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| {{Short description|Social movement interested in family law}} | |||
| {{Rights}} | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} | |||
| {{Masculism sidebar |movements}} | |||
| {{Rights |By claimant}} | |||
| {{Conservatism US|movements}} | |||
| The '''fathers' rights movement''' is a ] whose members are primarily interested in issues related to ], including ] and ], that affect fathers and their ]ren.<ref name="Collier & Sheldon">{{harvp|Collier|Sheldon|2006a|pp=1–26.}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McKee |first=A |title=The Public Sphere: an introduction |year=2005 |publisher=University of Queensland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GhsmSxmVDzoC&pg=PA47 |isbn=978-0-521-54990-5 |page=47 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602174350/http://books.google.com/books?id=GhsmSxmVDzoC |archive-date=2 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kenedy |first=Robert A |title=Fathers For Justice: The Rise Of A New Social Movement In Canada As A Case Study Of Collective Identity Formation |year=2004 |publisher=Caravan Books |isbn=978-0-88206-108-5}}</ref> Many of its members are fathers who desire to share the parenting of their children equally with their children's mothers—either after ] or ]. The movement includes men as well as women, often the second wives of divorced fathers or other family members of men who have had some engagement with ].<ref name="Collier & Sheldon"/><ref name="Kaye 1998b">{{cite journal |last1=Kaye |first1=Miranda |last2=Tolmie |first2=Julia |title=Fathers' Rights Groups in Australia and their Engagement with Issues in Family Law |journal=Australian Journal of Family Law |volume=12 |pages=19–68 |year=1998 |url=https://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/Kaye%2C%20Fathers%20rights%20groups.pdf}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2021}}</ref>{{sfnp|Crowley|2008|pp=43–49}}<ref name="Sacks 2006">{{cite news |last1=Sacks |first1=G |last2=Thompson |first2=D |title=Why Are There so Many Women in the Fathers' Movement? |newspaper=] |location=Minneapolis |date=21 June 2006 |url=http://www.glennsacks.com/why_are_there.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630120953/http://www.glennsacks.com/why_are_there.htm |archive-date=30 June 2013}}</ref> Most Fathers' rights advocates argue for ].<ref name="a856"/> | |||
| The '''fathers' rights movement''' is a movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to ], including ] and ] that affect fathers and their ]ren.<ref name =fralr1>]</ref><ref name =collier>{{cite news | last =Collier | first =R | coauthors =Sheldon S| title =Unfamiliar territory: The issue of a father's rights and responsibilities covers more than just the media-highlighted subject of access to his children |publisher= ] | date =2006-11-01 | url =http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1935970,00.html |accessdate=2007-10-17 }}</ref> Many of its members are fathers who desire to share the parenting of their children equally with their children's mother - either after divorce or as unwed fathers. | |||
| ==Demographics== | |||
| Most of the members of the fathers' rights movement had little prior interest in the law or politics. However, as they felt that their goal of equal shared parenting was being frustrated by the family courts, many took an interest in family law, including child custody and child support.<ref name =fralr1/><ref name="Many Women in Civil Rights Movement"/><ref name =collier></ref> | |||
| The fathers' rights movement exists almost exclusively in ], where ] has become more common.<ref name=Farrell2001>{{cite book |last=Farrell |first=W |author-link=Warren Farrell |title=Father and Child Reunion |pages=Chap. 1–2 |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-58542-075-9}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2010}} It emerged in the ] from the 1960s onwards as part of the ] with organizations such as ], which originated in the 1970s.<ref name="Gavanas 2004b">{{cite book |last=Gavanas |first=Anna |title=Men and Masculinities: A Social, Cultural, and Historical Encyclopedia, Volume I |editor-last=Kimmel |editor-first=MS |editor-last2=Aronson |editor-first2=A |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2004 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWj5OBvTh1IC&q=%22fathers%27+rights%22 |pages=289–91 |isbn=978-1-57607-774-0 |chapter=Fathers' Rights}}</ref><ref name="Collier 2006">{{cite book |last=Collier |first=Richard |editor1-last=Collier |editor1-first=R |editor2-last=Sheldon |editor2-first=S |title=Fathers' Rights Activism and Law Reform in Comparative Perspective |year=2006 |publisher=Hart Publishing |isbn=978-1-84113-629-5 |pages=53–78 |chapter='The Outlaw Fathers Fight Back': Fathers’ Rights Groups, Fathers 4 Justice and the Politics of Family Law Reform—Reflections on the UK Experience}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2021}}</ref> In the late twentieth century, the growth of the internet permitted wider discussion, publicity and activism about issues of interest to fathers' rights activists.<ref name="Lee">{{cite book |last=Lee |first=CN |editor-last=Carroll |editor-first=BE |title=American Masculinities : A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=SAGE Publications |chapter=Fathers' rights |year=2003 |pages= |isbn=978-0-7619-2540-8}}</ref> Factors thought to contribute to the development of the fathers' rights movement include shifting household ]s brought about by rising divorce and falling marriage rates, changes in the understanding and expectations of fatherhood, motherhood and childhood as well as shifts in how legal systems impact families.<ref name="Collier & Sheldon"/><ref name="Changing Families">{{cite book |last1=Ganong |first1=L |last2=Coleman |first2=M |title=Changing Families, Changing Responsibilities: Family Obligations Following Divorce and Remarriage |year=1999 |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |isbn=978-0-8058-2691-3 |pages=}}</ref> | |||
