Quando o agressor se torna vítima: a violência vicária no contexto da aplicação da lei de alienação parental

Abstract

This monograph critically analyzes Law No. 12,318/2010 (Parental Alienation Law – LAP) in the context of custody disputes, investigating to what extent its application, based on the controversial Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), contributes to the perpetuation of Vicarious Violence and the revictimization of women and children. The research adopts a qualitative approach of exploratory-descriptive nature, based on bibliographic review and documentary analysis, including statements from national and international bodies. The central problem arises from the finding that the LAP, although conceived to protect the best interest of the child, has been instrumentalized in litigation as a tactic of gender violence. The study demonstrated that PAS is a pseudo-scientific construct, lacking recognition from major health and psychology entities (APA, WHO, AEN). Its origin is linked to the defense of abusers in custody disputes, conveying a misogynistic bias by pathologizing the mother's complaint. The Brazilian Law, by uncritically transposing the elements of PAS and classifying "false reporting" as an act of alienation, establishes a coercive logic that reverses the burden of proof and penalizes the protective parent. This dynamic exposes the child to Vicarious Violence – a form of aggression where the abuser uses the child as an instrument to harm the mother – and constitutes institutional revictimization. The findings are corroborated by the consensus of bodies such as the UN, the CPI on Maltreatment, CONANDA, CFP, and CNDH, which predominantly advocate for the revocation of the LAP. It is concluded that Law N°. 12.318/2010 fails in its protective purpose, acting as an instrument of violence that requires the abandonment of pseudoscientific doctrines, the strengthening of the Maria da Penha Law (LMP), and the adoption of antirevictimization protocols to ensure the Best Interest of the Child.