South: Fathers' rights?

Chrissy Sturt Researcher, Politics Show South

Do separated parents have equal access rights to their children? The Politics Show investigates.

What you have to say about Fathers' rights

Fathers 4 Justice in dad's army rally.

Divorce can have a shattering impact on children. But how often do we consider the hurt and pain of parents? And in particular, fathers?

There is a growing lobby of angry fathers, many of whom are struggling to maintain contact with their children.

Fathers for Justice

The members of Fathers 4 Justice are a militant bunch, determined to fight a government and legal system they regard as corrupt.

They talk of mobilising a dad's army.

They have already driven a tank through London and painted the offices of a government agency purple, a call for equality.

Some members are willing to go to prison to make their voices heard.

The group believes the courts are biased against fathers. They system, they say, favours mothers when deciding custody after a divorce.

And then when mothers flout access orders, they say the law does nothing to help.

They are pushing for legal changes including a bill of rights for the family and a Minister for Family Life.

They also want the principle of shared parenting to be enshrined by law, unless there is a proven risk to safety. This would mean parenting time is divided between parents on an equitable basis.

Tony Coe, the President of Equal Parenting Council, shares this goal.

A post separation parenting plan would mean both parents have frequent contact with their children and a say in all important decisions. Mr Coe said;

Alternate weekend trips to the zoo and MacDonalds do not remotely amount to family life.

Shared parenting means, in short, that both parents continue to be actively involved in their children's upbringing, that is to say, in parenting their children.

Families Need Fathers.

The Equal Parenting Council are more moderate in their approach and prefer to negotiate gently with the government. But they sympathise with the aims of Fathers 4 Justice.

But the government agency the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) rejects the move for a legal presumption of contact.

They acknowledge that children benefit from a continuing relationship with both parents, but state;

There is no automatic right to contact between parents and children, and in each case the decision must be determined by what the court considers to be in the best interest of the child.

The Leeds based Centre for Family Research and Kinship has also warned that shared residency is no magic solution. They argue;

Children who split their time equally between their parents' houses after divorce or separation may find this arrangement increasingly difficult as they get older.

Margaret Hodge's role in focus

Other parenting groups strongly reject the notion of automatic shared contact, such as Gingerbread, the support organisation for lone parents.

Their members point out that the safety of mother and child must always come first, a view shared by Women's Aid.

Minister for Children in focus

In the meantime, all eyes are pinned on the Minister for Children Margaret Hodge, who is expected to launch a pilot parenting scheme shortly.

Parents would be encouraged to avoid the courts by drawing up a parenting plan outlining how much contact they will have.

The Department of Constitutional Affairs is also likely to launch a specialist panel of solicitors to handle family disputes through mediation.

The Politics Show

What do you think?

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And don't forget to watch the Politics Show, with presenter Peter Henley, on BBC One on Sundays at Noon.

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