3 Women 3 Ways

REFORMING FAMILY COURTS There are too many stories about dangerous and ridiculous custody determinations that occur in America’s family courts. From children who are sent to live with abusers to children who are killed because the courts determine their killer should not be kept from seeing the child—the stories abound. So what are we doing about it? And who is doing it? Meet Danielle Pollack, Ambasador, Child USA, Family Court Reform, author of Kayden’s Law, and tireless worker to change what happens to children in family court, and Marcie Hamilton, CEO of Child USA, attorney, and constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania.   Whether drafting and promoting new laws in states, to educating judges, to speaking out about legal and systemic changes that are necessary in courts, Pollack is dedicated to making things safer for kids. Join us as Pollack details cases and potential laws, shares the latest thinking about educating judges and other decision makers, and advocates for protective m

KAYDEN’S LAW: EFFORTS TO STOP CUSTODY DECISION DEATHS Seven-year-old Kayden died at her father’s hands because a judge disregarded the father’s threats of violence against her mother. As is the case too many times, the justice system failed this child because the judge created a false equivalency between parents, one of whom was violent. And Kayden paid the price of that. So where is the uproar and public demand that the legal system get smarter? Efforts in Pennsylvania are centered around Kayden’s Law- proposed legislation that would prohibit custody decisions likely to lead to tragic outcomes like Kayden’s. Melanie Blow, with the Stop Abuse Campaign, joins us to explain what Kayden’s Law would mean, how it will improve custody decisions, and how similar efforts are going on all around the country. Airing for the first time, Saturday, December 28, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

  DOES THE U.S. JUSTICE SYSTEM FAVOR OF RAPISTS? According to a recent article being widely circulated on the internet, all signs point to the US response to sexual abuse as being dramatically leaning in favor of sex offenders. That is according to Barry Goldstein, advocate, author, and champion of fighting gender bias in the courts. Goldstein reports in www.stopabusecampaign.org that the flawed practices of the US justice system result in that justice treating victims unfairly and allowing privilege to perpetrators. He argues that the requirement for corroboration, the mistaken idea that women falsely report sexual crimes, and lack of using expert witnesses, among other problems, creates injustice, bias and contributes to the great and escalating costs of sexual crimes to our society. Join Barry as we discuss gendered crimes, prosecutor misconceptions and more that lead to a system that favors rapists. Airing for the first time, Saturday, December 7, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter thro

US Response to Sexual Abuse

CALIFORNIA PROTECTIVE PARENTS ASSOCIATION: EDUCATING AND ADVOCATING FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES What started as a park bench conversation about protective parents losing their children to abusers in family courts has evolved into an organization that is making nationally renowned progress in working to eliminate the problem. Catherine Campbell is the Executive Director of the California Protective Parent Association (CPPA), a group which has created awareness through research and education and is holding court officials accountable for decisions and behaviors that are harming children. As a protective parent with a marketing & communications background Campbell is at the forefront of the movement. She has worked with congressional members on both sides of the aisles to help pass this child safety resolution in 2018 in the U.S. House of Representatives. In California she has helped build awareness to see the passing of Piqui’s Resolution (HR113), worked with Center for Judicial Excellence to bring an audi

SAFE AND TOGETHER INSTITUTE: The intersection of domestic violence and child maltreatment is easy to see for anyone who works with families, yet often judges or child protective services seem to ignore the connections. But not the Safe and Together Institute. The organization is dedicated to educating agencies about the creating domestic-violence informed child welfare systems and agencies, all to support the safety and well-being of survivors. And a crucial component of the program is being specific about abusive behaviors and perpetrators. Find out how judges, family courts, and child protection organizations react to such education, and how it may be changing the way courts operate all across the United States. Join Heidi Rankin, an Associate Director with the Safe & Together Institute, as we examine how this approach could be helping all victims. Airing for the first time, Saturday, November 2, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3way

GUNS AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: THE FACTS A million women alive today have been shot or shot at in intimate partner violence situations. Gun ownership, gun rights, gun violence…all are different when we are talking domestic violence.           Rachel Graber, Director of Public Policy for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, shares the statistics, the research, and the background about guns and DV. Laws vary from state to state about gun confiscation, criminal background checks, and protective orders, but the facts are staggering: more than four million women have been threatened by guns by abusers. An equally staggering number of women and children have been killed.           Join us for the conversation about gun violence and DV. Airing Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 11 AM Pacific time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

