In November and December 2024, the Autonomous Women's Center presented its research findings and legal analysis on the concept of "parental alienation" in Belgrade, Niš, and Kragujevac. The findings were presented in meetings with professionals from social work and the judiciary.

A total of 46 professionals working in child welfare services from Niš, Svrljig, Doljevac, Kragujevac, Knić, Batočina, and almost all Belgrade municipalities attended the meetings, along with judges handling family law cases.

The research of court practices in custody and visitation disputes analyzed 24 court cases, revealing that in 91.7% of the cases, there was a history of intimate partner violence. The study found that children were rarely protected through emergency measures or other protective orders and were not provided with specialized psychological support in cases of domestic violence. In 66.7% of cases where a parent had difficulties establishing a relationship with their child, the parent was the father. In 50% of those cases, the father's behavior was identified as the reason for the child's resistance. However, the father's violent behavior and the child's exposure to violence against the mother were often not considered relevant in assessing the father's parental capacity, raising concerns about compliance with international standards in the best interests of the child.

The findings indicate that the harmful effects of the "parental alienation" concept remain largely unknown to many social workers and psychologists working in child welfare services. This highlights the urgent need for more thorough education on the subject. Participants in all three meetings agreed that broader and more comprehensive training is essential—not only for social welfare professionals but also for other institutions, with a particular focus on the judiciary. Most attendees expressed great interest in the topic and confirmed that the insights gained from the meetings would be valuable in their future work.

The legal analysis Implementation of the concept of “parental alienation” in parenting capacity assessment and the best interest of the child in situations of domestic violence and the research study Domestic violence hidden behind the "parental alienation" concept were developed as part of the Autonomous Women's Center project, Strong Resistance Movement of women human rights defenders for protecting women victims/survivors of gender-based violence and their children funded by the European Union.

The legal analysis Implementation of the concept of “parental alienation” in parenting capacity assessment and the best interest of the child in situations of domestic violence is available HERE.

The research study Domestic violence hidden behind the "parental alienation" concept (in Serbian) is available HERE.