Petition · past parliament
Recognise parental alienation and make it a criminal offence.
Closed
319 signatures
What the petition asks
Parental Alienation
This can occur when a child is caught in between their parents divorce or separation, the offending parent deliberately turns their child against their ex so that they eventually cut off all contact. This can be described as one parent ‘trying to turn their child into a soldier.
This can occur when a child is caught in between their parents divorce or separation, the offending parent deliberately turns their child against their ex so that they eventually cut off all contact. This can be described as one parent ‘trying to turn their child into a soldier.
Anthony Douglas, the chief executive of Cafcass, vividly described it as one parent ‘trying to turn their child into a child soldier in a battle’. Previously parental alienation has been dismissed as a common product of bitterness about a failed relationship, but it is separate from these normal feelings of hurt. Parental alienation is in fact an internationally recognised form of parental psychological abuse and undermines the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the rights of the child. In Mexico and Brazil, it is even classed as a criminal offence.
Timeline
| 24 Jul 2018 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 24 Jan 2019 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
319
Status
Closed
Opened
24 Jul 2018
Closed
24 Jan 2019
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.