Victimized women and children are rarely protected in the legal system, and victims in Ulster County are told by law enforcement and other public officers to take their cases to family court, where victims are forced to confront their abusers. Here, they become re-traumatized and further victimized, and often they are not granted the necessary and appropriate services to facilitate healing from the abuse. Why would officers refuse to bring such matters to criminal court, the proper venue in which crimes against the family should be heard?
Where the rubber meets the road, the services being offered to victims and survivors in Ulster County are not helping - not enough. Denying the presence - and evidence - of abuse will result in a statistics showing that there is a cut in the number of family offenses, which insinuates that these taxpayer and government funded initiatives are meeting their assumed goals. However, family offenses that are actually occurring are in fact being treated throughout the county as though they are not happening at all, or as though they being perpetrated by the actual victim, and therefore victims are truly not getting the help that they need, regardless of statistics reflecting the antithesis. This model does nothing to further the cause of humanitarianism, but does indeed further the cause of financial gain for government employees.
Women are discriminated against for reporting abuse, and if they are mothers, they often lose custody of their children to the abusers just for doing so. Silence = Violence, but in civil custody court (family court), reporting the abuse can lead to mothers losing custody of their child/ren to the abuser. Mothers attempting to protect their children in good faith are typically ordered to have severely limited contact with their child/ren and sometimes outright denied all contact entirely. This leaves lasting, irreparable and immeasurable damage to mothers and children, alike. Women’s own victimization is used against them, and they are often wrongfully and falsely accused of being the bad parent because they exhibit post-trauma symptoms from the abuse. Innocent women are mistakenly labeled as having a mental health issue, or they are wrongfully accused of being malicious, or falsely alleged to be "alienating" the abuser from the child/ren. This is an issue of survivor versus perpetrator: an issue which disproportionately affects women.
Yes, this really happens. And it's a major crisis that is affecting many women and children in our own community currently. This is an issue that all conscious and compassionate human beings can and should stand behind. Children’s rights are human rights. A child being placed in the custody of a perpetrator is a gross abuse of human rights in the legal system, and a pervasive issue that is overlooked by society at large. We are rallying to raise awareness about these issues in hopes to eradicate the systemic discrimination against victims, children, and their protector/survivor mothers, as well as the pervasive presence of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, the denial of which can have grave consequences. Rise to bring awareness and help put an end to a legal system that perpetuates trauma and abuse against women and children!
Rally for the rights of all humankind to be free from violence and discrimination! One is too many! Rally for the love of our children, and for the inherent right of mothers to not have to be court-ordered to hand their precious children (who they created, carried, labored, birthed, nurtured and raised!) over to people that have abused them! Vulnerable victims of violence need your voice. Come show support at this V-Day event and wear your heart on a sign to stand for what you value! March to bring awareness and help end discrimination based on gender, domestic violence victim status, familial status, sexual orientation, mental health status, disability status, whistle-blower status, race, religion, etc. Women and Children are entitled to special protection according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which also recognizes the family as a fundamental unit of society which is entitled to special protection.
For most children, home is where their primary attachment figure is. We, as a nation, are still debating the rights of the unborn, yet the rights of birthed children are essentially non-existent in the eyes the American government. We need our laws to reflect our common values! Could there possibly be anything more important to a society than the protection, safety and welbeing of its vulnerable children?
Maternal deprivation is severely and irreparably damaging to infants, children, and adolescents. Science supports the crucial nature of this bond between children and their primary attachment figures. If good and loving mothers and fathers alike can acknowledge this axiom, then why can't the police, judges, and attorneys? We need the legal system to recognize the lifelong detrimental effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE Study), including child abuse, maternal deprivation, and witnessing domestic violence. RISE to bring awareness for the sake of humanity!
1 BILLION RISING ♡ V-DAY ♡ WOMEN’S MARCH ON ULSTER COUNTY FAMILY COURT - 16 LUCAS AVENUE, KINGSTON, NY 12401 > FEB 14 > 12:00 PM
AMICABLE in America is a Volunteer-Member-Based, Grassroots Non-Profit Association and Community Watchdog Organization for Children’s & Victim’s Rights Advocacy. Members of our foundation are committed to (and some have been committed for) helping to raise awareness for children’s rights and justice in our community. Our mission is to encourage members to work together in a therapeutic capacity to ensure wellness and protection for children, victims, survivors, and vulnerable individuals, and to facilitate an environment in which members can advocate for each other in support of the safest possible outcome. We work to nurture and honor the bond between children and their non-offending primary attachment figures. Weekly therapeutic advocacy group meetings are held on Saturdays at 2:00 pm in Kingston across from the Ulster County Family Court. If you believe in our mission and you’d like to support our work, you may donate to AMICABLE in America online at www.paypal.me/AMICABLEinAmerica. You may find us on the web at www.AMICABLEinAmerica.org, on Facebook.com/AMICABLEinAmerica, or on Twitter @AMICABLEinUSA. To learn more about One Billion Rising Solidarity Against Exploitation of Women, AMICABLE in America, call us at (845) 51-GAZED or e-mail the organization at [email protected]. To register for this V-Day event, please visit onebillionrising.org/events/womens-march-on-family-court.
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About One Billion Rising
One Billion Rising is the biggest mass action to end violence against women in human history. The campaign, launched on Valentine’s Day 2012, began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS. Every February through 8 March, thousands of Risings take place in hundreds of countries across the world and within local communities – to show the world what one billion looks like and shine a light on the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors of various forms of violence face. Through the collective efforts of activists in 200 countries, One Billion Rising has mobilised, engaged, awakened and joined people worldwide to end violence against women. It has made violence against women a global human issue not relegated to country or tribe or class or religion, and revealed it as a patriarchal mandate, present in every culture of the world.
ONE BILLION RISING: REVOLUTION is an energy, a platform, a global movement, a catalyst, a worldwide decision to end violence against women, a demand for justice, a paradigm shift, an invitation, a gathering of the ready, housed everywhere, housed in our hearts, you, us, REVOLUTION.
About V-Day
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. The V-Day movement has raised over $100 million; educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it; crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns; reopened shelters; and funded over 13,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Egypt, and Iraq. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements and awards and is, one of the Top-Rated organizations on both Charity Navigator and Guidestar. www.vday.org
