Press Release

Press Release

RE: Melinda Stratton and other Mothers on the Run

As a spokesperson for Anonymums, we understand that the Family Court does not investigate child protection matters and during the proceedings if there is no history of child protection involvement, there are no investigations that are likely to ensure the protection of children involved in proceedings.  The matters of Arthur Freeman, Robert Farquharson and Jayson Dalton are just a handful of reported cases that reveals the amounting negligence that the Family Court has in regards to children’s rights.  The laws particularly the Shared parenting bill based on United States joint custody laws, prioritize parent’s rights above children’s rights.  Children don’t have a say and are often punished by the court if they speak out against child abuse often portrayed as “alienated children”.  We are aware that these measures are in violation of human rights and until the court adequately provides protection for child abuse victims and domestic violence victims, we fully support the plights of protective mothers who are often alone in gathering the evidence and ignored by the court.  We believe Melinda Stratton based on her extraordinary lengths, the statements that support Melinda’s mothering concerns towards her child that despite the law that is against a higher law(human rights), she is doing the best she can for the child.  We believe that the system is incorrect and abusive towards both the mother and the child by barring her from vital services to provide for the child(Article 14) and  hunting her down like an animal.  It is the system itself that is at fault for failing to protect children and women in the first place regardless of the institution or reason.  There are more protections for murderers and pedophiles than there are for these children. We recommend that instead of Melinda coming forward to be jailed and barred from seeing her child that the system endeavors to investigate further into these allegations instead of laying the sole burden upon the mother.  We recommend that the order that seeks her out be withdrawn until the system can adequately provide proper protections for Children.  Until this takes place, we support the mother in obtaining alternative safety measures.