| Fathers' rights groups in the West are primarily composed of white, ] or ], heterosexual men.<ref name="Gavanas 2004b" /><ref name="Crowley 2006">{{cite journal |last1=Crowley |first1=Jocelyn Elise |title=Organizational Responses to the Fatherhood Crisis: The Case of Fathers' Rights Groups in the United States |journal=Marriage & Family Review |date=2006 |volume=39 |issue=1–2 |pages=107–108 |issn=0149-4929 |doi=10.1300/J002v39n01_06 |citeseerx=10.1.1.551.6445|s2cid=141781640 }}{{pb}}{{block indent |Co-published in: {{cite book |title=Families and social policy: national and international perspectives |editor-last1=Haas |editor-first1=Linda |editor-last2=Wisensale |editor-first2=Steven K. |publisher=Haworth Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7890-3240-9 |pages=107–108}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsofmascul00mess/page/47 |title=Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements |last=Messner |first=MA |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8039-5577-6 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Bertoia">{{cite journal |last1=Bertoia |first1=C |last2=Drakich |first2=J |year=1993 |title=The Fathers' Rights Movement: Contradictions in Rhetoric and Practice |journal=Journal of Family Issues |volume=14 |pages=592–615 |url=http://jfi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/14/4/592 |doi=10.1177/019251393014004007 |issue=4 |s2cid=146667930}}</ref> Members tend to be politically conservative{{sfnp|Crowley|2008|pp=43–49}}{{sfnp|Parke|Brott|1999|pp=142, 148–155}} but do not share a single set of political or social views{{sfnp|Parke|Brott|1999|pp=142, 148–155}} and are highly diverse in their goals and methods.{{r|Collier 2006}}{{sfnp|Parke|Brott|1999|p=148}} Members of the fathers' rights movement advocate for strong relationships with their children{{sfnp|Parke|Brott|1999|pp=142, 148–155}} and focus on a narrowly defined set of issues based on the concerns of divorced or divorcing men.{{r|Collier 2006}} Women, often new partners including second wives or other family members of men who have had some engagement with ] and mothers without custody, are also members of the fathers' rights movement, and fathers' rights activists emphasize this.<ref name="Kaye 1998b"/><ref name="Bertoia"/>{{sfnp|Collier|Sheldon|2006a}}{{Page needed|date=April 2021}} Two studies of fathers' rights groups in North America found that fifteen percent of their members were women.{{sfnp|Crowley|2008|pp=43–49}}<ref name="Bertoia"/> | |||
| Though it has been described as a ],<ref>{{cite book |last=McKee |first=A |title=The Public Sphere: an introduction |year=2005 |publisher=University of Queensland |pages= 47|isbn=9780521549905 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=GhsmSxmVDzoC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kenedy |first=R |title=Fathers For Justice: The Rise Of A New Social Movement In Canada As A Case Study Of Collective Identity Formation |year=2004 |publisher=Caravan Books |isbn=978-0882061085}}</ref> members of the movement believe their actions are better described as part of a ].<ref name="Many Women in Civil Rights Movement">{{cite news | last =Sacks | first = G | coauthors = Thompson D | title =Why Are There so Many Women in the Fathers' Movement? | publisher = ] | date =2006-06-21 |url=http://www.glennsacks.com/why_are_there.htm}}</ref><ref name="Taken Into Custody 259">]</ref> Objections to the characterizations of the movement as a social movement are related to the belief that discrimination against fathers moves beyond the ] and originates in government intervention into family life.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 282">]</ref> | |||
| The fathers' rights movement organizations ] and the Lone Fathers Association have campaigned for fathers' rights over many decades.<ref name="Collier & Sheldon"/><ref name="Kaye 1998b"/><ref name="Rhoades">{{cite book |last=Rhoades |first=Helen |title=Fathers' Rights Activism and Law Reform in Comparative Perspective |year=2006 |publisher=Hart Publishing |editor-last=Collier |editor-first=Richard |editor-last2=Sheldon |editor-first2=Sally |pages=125–146 |chapter=Yearning for Law: Fathers' Groups and Family Law Reform in Australia |isbn=978-1-84113-629-5}}{{Page range too broad|date=April 2021}}</ref> Longer lasting organizations appear to result from the longterm dedication and commitment of key individuals.<ref name="Kaye 1998b"/><ref name="Rhoades"/> Other fathers' rights groups have tended to form and dissolve quickly.<ref name="Collier & Sheldon"/><ref name="Kaye 1998b"/><ref name="Rhoades"/>{{sfnp|Crowley|2008|p=271}} Internal disagreements over ideology and tactics are common,{{sfnp|Crowley|2008|pp=95, 271}} and members tend not to remain with the groups after they have been helped.<ref name="Collier & Sheldon"/><ref name="Kaye 1998b"/> | |||
