The Guardian of Truth Newsletter

May 10, 2009

Volume 1

The Guardian of Truth

In celebration of Mother's Day, The Protective Mother's Alliance (PMA), a national organization co-directed by Lundy Bancroft & Janice Levinson, has published the first edition of "The Guardian of Truth" (GOT). This is a monthly newsletter compiled by advocates. It is designed to empower women, who are in threatening litigation, which may interfere with continued custody/access to their children.

Advocates and professionals may use GOT to share their latest efforts in keeping children with their mothers and in maintaining healthy relationships between mother and child. Methods to identify court corruption on all levels may be shared through GOT.

GOT realizes that networking, sharing information and working together is necessary to end the obstruction of mothers' rights in family courts. The Guardian of Truth's mission is to provide communication between advocates, professionals, and other like minded organizations; with the ultimate goal of empowering moms before they can be victimized by the family court system. GOT's goal is to be the course for sharing information to benefit mothers and their children. Our mission is to connect the east coast with the west; the north with the south; The United States, Canada, Great Britain....and the world to reform family courts.

Please send a brief synopsis of any updates, or advice that you may have in dealing with ongoing issues affecting mothers and their children. Please contact us: lb.jlpma@gmail.com

Each issue of The Guardian of Truth will feature:
1. Updates from PMA (national group co-directed by Lundy Bancroft & Janice Levinson)
2. Karli's Korner: reports from a young adults perspective of how life dramatically changed because of biased courtroom decisions;
3. Get to Know Us; A featured biography of at least one member of PMA

Starting in the Second Issue:
4. Richard's Report a column by attorney, Richard Ducote featuring his observations from the trenches of the family court war zone;
5. Shout Out; comments, and ideas, shared by individuals, groups, and professionals;
6. Poetry, artwork and anything else that you want to share;
7. A courtroom horror story from a mother's perspective; beginning with the second issue;
8. Spotlight; Hero/Shero of the moth: recognition for a job well done;
9. Miscellaneous; Jokes and Quotes, recommended reading, etc.;
10. Letters to the Editor & Updates form advocates and like minded groups sharing information and useful tactics in promoting change

We still have a great deal of work to do.

We look forward to working with you!

In the next issue "Get to Know Us" will be featured an interview with Lundy Bancroft.

Wishing You A Wonderful Mother's Day!

PMA

Protective Mothers Alliance (PMA) is a national organization co-directed by Lundy Bancroft & Janice Levinson working to bring about change through education, legislation reform, and enforcement of current legislation. PMA supports the effort of protective moms in keeping themselves and their children safe from the abuse of a former partner, and in empowering these moms to become advocates for themselves and others. PMA is committed to bringing about dramatic reforms in the treatment of protective moms and their children in family court. Among the many common family law practices we work to stop are:

Custody of children granted to men who abuse women; those who abuse/have abused children; those who are perpetrators of sexual abuse towards children; and granting of unsupervised contact with children to abusers with no requirement that they overcome their abusiveness.

Other issues include:

Labeling protective mothers as parental alienators and punishing them for their appropriate protective efforts; using biased tests, and misusing psychological tests to support abusers; forcing protective moms to spend excessive amounts of money on prolonged, unnecessary litigation...

PMA members are working as a team to change harmful practices that eliminate, or restrict loving, biological mothers from the lives of their children. This will be done through education, community outreach, media exposure, and other strategies that can be effective and beneficial.

Gold Ribbon Campaign

Protective Mothers Alliance has launched a gold ribbon campaign in an effort to reunite protective mothers and their children.

We invite all advocates and their allies around the globe to wear gold ribbons and to tie gold ribbons around trees, to symbolize the effort that protective mothers and their allies are making to reunite children with their moms. Please join us in supporting this campaign. Email us with your ways of using gold ribbons. Join and support our facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/n/?..group.php&gid=96245838687&mid=6b0128G639e0500Gbe741G6

We will not stop, until family court stops destroying the relationships between mothers and their children!

"The beautiful memories that we have of our beloved children are golden and can NEVER be erased from our hearts and minds" ~source unknown

Hear Us Now
(Hear Us Now is another division of PMA which reaches out to young adult and teen survivors of the courts.)

Karli's Korner:
My name is Karli Singer and unfortunately I am one of the grown children who experienced a failed family court system. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a disease of chronic pain, which is known to be linked to sexual abuse and a traumatic childhood.

