While the following video may seem off-topic for this column, the machinations of a divorce action have become a form of ultimate exploitation by abusers.

People have been led to believe that divorce is some kind of solution to relationship difficulties. It is not, always. In fact, it often exacerbates an already bad situation. A host of new problems are created by the interference of the representatives of the legal system, the majority of whom have no interest whatsoever in the fate of the families who become nothing more than "cases," stacks of paper in legal folders.

This video was passed along to me by Jeremy Swanson, Canadian Father's Rights advocate. When he got it, it was accompanied by a quote, excerpted here:

"Few things get solved until the public understands that not only is it a huge problem but it's one that could hit their own families. If a father - or rarely, a mother - loses access to his/her children, so does the extended family. It's devastating for children to lose half their total family members, especially when it's a parent doing it for her/his own usually selfish reasons. This kind of hurt and grief and death will only stop when people demand it end."