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Intimate partner violence and child abuse are recognized both as public health concerns and as violations of human rights, but related government actions and inactions are rarely documented as human rights violations in the United States. Men who abuse female partners are also highly likely to abuse the children of these women. However, family courts are reported to often ignore risks posed by abusive men in awarding child custody and visitation. Battered women involved in child custody litigation in Massachusetts (n = 39) were interviewed. A recurring pattern of potential human rights violations by the state was documented, corresponding to rights guaranteed in multiple internationally accepted human rights covenants and treaties. The human rights framework is a powerful tool for demonstrating the need for legal, social, and political reform regarding public health concerns.

This article describes the work of the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project, a multiyear effort that documented human rights violations against battered women and their children in the Massachusetts family court system. This article (a) presents the Battered Mothers' Testimony Project's participatory human rights methodology as an alternative model for research and activism on violence against women and children in the United States, (b) summarizes the authors' findings and human rights analysis of how the Massachusetts family courts handled custody and visitation in specified cases involving partner and child abuse, and (c) discusses U.S. obligations under international human rights law and the value of a human rights approach to violence against women and children in the United States.