
In addition, newly revealed
court findings, records and testimony show that Sadia
Loeliger--portrayed as a heroic mom in the
film—abused children under her care. In fact, a
Tulare County Juvenile Court concluded in August
of 1998 that Sadia Loeliger had committed
multiple acts of abuse, and adjudged both her daughters
as dependents of the Juvenile Court. To learn
more, click
here.
To learn more
about what's wrong with Breaking the
Silence, click
here.
To read the
film's producers' press release on the film,
click
here.
What We Seek
We believe that PBS has a
responsibility to present both sides of this
issue. We want PBS to provide fatherhood and
shared parenting advocates a meaningful
opportunity to present our side. Some examples
are fatherhood advocates' recent appearances
on PBS affiliates in Houston,
Texas,
Columbus, Ohio and
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
#1:
Breaking the Silence Makes a Hero out
of a Documented Child Abuser
Newly revealed court findings,
records and testimony show that Sadia Loeliger--portrayed
as a heroic mom in the film—abused children
under her care. In fact, a Tulare County
Juvenile Court concluded in August of 1998 that
Sadia Loeliger had committed multiple acts of
abuse, and adjudged both her daughters as
dependents of the Juvenile Court. To learn more,
click
here.
#2: Breaking the Silence Presents
aFalse View
of Child Abuse
In Breaking
the Silence the filmmakers
emphasize the need to protect children from abuse,
and say that children
are "most often in danger from the father." Yet
according
to studies from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services and
others, the vast majority of child abuse,
parental murder of children, child neglect, and
child endangerment are committed by mothers, not
fathers. In Breaking the
Silence fathers and only fathers are portrayed
as committing child abuse.
#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.
#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.
#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.”
#6: Breaking the Silence Directly
Contradicts PBS's Mission Statement
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.
There was no attempt to "provide multiple viewpoints" in the film whatsoever.
One of the film's biggest supporters, Bob Port, noted this in his pro-film
column Custody
fight: Documentary sheds light on system that lets children suffer at the hands
of abusive fathers (Albany Times-Union, 10/16/05). Port stated that
the film "will not try your patience with he-said, she-said debate between
couples or among experts." Port's correct--there certainly is no debate or
opposition permitted in the film.
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.
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