Whereas approximately 15 million children are exposed each year to domestic violence and/or child abuse, which are often linked; Whereas child sexual abuse is significantly under-documented, and under-addressed in the legal system; Whereas child abuse is a major public health issue in the United States, with total lifetime estimated financial costs associated with just one year of confirmed cases of child maltreatment (including physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect) amounting to approximately $124 billion; Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, federally launched, funded and tracked longitudinal research into adverse childhood experiences (the ACEs study) has shown that children who experience abuse and neglect are also at increased risk for adverse health effects and certain chronic diseases as adults, including heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, liver disease, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high levels of C-reactive protein ; Whereas research confirms that allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, and child sexual abuse are often discounted when raised in child custody litigation; Whereas research shows that abusive parents are often granted custody or unprotected parenting time by courts, placing children at ongoing risk; Whereas research confirms that a child’s risk of abuse increases after a perpetrator of domestic violence separates from a domestic partner, even when the perpetrator has not previously abused the child; Whereas researchers have documented a minimum of 568 children murdered in the United States in a 10-year period by a parent involved in a divorce, separation, custody, visitation, or child support proceeding, often after access was provided by family courts over the objections of a protective parent; Whereas scientifically unsound theories such as parental alienation syndrome, enmeshment, and others are frequently applied to reject parents’ and children’s reports of abuse