| The movement has received international press coverage as a result of high profile activism of their members,<ref name =fralr1/><ref name =collier/> has become increasingly vocal, visible and organised, and has played a powerful presence in family law debates.<ref name =fralr1/> | |||
| ==Political and social views== | |||
| ==Demographics== | |||
| <!---Members of fathers' rights groups are purported to cast their personal troubles as pressing social problems,<ref name="Coltrane 1992">{{cite journal |last1=Coltrane |first1=S |last2=Hickman |first2=N |title=The Rhetoric of Rights and Needs: Moral Discourse in the Reform of Child Custody and Child Support Laws |url= |doi=10.2307/3097018 |journal=Social Problems |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=400–420 |year=1992 |jstor=3097018}}</ref><ref name="Smyth">{{cite journal |last=Smyth |first=Bruce |year=2004 |title=Child support Policy in Australia: Back to basics? |journal=Family Matters |issue=67 |publisher=Australian Institute of Family Studies |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bruce-Smyth-3/publication/237211602_Child_support_policy_in_Australia/links/0c96053757a2615e02000000/Child-support-policy-in-Australia.pdf}}</ref> and are viewed as trying to use rhetorical strategies to elicit emotional responses.<ref name="Coltrane 1992"/> --> | |||
| The fathers' rights movement exists almost exclusively in ], where ] has become more common.<ref name="Father and Child Reunion"/> It emerged in the ] from the 1960s onwards as part of the ] with organizations such as ] originating in the 1970s.<ref name="gavanas">{{cite book | last = Gavanas | first = A | title = Men and Masculinities | editor = Kimmel MS; Aronson A | publisher = ] |year = 2004 | pages = | isbn = 1576077748 | url = }}</ref><ref name =fralr3>Collier, in ]</ref> In the late twentieth-century, the growth of the internet permitted wider discussion, publicity and activism about issues of interest to fathers' rights activists.<ref name="Lee">{{ cite book | last = Lee | first = CN |editor= Carroll BE | title = American Masculinities : A Historical Encyclopedia | publisher = ] | chapter= Fathers' rights| date=2003|pages= | isbn = 9780761925408 |url=}}</ref> Factors thought to contribute to the development of the fathers' rights movement include shifting household ]s brought about by rising divorce and falling marriage rates, changes in the understanding and expectations of fatherhood, motherhood and childhood and shifts in how legal systems impact families.<ref name =fralr1/><ref name =collier/><ref name ="Changing Families">{{cite book | last = Ganong | first = L | coauthors = Coleman M | title = Changing Families, Changing Responsibilities: Family Obligations Following Divorce and Remarriage | year = 1999 | publisher = ] | isbn=0805826912 | pages = }}</ref> | |||
| The fathers' rights movement has both liberal and conservative branches, with different viewpoints about how men and women compare. Although both groups agree on the victimization and discrimination against men, they disagree on why men and women differ (]) and traditional ]s. The liberal version believes the differences between the genders are due to culture and supports equality between men and women; in contrast, the conservative branch believes in traditional ]/] families and that the differences ].<ref name="Williams 2002">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Gwyneth I. |editor-last=Baer |editor-first=Judith A. |title=Historical and Multicultural Encyclopedia of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2002 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKVzULJ-764C&q=%22fathers%27+rights+movement%22 |pages=81–83 |chapter=Fathers' Rights Movement (FRM) |isbn=978-0-313-30644-0}}</ref><ref name="Gavanas 2004a"/><ref name="Williams 2003">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Gwyneth I. |last2=Williams |first2=Rhys H. |title=Social Problems: Constructionist Readings |editor-last=Loseke |editor-first=DR |editor-last2=Best |editor-first2=J |publisher=Aldine De Gruyter |year=2003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXIspcMwljIC&pg=PA93 |pages=93–100 |chapter=Framing in the Fathers' Rights Movement |isbn=978-0-202-30703-9}}</ref> Ross Parke and Armin Brott view the fathers' rights movement as one of three strands within the ] that deal almost exclusively with fatherhood, the other two being the good fathers' movement and groups forming the Christian Men's movement – the ] being the largest.{{sfnp|Parke|Brott|1999|pp=142, 148–155}} | |||
| ], a veteran of the women's, men's and fathers' movement since the 1970s, describes the fathers' rights movement as part of a larger "gender transition movement" and thinks that, similar to women in the 1960s, fathers are transitioning from gender-based to more flexible family roles. Farrell also believes the movement helps children by increasing the number who are raised equally by both parents, which in turn increases the children's social, academic, psychological, and physical benefits—in his opinion it becomes a ] issue with fathers acting as advocates.<ref name=Farrell2001/>{{Failed verification|date=June 2010}} | |||
| The fathers' rights groups in the West are primarily white, ] or ], heterosexual men.<ref name="gavanas04" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Messner|first=Michael A,|title=Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements|publisher= ] | date = 1997 | pages = | isbn = 9780803955776 | url = }}</ref><ref name="crowley"/> Members tend to be politically conservative<ref name="throwaway" /><ref name="crowley">{{cite book|last=Crowley|first=Jocelyn Elise|title=Defiant Dads: Fathers' Rights Activists in America | publisher= ] |date=November 2008| pages=43-46|isbn= 978-0801446900}}</ref> but do not share a single set of political or social views<ref name="throwaway" /> and are highly diverse in their goals and methods.<ref name =fralr3/><ref>] p. </ref> They share a powerful desire to be allowed to have strong relationships with their children,<ref name="throwaway" /> and a focus on a narrowly defined set of issues based on the concerns of divorced or divorcing men.<ref name =fralr3/> The movement includes women as well as men, often the second wives of divorced fathers or other family members of men who have had some engagement with ].<ref name=kaye/><ref name =fralr1/><ref name="crowley"/> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement assert that fathers are discriminated against as a result of gender bias in family law;{{r|Collier 2006}}<ref name="Gavanas 2004a">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fatherhoodpoliti00gava/page/10 |title=Fatherhood Politics in the United States |last=Gavanas |first=Anna |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-252-02884-7 |url-access=registration}}{{Page needed|date=May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Williams 2003"/> that custody decisions have been a denial of equal rights;<ref name="Williams 2003"/><ref name="Ashe">{{cite book |last=Ashe |first=F |title=The New Politics of Masculinity |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |pages= |isbn=978-0-415-30275-3}}</ref> and that the influence of money has corrupted family law.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=42}} The movement's primary focus has been to campaign (including lobbying and research) for ] for fathers, and sometimes for children, and to campaign for changes to family law related to child custody, support and maintenance, domestic violence and the family court system itself. Fathers' rights groups also provide emotional and practical support for members during separation and divorce.<ref name="Collier & Sheldon"/> The fathers' rights movement is considered to be a part of the broader ], a set of Internet forums promoting masculinity along with opposition to feminism.<ref name="Sugiura p23">{{cite book |last=Sugiura |first=Lisa |title=The Incel Rebellion: The Rise of the Manosphere and the Virtual War Against Women |date=2021 |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |location=Bingley, England |isbn=978-1-83982-254-4 |page=23 |doi=10.1108/978-1-83982-254-420211004 |doi-access=free |chapter=The Emergence and Development of the Manosphere |quote=The manosphere encompasses a wide range of groups from MRAs and Fathers’ Rights Activists (FRAs), to PUAs and to the more extremist MGTOW and incels but is united by the central belief that feminine values, propelled by feminism, dominate society and promote a 'misandrist' ideology that needs to be overthrown.}}</ref><ref name="Jones 2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Callum |last2=Trott |first2=Verity |last3=Wright |first3=Scott |date=2020 |title=Sluts and soyboys: MGTOW and the production of misogynistic online harassment |journal=New Media & Society |volume=22 |issue=10 |pages=1903–1921 |doi=10.1177/1461444819887141 |s2cid=210530415 |issn=1461-4448 |doi-access= |quote=The Manosphere is now home to several different groups, including pickup artists, the more radical 'Incels', father’s groups, Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) and the Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) group and each has important differences that need to be unpacked.}}</ref><ref name="Hodapp xv">{{cite book |last=Hodapp |first=Christa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKgxDwAAQBAJ&q=manosphere |title=Men's Rights, Gender, and Social Media |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-49-852617-3 |location=Lanham, MD |page=xv |quote=The manosphere is a group of loosely associated websites, blogs, and forums all concerned with masculinity and men's issues, and includes input from the MRM, pick-up artists, anti-feminists, and fathers' rights activists.}}</ref> | |||
| The fathers' rights movement can be viewed has having both liberal and conservative branches, with different viewpoints about how men and women compare. Though both groups agree on the victimization and discrimination against men, they disagree on why men and women differ (]) and traditional ]s. The liberal version believes differences between the sexes are due to culture, and support equality between men and women; in contrast the conservative branch believes in traditional ] families and that the differences between genders are due to biology.<ref name="williams2">{{cite book | last = Williams | first =GI | title = Historical and Multicultural Encyclopedia of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States | publisher = ] | date = 2002 | pages = | chapter = Fathers' Rights Movement|isbn=978-0313306440|url=}}</ref><ref name="gavanas04"/><ref name="angry"/><ref name="williams">{{cite book | last = Williams | first = GI | coauthors = Williams RH | title = Social Problems: Constructionist Readings | editor = Loseke DR & Best J | publisher = Aldine Transaction | year = 2003 | pages = | chapter = Framing in the Fathers' Rights Movement | isbn = 9780202307039 | url=}}</ref> Scholars Ross D. Parke and Armin D. Brott, view the fathers' rights movement as one of three strands within the ] that deal almost exclusively with fatherhood, the other two being the good fathers' movement and groups forming the Christian Men's movement - the ] being the largest. In their view, the Promise Keepers emphasize traditional gender roles, the members of the good fathers' movement idealize the man who embraces the breadwinner role and defers to, and learns from his wife's domestic authority, and members of the fathers' rights movement have not reached the millions of men in intact marriages who, for many reasons, are not able to be as involved with their children as they would like to be.<ref name="throwaway">] p. ; </ref> | |||
