Abused Mothers and Children call for Custody Justice from Family Courts Press Advisory, Audio and Video Op Event Date: Friday, May 11, 2007 / Mothers' Day Friday In New Jersey: 12 noon Paterson 3pm Hackensack Other locations throughout the country to be announced. Contact: Sandra Ramos 973.831.0898 See: batteredmotherscustodyconference.org Strengthen Our Sisters Inc. to Hold Mothers' Day Friday Rolling Baby Carriages Demonstrations to Protest Mothers Losing Custody of Their Children to Batterers At the Passaic County Courthouse at noon. At the Bergen County Courthouse at 3pm. Strengthen Our Sisters Founder and Executive Director Sandra Ramos - the founder and first Executive Director of Shelter Our Sisters in Bergen County, the first shelter for battered women in North America - explained, “Mothers will be marching with empty baby carriages to protest the trend in court rulings that gives custody of children to abusive, violent, batterers and child molesters. Batterers can pay for attorneys who know how to manipulate the court system while working to make mothers destitute. There is a huge need for pro bono publico attorneys to step forward, learn domestic violence law and represent the women and children.” Sandra Ramos, who is also a professor at William Paterson University and Ramapo College, teaching "Dynamics of Domestic Violence" as well as other courses, asked that people think about what they will be doing on Mothers' Day and to try to imagine how they would feel if they lost custody of their own children to an abusive, manipulative adult. Ramos asks, “How would they feel if they had to wake up each morning not knowing what horrors or tortures their children might be enduring, with the knowledge that they were unsupported in the very courts that should be making rulings to protect people?” Ramos says that she has been besieged everywhere she goes with calls from mothers who have lost custody or are in court proceedings and in danger of losing custody. Mo Therese Hannah, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at Siena College, states, "Children who grow up with abuse are more prone to behavioral problems, depression, eating disorders, suicide, school failure, increased drop-out rates, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, adult criminality, and are more prone to becoming involved in abusive relationships as adults." Dr. Hannah, whose professional focus is couples therapy and the dynamics of abuse, is the primary organizer of the Battered Mothers' Custody Conference: Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody: A National Crisis. Other shelters, advocacy support groups, and Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW), will participate in the demonstrations. It is hoped that mothers will publicly share their experiences. People are encouraged to bring signs. Buttons will be handed out saying: The Court is a Cash Register and Children Pay the Price and others saying: Children Should be Seen, Heard, Believed, and Protected. See: http://batteredmotherscustodyconference.org/EssentialInformation.htm http://www.vowbwrc.org h http://www.sosdv.org - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - |