Remembering Catherine Kassenoff and Continuing the Fight for Fair U.S. Child Custody Outcomes

(and the PATRIARCHAL WAR ON WOMEN continues apace. It MUST end!!)

Remembering Catherine Kassenoff and Continuing the Fight for Fair U.S. Child Custody Outcomes
6/5/2023 by Amy Polacko
Why would a brilliant attorney and mother of three take her own life? Because the dysfunctional U.S. family court system took her kids and drove her—like so many others—over the edge.

“This is a story that ends with my own assisted death in Switzerland. Its lead up has been published for years on Facebook, in Ms. magazine and in other media. The New York Court system is responsible for this outcome and should be held accountable for ruining the lives of my children, me, and so many other similarly-situated protective parents (mostly mothers) who have tried to stand up against abuse but were labeled ‘liars,’ ‘mentally ill’ and then treated like criminals.”

—Catherine Kassenoff, May 27, 2023



Catherine Kassenoff said she chose assisted suicide in Switzerland rather than living with the “unbearable pain” of being unable to see her children during her divorce while terminally ill. (Courtesy of Catherine Kassenoff)

This was the message a Westchester County, N.Y., woman sent on Memorial Day Weekend to those who knew about the epic war she was fighting—to get her three daughters back in a years-long custody dispute with her husband. And, through the tears, most of us thought four things: I am devastated; sadly, I can understand how she reached this heartbreaking decision; our family court system did this; and we must fight for change before we lose more Catherines. Our courts repeatedly allow abusers to weaponize our legal system against women—making them the target of a war that can cost them, like Kassenoff, their health, jobs, money, homes, children and peace. No one should live this way in America—or anywhere. It’s an underworld only those who have been through family court, or know someone who has, can comprehend.

. . . .. . .

But if a superwoman like Catherine Kassenoff—who had grit, plus training as an elite legal mind—was defeated by our American family court system, what does that say for the rest of women terrorized and victimized? George Washington University Law professor Joan Meier, who Kassenoff refers to in her final message, conducted an illuminating 2020 study that proved when women report domestic or child abuse the tables are often turned on them and they lose custody of their children. It’s a no-win situation.

In her “U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: what do the data show?” study, Meier found:

Less than half (41 percent) of women’s abuse claims are treated seriously.
The chances that mothers’ allegations of child abuse will be believed are 2.23 times lower than domestic abuse.
Child sexual abuse is rarely accepted by the courts—at 15 percent.
Mothers reporting a father’s abuse (of various kinds) lost custody in 26 percent of cases.

So, who benefits from all of this? All the court appointed experts, therapists, parent coordinators and sometimes judges. Take it from Kassenoff, who said this after recounting how she was evicted from her home, arrested and barred from having custody of her children:

“Despite all of this, over these last 4+ years, I have kept going and fighting for my parental rights and to be a mother to my children. There are over 3,000 court filings in my case on NYSCEF [New York State Courts Electronic Filing], which I urge you to review. There are close to 80 motions. There are now 3 Attorneys for the Children and new therapists. The money being made at the expense of my family is so abhorrent that there will be nothing left at the end. I have liquidated retirement and other savings … My children have been diagnosed with various serious mental health conditions as a result of this trauma. They have been told to hate me, to call me ‘Catherine’ instead of ‘mom.’”
. . . . .





Rest in power, Catherine Kassenoff.


https://msmagazine.com/2023/06/05/catherine-kassenoff-death-child-custody-divorce-court/