| Some fathers' rights groups have become frustrated with the slow pace of traditional campaigning for law reform; groups such as the originally UK-based '']'' have become increasingly vocal and visible, undertaking public demonstrations that have attracted public attention and influenced the politics of family justice.{{r|Collier 2006}} Following protests, some fathers' rights activists have been convicted of offenses such as harassment and assault.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/1473820/They-wear-black-shirts-and-look-like-paramilitaries.-They-are-Australias-equivalent-of-Fathers4Justice.html |title=They wear black shirts and look like paramilitaries. They are Australia's equivalent of Fathers4Justice |work=] |date=10 October 2004 |last=Gizowska |first=Anna |access-date=30 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Fathers-rights-protester-fails-overturn-conviction/story-11512048-detail/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150826050505/http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Fathers-rights-protester-fails-overturn-conviction/story-11512048-detail/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 August 2015 |title=Fathers' activist fails to overturn conviction |work=Western Morning News |location=Southwestern England |date=11 December 2008 |access-date=14 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/5213008.stm |title=Man admits Ruth Kelly egg attack |date=25 July 2006 |work=BBC News |access-date=30 October 2010}}</ref> Fathers' rights groups have condemned threats and violent acts,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/aug/24/immigrationpolicy.observerpolitics |title=Spate of hoax bombs hits family courts: Extremists from fathers' rights movement blamed |work=The Observer |date=24 August 2003 |last1=Harris |first1=Paul |last2=Reilly |first2=Thomas |access-date=30 October 2010}}</ref><ref name=Flood2004>{{cite book |last=Flood |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Flood |editor-last=Rossi |editor-first=SE |title=The Battle and Backlash Rage On |year=2004 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |chapter=Angry Men's Movements |chapter-url=http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood,%20Backlash%20-%20Angry%20men.pdf |access-date=2007-09-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122095118/http://www.xyonline.net/sites/default/files/Flood%2C%20Backlash%20-%20Angry%20men.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2011}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}<ref name="Gilchrist">{{cite news |title=The outlaw fathers fighting back |last=Gilchrist |first=Jim |date=29 May 2003 |newspaper=]}}</ref> with ] of Fathers 4 Justice asserting that his organization was committed to "peaceful, non-violent direct action" and that members caught engaging in intimidation would be expelled.<ref name="Elliott">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article393501.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604013604/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article393501.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 June 2011 |title=Fathers 'terrorise' lawyers |last1=Elliott |first1=J |last2=Taher |first2=A |date=21 November 2004 |newspaper=] |location=London}}</ref> An example of this was in January 2006, when Matt temporarily disbanded the group<ref name=disband>{{cite news |date=18 January 2006 |title=Fathers 4 Justice to end campaign |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4626106.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=3 June 2006}}</ref> after it was revealed that a fringe subsection of members were plotting to kidnap ], the young son of ], the former UK ].<ref name="Foiled">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer, no byline--> |title=Plot to kidnap Blair son 'foiled' |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/18/blair.plot/index.html?section=cnn_world |publisher=CNN |date=January 18, 2006}}</ref> According to the police, the plot never progressed beyond the "chattering stage".<ref name="Police Aware">{{cite news |date=18 January 2006 |title=Police aware of 'Leo kidnap plot' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4622880.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=3 June 2006}}</ref> Four months later the group was refounded.<ref name="Lottery Protest">{{cite news |date=20 May 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5001386.stm |title=Lottery show delayed by protest |work=BBC News |access-date=20 May 2006}}</ref> | |||
| The movement has been described by some as part of a gender war in response to increasing female power in Western society, and the consequent challenge to men's traditional roles and authority.<ref name =fralr1/><ref name =collier>{{cite news | last =Collier | first =R | coauthors =Sheldon S| title =Unfamiliar territory: The issue of a father's rights and responsibilities covers more than just the media-highlighted subject of access to his children |publisher= ] | date =2006-11-01 | url = http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1935970,00.html |accessdate=2007-10-17 }}</ref><ref name="Doyle">{{cite book | last = Doyle | first = C | title = Citizenship Revisited: Threats or Opportunities of Shifting Boundaries | editor = Herrmann P | publisher = Nova Science Pub Inc | date = 2004 | pages = | chapter= The Fathers Rights Movement: Extending patriarchal control beyond the marital family |isbn=978-1590339008 | url = }}</ref> ], a veteran of the women's, men’s and fathers’ movement since the 1970s, describes the fathers’ rights movement as part of a larger "gender transition movement."<ref name="Father and Child Reunion"/> Farrell posits that fathers are now making a transition from gender-based roles to more flexible roles, and he compares this transition to the transition made by women since the 1960s. He feels the movement is also a civil rights movement for children, because in his view, the children of divorce raised equally by dads do better psychologically, socially, academically, and physically. Since children cannot fight for their rights, he argues that they need legal representation by fathers.<ref name="Father and Child Reunion"/> | |||
| Legal scholar Richard Collier writes that fathers' rights activists often base their arguments for reform on "anecdotal evidence and assertion" rather than "evidence-backed research", and argues that implementing their proposed changes to the law "may have potentially deleterious consequences" for mothers and children.<ref name="Collier 2015">{{cite book |last=Collier |first=Richard |editor-last=Leckey |editor-first=Robert |title=After Legal Equality: Family, Sex, Kinship |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-95049-3 |pages=60–61 |chapter=Men, gender, and fathers' rights 'after legal equality'}}</ref> Collier, along with researchers ] and ], have said the movement perpetuates negative stereotypes of women as hostile, deceptive, vindictive, and irresponsible{{r|Collier 2015}} as well as the stereotype that women are out to take advantage of men financially.<ref name=Rossi2004/><ref name="Kaye 1998a"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Hanigsberg |first=Julia E. |title=Mother Troubles: Rethinking Contemporary Maternal Dilemmas |year=1999 |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-8070-6787-1 |page=150 |author2=Sara Ruddick}}</ref> Collier links such negative views of women with ideas of a ] within the broader men's movement, often in tandem with "virulent" ].{{r|Collier 2015}} | |||
| Some fathers’ rights groups have been short-lived and unstable, as members and leaders do not remain with the group after they have been helped.<ref name =fralr1/><ref name=kaye>{{cite journal | last =Kaye | first =M | coauthors =Tolmie J | title =Fathers' Rights Groups in Australia and their Engagement with Issues in Family Law | journal =Australian Journal of Family Law | volume =12 | pages = 19–68 | year =1998 | url =http://sisyphe.org/IMG/doc/doc-656.doc |accessdate=2007-03-24 |format=DOC}}</ref> In 2005, disputes within ] occurred, with two of the best-known figures accused of defrauding an individual out of ₤500, while the activists claim they were ejected for questioning the organization's finances.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article531077.ece | title = Fathers 4 Justice split by infighting | publisher = ] | last = Coates | first = S | date = 2005-06-08 | accessdate = 2008-09-03}}</ref> | |||
| ==Main issues== | |||
| ==Beliefs and activities== | |||
| {{Undue weight|section|date=May 2023}}<!--See Talk:Fathers' rights movement#Baskerville citations--> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement assert that fathers are discriminated against as a result of gender bias in family law,<ref name = collier>{{cite news | last = Collier | first = R | coauthors = Sheldon S | title = Unfamiliar territory: The issue of a father's rights and responsibilities covers more than just the media-highlighted subject of access to his children | work = ] | date = 2006-11-01 | url = http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1935970,00.html | accessdate = 2007-10-17 }}</ref><ref name = fralr3/><ref name = "gavanas04">{{cite book | last = Gavanas | first = A | title = Fatherhood Politics in the United States | publisher = ] | date = 2004 | pages = | isbn = 9780252028847 | url = }}</ref><ref name = "williams"/> that custody decisions have been a denial of equal rights,<ref name = "williams"/><ref name = "ashe">{{cite book | last = Ashe | first = F | title = The New Politics of Masculinity | publisher = Routledge | date = 2007 | pages = | isbn = 978-0-415-30275-3 }}</ref> and that the influence of money has corrupted family law.<ref name = "Taken Into Custody 42">]</ref> The movement's primary focus has been to campaign (including lobbying and research) for formal legal rights for fathers, and sometimes for children, and to campaign for changes to family law related to child custody, support and maintenance, domestic violence and the family court system itself.<ref name = fralr1/><ref name = angry/> Fathers’ rights groups also provide emotional and practical support for members during separation and divorce.<ref name = fralr1/><ref name = angry>{{cite book | last = Flood | first = M | authorlink = Michael Flood | coauthors = | editor = Rossi SE | title = The Battle and Backlash Rage On | format = pdf | accessdate = 2007-09-16 | year = 2004 | publisher = Xlibris Corporation | chapter = Angry Men's Movements | chapterurl = http://www.xyonline.net/downloads/backlash.pdf}}</ref> | |||
| ===Family court system=== | |||
| Some fathers' rights groups have become frustrated with the slow pace of traditional campaigning for law reform.<ref name = fralr3/> Groups such as Fathers 4 Justice have become increasingly vocal and visible, undertaking public demonstrations which have attracted public attention and influenced the politics of family justice.<ref name = fralr3/> Some protests have proved controversial and have led to public disorder convictions for participants.<ref>{{cite news | title = Fathers 4 Terror | last = Sheaves | first = B | date = 2004-11-25 | publisher = ] | accessdate = 2008-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/3763916.stm | title = Fathers 4 Justice four are guilty | date = 2004-10-21 | publisher = ] | accessdate = 2008-11-04}}</ref> | |||
| {{See also|Family law}} | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement state that family courts are biased against fathers and ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs Fourth Report |publisher=House of Commons, Parliament UK |date=2005-02-23 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmconst/116/116we23.htm |access-date=2007-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Operation of the Family Courts |publisher=House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee Family Justice |date=2004-11-08 |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmconst/116/116ii.pdf |access-date=2007-03-18}}</ref> Critics of the movement argue that fathers' groups ignore actual trends in family law that seek to affirm the symbolic importance of fathers within a ] family structure.{{r|Collier 2015}} | |||
| The activities of some Fathers' rights groups have led to allegations of harassment and threatening behavior,<ref>{{cite news | title = Custody bill fight turns frightful | last = Bolton | first = MM | date = 2006-04-21 | publisher = ] | url = http://timesunion.com/archives/secure/docheckout.asp?action=Get+Doc+Tag&dblst=TX2006_ALBANYTU&tagnum=200604210289&papid=albanytu&suffixes=false&synonyms=false&thesfile=savesufx.fth&view=rtemplate&templatetype=legacy&query=headline%28Custody%29+AND+tdate%28April%29&outputtype=DOCXSLT | accessdate = 2008-11-04}}</ref><ref name = "Fathers' terrorise lawyers">{{cite news | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article393501.ece | title = Fathers 'terrorise' lawyers: Campaigners accused of threats | last = Elliott | first = J | coauthors = Taher A | date = 2004-11-21 | publisher = ] | accessdate = 2008-11-04}}</ref> and in a conviction for stalking.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-103406628.html | title = Blackshirts want Family Court axed | date = 14 December 2004 | publisher = Australian Associated Press | accessdate = 2008-11-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Stalker: lesson learned | last = Cauldfield | first = Christine | date = 2004-09-30 | publisher = Herald-Sun | accessdate = 2008-11-04}}</ref> Fathers' rights activists have condemned violent behaviour,<ref name = angry/><ref name = "outlaw">{{cite news | title = The outlaw fathers fighting back | last = Gilchrist | first = Jim | date = 2003-05-29 | publisher = ] | accessdate = 2008-11-04}}</ref> with ] of ] asserting that his organisation was committed to "peaceful, non-violent direct action" and that members caught engaging in intimidation would be expelled.<ref name = "Fathers' terrorise lawyers"/> | |||
| ], president of the American Coalition of Fathers and Children and fathers' rights advocate, defines court-determined custody as not a right to parent one's children but as the power to prevent the other partner from parenting.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007}} He states that the outcome of divorce is overly one-sided and is initiated by mothers in more than two-thirds of cases – especially when children are involved. He also states that divorce provides advantages for women such as automatic custody of the children and financial benefits in the form of child support payments.<ref name="Divorce as revolution">{{cite magazine |last=Baskerville |first=S |title=Divorce as Revolution |magazine=The Salisbury Review |volume=21 |issue=4 |year=2003 |url=http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/newreadings/2003/Divorce_as_Revolution_SBsum03.htm |access-date=2008-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403030149/http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/newreadings/2003/Divorce_as_Revolution_SBsum03.htm |archive-date=3 April 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Members of the FR movement also state that family courts are slow to help fathers enforce their parental rights,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sacks |first1=G |last2=Brass |first2=R |title=National Fatherhood Initiative's Ad Campaign Insults African-American Fathers |newspaper=Daily Breeze |location=Torrance, Calif. |date=2004-05-25 |url=http://www.glennsacks.com/national_fatherhood_initiative_ads.htm |access-date=2007-03-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070328054904/http://www.glennsacks.com/national_fatherhood_initiative_ads.htm |archive-date=28 March 2007}}</ref><ref name="New research shows bias in restraining orders">{{cite web |last=Charalambous |first=M |title=New research shows bias in restraining orders |publisher=The Fatherhood Coalition |date=2005-07-10 |url=http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/newreadings/2005/MC_Gardner_Study-2_050710.htm |access-date=2007-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927103948/http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/newreadings/2005/MC_Gardner_Study-2_050710.