buFathers 4 Justice/u/b

I agree that, yes, there is a percentage of Fathers out there who give less than a shit about their offspring. I agree that there is a percentage of Fathers out there who abuse either their offspring or spouse/partner, or both. I agree that there is a minority of Fathers that deliberately uses their offspring as a pawn in the many legal battles between them and their ex-spouse/partner.

I must also state that though a lot of the Fathers now fighting to see their offspring are 'inormal, good-hearted men who wish to love their children and spend time with them/i,' [Daily Mail September 14th] there is a percentage of these Fathers having their rights withheld for valid reasons or reasonable doubt. This must always be taken into account whenever you read or hear about the Fathers 4 Justice.

But does that mean ievery/i Father in all of Britain, who has separated from his wife or partner, deserves to be classed along with the above mentioned percentages? Of course it doesn't, there is a majority of Fathers out there who love their children unconditionally and would do anything to simply be with them, to have a hand in how they grow up, to help shape whom they will eventually grow into.

Most of these men are being taken for a ride through the Justice System by the Mothers of their children and for the most part, the Justice System is playing along. I have only read reports in the news-papers, watched reports on the television, read articles on the net, and I have come to the conclusion that the Justice System is biased in favour of the Mothers.

Isn't the Justice System supposed to be impartial?

I seem to remember that the Justice System was supposed to uphold what is best for the child in such cases as these, but 'ithe child's best interest principal has now effectively become the mothers/i' [Fathers-4- ] meaning, simply, that if the Mother does not feel happy with a situation, she can waive the rights of the Father and withhold their children.

Even if the Mother has been ordered to allow the Father access, the Justice System does nothing about this, even though the Mother ishould/i either be fined, or face gaol time for her actions; as it is a court judgement she is in breach of. Most of the time, I feel it falls under: 'iafter all, who would lock up a mother who had her children to look after?' The latest figures show that in 2001, 50 percent of the 55,030 contact orders* were broken by [M]others refusing to co-operate with the courts./i [Daily Mail, September 14th - latest figures from 'The Lord Chancellor's Department']

'iSection 1 of the 1989 Children Act made 'the welfare of the child paramount.' This, the act says, 'is best served by maintaining as good a relationship with both parents as possible,'/i' [] yet at every turn, I hear about Fathers who, even though they have the means to give their children good lives, are refused access and ordered simply to give a monthly payment to the Mother.

In most cases, these loving Fathers do everything within their power to legally gain access to their offspring - using up, in the process, every penny they have earned or saved - often leaving them penniless, childless and in a state of 'living bereavement.'

I have been led to believe that a lot of what is wrong with the youth of today is that they have no proper familial structure. The government is constantly talking about trying to set this right. Social Workers, Court Welfare Officers, Barristers and Judges are always talking about trying to set this right.

Do they honestly think segregating all separated Fathers from their children is the way to go about this?

In an ideal world, every case of Father versus Mother would be sorted out on the merits of both. If the Father and Mother are found to be equal, they aught to have equal visiting rights. The only cases in which the Father should not have any contact at all, are the cases in which the Father is abusive - emotionally, physically, sexually, of either child or Mother.

In an ideal world, if the Mother subsequently vetoed the rights of the Father in having contact with his offspring, that Mother would automatically pay the price and be forced to allow the Father to see his children. If the Mother continued to refuse, she would loose all her rights and face either fines or gaol time.

In an ideal world, a child would be able to see his or her missing parent whenever they wished; their Grandparents, aunts and uncles would not be disallowed from seeing them at the whim of the Mother, without viable reasons.

But that is an ideal world. In the world in which we live, many of these Fathers do everything they can to fight, legally, for the right to see their offspring. All too often, they fail, all too often, they go home to live a childless life, their own parents and siblings as bereaved as they themselves, for often, when a Father is disallowed access to his child, so too, is his own family.

Eventually, these Fathers either give up or turn to illegal means. There is now a third option. Fathers 4 Justice.

'iFathers 4 Justice (F4J) is a new civil rights movement campaigning for a child's right to see both parents and grandparents. The group comprises Fathers, Mothers, Grandparents, Teachers, Doctors, Company Directors, Policemen, Barristers - a complete cross section of society - all whom believe that Britain is needlessly creating a nation of children without parents and parents without children./i' []

I do not pretend to advocate their irresponsible means of gaining attention; some of their stunts so far have been highly dangerous, if not out-right illegal. But I do support their cause.

Those of you, who know me, will know that I am a Feminist through and through. But I am the kind of Feminist that advocates iequality of the gender/i, not the kind of Feminist who wants to overthrow male dominion and replace it with female. This is why the plight of Fathers 4 Justice has intrigued me. It appears that there has been, without my barely noticing, an upheaval of equality in our country.

Where once the system was biased in favour of the man, it is now in favour of the woman. On a superficial level, perhaps I aught to be pleased. But I am not. This is no way to go about creating a nation that can survive; this is simply turning the wheel. We are beginning to have the same problems, but from another perspective.

Fathers 4 Justice should never have had the need to arise. The Justice System is supposed to be impartial, supposed to do all it can to impart correct judgement. As far as I can tell, it is no longer either of these things. Fathers 4 Justice is just one of the symptoms. I have yet to figure out the cause.

If things carry on the way they have been, things are just going to get worse. Perhaps, one day, Fathers 4 Justice will do more than simply scale the walls of the Palace and unfurl a banner. Though, in my heart of hearts, I cannot blame some of these Fathers for their actions. If the System had failed you, when you had done nothing to deserve such failure, what would you do?

* "a contact order" means an order requiring the person with whom a child lives, or is to live, to allow the child to visit or stay with the person named in the order, or for that person and the child otherwise to have contact with each other
Children Act 1989