When a mother flees her homeland for another country trying to escape abuse and ensure safety, the journey is not easy. Amid the pain of escaping home, friends, family and hopefully, danger, is the fear of the unknown, the uncertainty of the future, and in many cases, the discovery and further victimization the mother was trying to get away from. In a return interview, Suzanne Lichau gives an update on her daughter and grandson who fled the US after family courts here refused to protect the child from the father. The two sought asylum in Costa Rica, and although they were granted asylum, and the courts there took the sexual assault accusations seriously, they are still dragging their feet on the case. And worst of all, mother and child have been separated for months. Join us as we get an update of this case and the safety of the child.

COERCIVE CONTROL: ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY We hear the term “coercive control” but how many of us really understand what it means? How pervasive is it? How damaging is it to the victims? Min Grob is a resident of Bristol, England, and she not only lived with coercive control, she also came to understand it, escape it, and develop programs to educate about it and fight it. But she still struggles with the residue of the experience even as she works to do something positive about the problem. Join us as we talk about one woman’s journey through this insidious form of intimate partner abuse. Airing for the first time Saturday, August 17 at 11 AM Pacific time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

ABUSIVE DADS: HOW THEY PERCEIVE THEIR FATHERING When we talk about abusive dads, we talk about them in relation to how they treat their partners, how they make excuses, how the courts treat them. Rarely do we talk about how they actually perceive themselves as fathers. Turns out there are some real twists there. Henning Mohaupt, clinical psychologist, researcher, and PhD Candidate at Oslo University, did a study of physically abusive men and how they think of themselves as dads. You might be surprised at what Mohaupt found out, not only about how they see themselves, but also about how they come to think that way. Join us as we discuss how men who abuse experience their parenting.  

GENDER AND THE LAW Do you think of women and law only when it comes to family law, reproductive rights, domestic violence and employment? Most folks always have thought that these are the only areas of law of particular interest to women. But Katherine Bartlett, professor of law at Duke, thinks otherwise. She says that genderedness affects all areas of the law, and that the way it is structured legitimatizes inequality and oppression. Bartlett teaches family law, employment discrimination law, gender and law, and contracts; and publishes widely in the fields of family law, gender theory, employment law, theories of social change, and legal education. She is coauthor of the leading casebook in the area of gender law. Find out what she has to say about the law, where it’s been, where it is going, and what gender has to do with it all.  

JUDGE ORDERS BOY INTO FATHER'S CUSTODY DESPITE "PENIS GAMES"           If you were the one making the decision, would you order a small boy who told authorities that daddy played the “penis game” with him, and who then went on to sexually act out with is playmates and school friends, to live with his abuser?           Because it happens a lot. And in the case of Suzanne Lichau’s grandson, it led to her daughter’s fleeing to another country with the child. But that can’t even guarantee safety. What’s going on here?           Join Suzanne and domestic violence expert and advocate Barry Goldstein as we discuss her grandson’s specific case, and the system that allows this to happen. Airing for the first time Saturday, July 13 at 11 AM Pacific time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT, ONE IDIOT FAMILY, AND ONE WOMAN WHO TOLD THE TALE Kathy Picard was pleased when her step father started showing her some special attention – until that attention became twisted and threatening. She lived with a nightmare with no help from the family members she told, no relief from the burden of what was happening to her. Even when she grew up and got away, there was no relief to be had from the law, because the statute of limitations was up. So she fought to change they law. Then she fought to get justice. And then she wrote a book about it. Picard is the author of “Life with My Idiot Family: A True Story of Survival, Courage and Justice over Childhood Sexual Abuse,” and she tells her story with grace, humor, and a conviction that it all led to a good life today. Join us as we talk with Kathy about the book, her life, the law and the way she turned a horrific experience into a story of strength, hope and happiness. Airing Saturday, June 29, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available ther

GUNS AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: THE FACTS A million women alive today have been shot or shot at in intimate partner violence situations. Gun ownership, gun rights, gun violence…all are different when we are talking domestic violence.           Rachel Graber, Director of Public Policy for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, shares the statistics, the research, and the background about guns and DV. Laws vary from state to state about gun confiscation, criminal background checks, and protective orders, but the facts are staggering: more than four million women have been threatened by guns by abusers. An equally staggering number of women and children have been killed.           Join us for the conversation about gun violence and DV. Airing for the first time Saturday, June 22 at 11 AM Pacific time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