Dealing with this horrible disease has made me want to go after my perpetrator who abused me, and the court system that refused to protect me. Stories like mine are happening to thousands of children all over the country, and it needs to stop. The corruption has to be exposed to the world. The court system likes to punish the protective parents and take their kids away from them, which is the worst kind of pain; but what they don't see is that they are ruining our lives, and our childhood; taking us away from our home and our loving mothers, and putting us in an abusive, unloved life; suffocating us, and not letting us out. The things I knew and said when I was four years old are the same things I am saying now that I am twenty one; and if only I was heard when I was four, I would not have had to endure a terrorizing childhood, and now a debilitating, painful adulthood.

Get to Know Us

Janice Levinson, PMA founder/co-director: Janice is an advocate living in FL. She is a loving mother of three children. Janice earned a BA degree from St. Leo University in FL. with a major in Drama/English/Education. Janice is currently a charge nurse at a rehabilitation facility that specializes in working with psychiatric patients. She is currently working on a second degree; BSN.

As a child Janice was a child actress singer and dancer. She appeared in TV Movies, Broadway plays, and commercials such as Coke, Ivory Soap among others. After graduating from college, she taught high school until she moved to CA.

Janice lived in CA where she raised her children while married. She owned and operated a few different types of businesses, including one of the first Doula business in the nation. Janice's business was featured in the Contra Costa times for its uniqueness.

Janice became an advocate for mothers when she lost custody of her own children while being dragged through the court system for over 10 years. Janice found herself in a vicious custody battle for her three children and lost custody of her children in CA. about 5 years ago.

Looking for support, Janice attended the second Battered Women's Custody Conference (BMCC) where she met Lundy Bancroft. She and Lundy became friends, and stayed in touch. Lundy asked Janice to be the FL. chapter leader of his organization which was then called Protective Mothers Alliance for Justice. Soon after, PMAJ was reorganized and Janice became co-director of the new organization: Protective Mothers Alliance.

"I feel blessed to be working with Lundy and will never stop fighting for the cause."

As a protective Mom who was in and out of court for close to 10 years Janice is dedicated to changing the current system. She is very close to her son who is 22 and attending college in CA, considering Law School. Yet, she has not seen or spoken to her daughters in 3 years.

Janice understands, too well, maternal deprivation and the negative ramifications that result in mother and child separation. She has founded the gold ribbon campaign to reunite mothers and children everywhere.

Note from the Editor: Please hold Janice and her daughters in the light and pray that one day they will be reunited and that their relationship will be happy and healthy.

Lundy Bancroft, co-director: is an author, workshop leader, and activist on trauma, abuse, and healing. He offers dramatically new ways to understanding the emotional injuries we suffer, their lasting effects, and how best to get ourselves free. Lundy appears frequently as a public speaker and trainer, and as a leader of weekend retreats. Lundy's activist work is devoted to recovering the custody rights of protective mothers and their children in family court litigation across the continent.

Karli Singer: the voice of "Hear Us Now" Karli is the victim of a failed court system. Kari is now 21, but she cannot forget the years of abuse that she suffered. She has decided to speak out to end court abuse. Karli hopes that her story will be instrumental in changing the current family court system. Although an adult, Karli still suffers because of her childhood trauma. She is diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a disorder often attributed to children who have suffered during childhood. Karli is now studying pediatric medicine in college.

Karen Husain: FL leader, consultant, editor: a free spirited, free lance, advocate living in FL.; founder of the Atlanta chapter of Motherlink; active with numerous mother's rights organizations; organizes and presents workshops and public town hall meetings; editorials published; written resolutions setting precedence for The National Organization for Women; including the foundation for a national resolution resulting in formation of a national committee to work on issues involving child custody. Karen has three children. She enjoys writing, reading, watching sit-com reruns with her sons, and just hanging out.

Joan Peterson: Pennsylvania leader, contributing writer

Join the PMA facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?grid=58041937814

To join our rapidly growing team, to share your views, articles and feedback; or if you have any questions that you would like to ask, contact PMA:

Phone: 941-822-5592
Email: lb.jlpma@gmail.com

Until next time, Wishing you Light, Love and Truth:
The PMA Team

©2009 by Protective Mothers Alliance. All rights reserved. Although some parts of this publication may be reproduced and reprinted, we require that permission be obtained in writing.

We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed. The information in this publication is presented in good faith. PMA does not guarantee accuracy or assume responsibility for errors or omissions.

We welcome your views, articles, and feedback!