Why “CAMS” Confuses the Conversation — and Why Child Psychological Abuse Isn’t About Gender

I recently read an article shared on the Women’s Coalition Substack about Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the most prominent victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. Victoria describes feeling alienated from her children . The piece raises strong feelings about how parental alienation and abuse are discussed — and, unfortunately, reflects a broader misunderstanding that is gaining traction in some gendered violence circles.

Some radical feminist/”gendered” violence groups are claiming that Parental Alienation is dividing women. In reality, child abuse is not gendered. This is a manipulative attempt to lump together child-abusing women with female victims of parental alienations. In reality, female targeted parents have more in common with male targeted parents. Abuse should not be along gender lines, but victim vs. abuser lines.

One phrase in particular — “CAMS” (Child and Mother Sabotage) — is being advanced by some advocates as a replacement for the well-established concept of parental alienation. But this shift in terminology isn’t neutral. In practice, it tends to frame the........

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