The Republic Institute for Social Protection – Department for Professional Supervision proposed amendments to the Expert-Methodological Guidelines regulating the exercise of personal relations between a child and a parent and relatives in supervised conditions (adopted in 2021). These Guidelines were the only document introducing the pseudoscientific “parental alienation” concept into professional use. The Autonomous Women's Center made a significant contribution to this revision, which was also supported by the recently published recommendations of the Council of Europe's GREVIO expert group.

The Republic Institute for Social Protection accepted AWC’s proposal to replace the pseudoscientific “parental alienation” concept (developed by Richard Gardner) with appropriate definitions of the phenomena. A child’s unwillingness, resistance, and/or refusal to have contact with a parent (a visible behavior) is defined as a reaction possibly caused by various factors. It is also stated that such behavior may be appropriate and justified when it represents an understandable response to the parent's behavior and a perceived threat to the child's safety; it may result from the protective behavior of the parent who has experienced violence, or as a consequence of the child’s attachment, affection, and alignment with one parent without the influence of the other parent. It may also be a result of psychological manipulation of the child by the parent.

The Guidelines provide further explanation of the reasons behind the child’s unwillingness, resistance, and/or refusal of contact. Additional attention is given to the child’s right to express their own views, emphasizing the importance of listening carefully, accurately recording what the child said, and identifying factors that may affect the style and content of the child's statements. Furthermore, the indicators for assessing the risk of domestic violence were revised, considering that violence is often “intertwined” with the use of the “alienation” concept (where the violent parent accuses the victim parent of “alienating” the child, or when the calculated misuse of the child as a tactic to continue violence against the partner after separation is not recognized).

The judicial practice analysis and comparative legal review conducted by AWC in 2024 clearly confirmed the unjustified use of this concept, its substantial overlap with intimate partner and domestic violence (approximately 70%), and its harmful consequences for the child as well as for the victim parent. Simultaneously, the GREVIO expert group, which in September 2025 issued its first thematic evaluation report for Serbia on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, expressed concern over the use of this pseudoscientific concept in custody litigation (paragraphs 139–146), as well as in training for social work professionals (paragraphs 78 and 83), referring explicitly to AWC’s alternative report.

AWC has accredited professional training that clarifies problems regarding the use of the pseudoscientific concept of “parental alienation,” and six such training sessions were held this year for approximately 150 representatives of social work centers and civil judges.

The new Expert-Methodological Guidelines are available (only in Serbian) HERE.

The GREVIO first thematic evaluation report are available HERE.

The AWC’s 2024 judicial practice analysis are available HERE.

The AWC’s 2024 comparative legal analysis are available HERE.