Naples, desperate mother: "I protect my daughters from their father's violence, but it's torture

Naples – A mother, victim of abuse by her husband, finds herself forced to indulge in meetings between her daughters, aged 7 and 4, and the father, despite their explicit wishes to the contrary.

The woman, who has reported the violence suffered, even in the presence of minors and to the detriment of one of the girls, recounted his ordeal during an event organized by the Naples Protocol by Title “Parental Alienation in the Courtroom: A Current Threat to Women and Children Victims of Violence.”

“The older girl is starting to understand what’s going on”, the mother declared, “and he tells me 'you're the one who sent me, you have to say no'. The youngest has started doing the same, she begs me not to let her go. I don't know what to do anymore”.

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THElawyer Giovanna Cacciapuoti, of the association Women's Health, explained that the woman is an injured party in a criminal and civil proceeding for mistreatment, and that her husband has been sent for trial. “The girls always grew up with their mother”, the woman stressed, “he has never been present in their lives.

I have to force them to do something they don’t want to do, and when they come back they have marks, they tell stories that worry me. I feel guilty, as if I were complicit in all of this. It’s heartbreaking.”

 Violent husband sent to trial

The lawyer retraced the history of the violence, started when the first daughter was still small. “The lady gave her husband several chances, and he promised to change”, he explained, “but the violence continued. On one occasion, it was swoop wildly even in front of other people”.

Initially, the Court of Naples had arranged for the girls to be given exclusive custody to their mother, but subsequently protected meetings with the father were introduced. “Despite their mother's willingness, the girls didn't want to go”, the lawyer specified, “and on more than one occasion marks have been noted on their bodies. The girls report that their father beats them, and we have photos of obvious marks.”

Despite reports to social services, the mother was ordered to have the girls meet their father, under penalty of revocation of custody. “It's an injustice”, concluded the mother, “My daughters are scared, and I don’t know how to protect them anymore.”