As Children’s Rights and Parental Rights in Family Courts across the World begin to take a major forefront as an issue of concern for a Global Society, more and more cases begin to emerge in the public eye, showing the lack of justice that exists in these so-called Family Courts.
In a case coming out of Ukraine, one can clearly see the lack of equality in an already questioned Justice system concerning our children. In this case, the father, Mr. Semen Gen, and his parents (the Grandparents) had to fight all the way to the European Human Rights Court (EHRC) in order to get his already Ukrainian Court Ordered visitation enforced.
This long-drawn-out court battle was actually begun by the Mother in this case who is simply referred to as V in court documents (V is also an attorney in Ukraine). The mother filed a complaint with the Ukrainian Courts stating, “She felt that the father (Mr. Gen) was spending too much time with his daughter (Polina).” And began denying Mr. Gen and his parents any visitation with his daughter, Polina.
What makes this case unique, is the fact that it is not a case of monetary issue, but a case of time!
Mr. Gen and his parents have had to fight in the Ukrainian Courts several times in attempts to enforce his visitation with his daughter, but once an order is issued for his visitation to be enforced the mother files for an injunction to halt that order and visitation. After finally exhausting all avenues in the Ukrainian Courts, Mr. Gen had to file with the EHRC against the mother and the Ukrainian Government, simply to enforce what the courts have already given him, time with his daughter.
The outcome of this case was that the European Human Rights Court stated that Ukraine did not have a proper legislative framework in place to enforce Mr. Gen’s Human Right to visitation with his daughter. The EHRC awarded Mr. Gen, his daughter Polina and his parent a monetary relief.
Another aspect of this case is its showing of LAS (Legal Abuse Syndrom) as the mother (again only mentioned by the letter V) used the existing legal system to prevent a child from spending time with her father. This aspect has been shown in many court cases around the world as a standard in Family Courts.
LAS is defined as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by ethical violation, legal abuse, betrayal, abuse of power, abuse of authority, lack of accountability, and fraud. This form of abuse leaves many children and parents dealing with long-term mental health issues. In many cases, these children who suffer from LAS and Parental Alienation carry this with them into adulthood and pass this down to their own children. It begins a cycle of abuse that many World Wide Professionals have stated needs to be addressed at the core: Family Courts!
Mr. Gen, like so many parents, found out not even Law Enforcement can aid them in enforcing visitation.
Law Enforcement is primarily used to incarcerate parents who fall behind on Court-ordered child support, which is considered a civil matter. But the double standard rule applies here as they fail to enforce visitation for a child and parent, which is also a civil matter.
As the practices of these so-called family courts come more and more to light many countries have begun changing legislation to protect children’s rights to maintain both loving and fit parents in their lives. In the United States, there are currently 18 states that have passed Shared Parenting Laws and many more with proposed shared parenting legislation. These laws protect our children’s right to maintain a nurturing relationship with both parents equally in that child’s life.
Mr. Gen has taken up the fight to change the aspect of children and parental rights in Ukraine by speaking out in a series he has on YouTube. Sadly, Mr. Gen’s father passed away in March of this year before being able to see his Granddaughter again.