Guns are evil and should be heavily controlled. US citizens have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Young people’s greatest fears right now are school shootings. No one needs a gun. Domestic violence perpetrators must have their guns confiscated for safety of the victims. All the arguments, all the laws, all the rhetoric. Is it possible to have a rational, unbiased conversation about guns? Dave Workman, writer, journalist and advocate for several guns rights organizations, including the Second Amendment Foundation, joins us as we discuss litigation, education, misconceptions and the state of the world in general. Airing for the first time Saturday, June 1 at 11 AM Pacific time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

SAY SHE’S CRAZY AND WATCH THE COURTS IGNORE VIOLENCE AGAINST HER “She’s crazy, delusional, mentally ill (now that she’s divorcing me, but before she was just fine).” Funny how that seems to be the song abusers, judges, psychologists and other experts sing in divorce and custody battles. What’s with the gendered language, the pop psychology and, yes, let’s call it like it is – the ridiculous sexism that rears their ugly heads with regularity in our family courts? And why are so many people buying it? Suzanne Zaccour is a feminist author, activist and researcher doing a PhD in law at Oxford University. Her research interests include family law, rape law, domestic violence and non-sexist language. Her latest book, La fabrique du viol (Leméac 2019) tackles the social and political issues with rape culture after #MeToo. She’s made it her business to look at the language and the prejudices in the language that is used in family courts, and she joins us to discuss how language is used to discredit, vilify, and p

WHY DO PEOPLE BLAME THE VICTIM? We hear the expression. “blaming the victim,” but do we really know what that means? Or why we do it?  Sherry Hamby, PhD, has made it her business to study victim blaming. Hamby is Director of the Life Paths Research Center and founder of ResilienceCon. She’s also a professor of Psychology at the University of the South, and has written more than 200 articles and books. Her research into poly-victimization, measuring violence and resilience earned her the 2017 Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Science of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association. Join us as we discuss blaming the victim. Airing for the first time Saturday, May 4, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

A CRITIQUE OF CNN COVERAGE OF FAMILY COURT           What’s worse than judges and guardians ad litem who don’t understand domestic violence and child custody? How about a major national media reporter who purports to cover custody and abuse issues without ever doing an investigation into both sides of the issue?            When CNN features a show about fathers and custody, how can they ignore the experts, the research and the real victims and instead broadcast a show that perpetrates myths, misleads millions, and potentially damages children and protective parents?             That’s the issue Barry Goldstein, author and former attorney, and Maralee Mclean, author and victim advocate hash out on this latest show. Join us as we discuss journalism, objectivity, reliable research, court trends and supposedly objective reporting that is anything buy. Airing Saturday, April 27, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways

WORKPLACE PESTS: IDIOPATHIC MUTUAL IRRITANTS You probably know about those pesky people at work, but do you know about Idiopathic Mutual Irritation. Louise Penberthy does, and she can give advice to all of us on how to deal with both. Penberthy started mediating in 2002, and over the years since then, she's observed many things about people, their needs, what gets them into conflict, and what helps get them out. Sometimes there's no obvious reason why two people don't get along; sometimes, it's what she calls Idiopathic Mutual Irritation, which is the subject and jumping off point for this podcast. Since 2018, Louise has been working as a program coordinator at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle. She's also a speaker and software developer. Airing for the first time Saturday, February 2, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.

FAMILY COURT FROM A SUPREME COURT CANDIDATE’S VIEW So how do family courts work and why are they often such a mess? What constitutional issues do they raise? Who’s to blame when the system runs roughshod over the best interests of children?  Who knows?  Well, long-term attorney and candidate for the Louisiana Supreme Court Richard Ducote has a pretty good idea. Ducote has dedicated his professional and his personal life to advocating for women and children who have been abused by domestic violence and sexual assault, and then been further abused by the courts. Listen as this legal veteran discusses what’s wrong with family courts, what we can do about it, and how a position on the Supreme Court of Louisiana could effect improvement in the system. Airing for the first time Saturday, March 30, at 11 AM Pacific Time, and available thereafter through the archive at www.blogtalkradio.com/3women3ways.