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and are expensive and time-consuming.<ref name="Government and Fatherlessness">{{cite book |last=Baskerville |first=S |title=The Fatherhood Crisis: Time for a New Look |publisher=National Center for Policy Analysis |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-56808-136-6 |url=http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st267/st267.pdf |access-date=2007-03-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213061316/http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st267/st267.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2006}}</ref> | |||
| Sociologists Scott Coltrane and Neal Hickman state that like other political advocacy groups, members of fathers' rights groups cast their personal troubles as pressing social problems,<ref name = "The Rhetoric of Rights and Needs: Moral Discourse in the Reform of Child Custody and Child Support Laws"/><ref name = "Child Support Policy in Australia: Back to basics?">{{cite journal | last = Smyth | first = Bruce | title = Child support Policy in Australia: Back to basics? | journal = Family Matters | issue = 67 | publisher = Australian Institute of Family Studies | url = http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm2004/fm67/bs3.pdf | accessdate = 2007-10-10 | format = PDF}}</ref> and that they use rhetorical strategies to elicit emotional responses.<ref name = "The Rhetoric of Rights and Needs: Moral Discourse in the Reform of Child Custody and Child Support Laws">{{cite journal | last1 = Coltrane | first1 = S | last2 = Hickman | first2 = N | title = The Rhetoric of Rights and Needs: Moral Discourse in the Reform of Child Custody and Child Support Laws | url = http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/sp.1992.39.4.03x0046t | doi = 10.1525/sp.1992.39.4.03x0046t | journal = Social Problems | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 400–420 | year = 1992}}</ref> ] states that its members support shared parenting only as a symbolic issue related to "rights", "equality", and "fairness." He also states that its members are not actually interested in the shared care of their children or on the wishes of their children, and he adds that fathers’ rights groups have advocated policies and strategies which are harmful to mothers and children and also harmful to the fathers themselves.<ref name = "flood">{{cite conference | first = M | last = Flood | authorlink = | title = Separated Fathers and the Fathers’ Rights Movement | booktitle = Feminism, Law and the Family Workshop | publisher = Law School, University of Melbourne | date = | url = http://www.xyonline.net/downloads/Supportingseparatedfath.doc | accessdate = 2007-03-12 | format = DOC}}</ref> In contrast, social scientist Sanford Braver states that the bad divorced dad image is a seriously inaccurate myth that has led to harmful and dangerous social policies.<ref name = "Taken Into Custody 17">]</ref> | |||
| Baskerville has also stated that family courts are secretive, censoring and punitive towards fathers who criticize them.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007}} He also claims that employees and activists within the courts support and benefit from the separation of children from their parents<ref name="Politics of Fatherhood - S. Baskerville">{{cite journal |last=Baskerville |first=S |title=The Politics of Fatherhood |journal=Political Science and Politics |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=695–699 |year=2002 |url=http://www.childrensjustice.org/politics-fatherhood.html |access-date=2007-03-15 |doi=10.1017/S1049096502001191|s2cid=155663812 }}</ref> and that family law today represents civil rights abuses and intrusive perversion of government power.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=24}} | |||
| ==Main issues== | |||
| ===Family court system=== | |||
| {{Main|Family law}} | |||
| Others{{who|date=December 2012}} contest these conclusions, stating that family courts are biased in favor of fathers{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} and that the lower percentage of separated fathers as custodial parents is a result of choices made by fathers rather than bias of family courts.<ref name="Baker">{{cite book |last=Baker |first=M |title=Families, labour and love: family diversity in a changing world |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver, B.C., Canada |year=2001 |pages=198–9 |isbn=978-0-7748-0848-4}}</ref> Other writers state that fathers' rights activists incorrectly maintain that the courts are biased against fathers while in reality the vast majority of cases are settled by private agreement and fathers voluntarily relinquish primary custody of their children, which explains the lower percentage of custodial fathers; and that the "bias" of courts is in favour of the primary caregiver, not mothers per se.<ref name="Baker" /><ref name="Rossi2004"/> Collier writes that fathers' rights activists "misread the gendered nature of law's regulation of shared parenting historically".{{r|Collier 2015}} According to sociologist Michael Flood, father's rights activists have exaggerated the disparity in custody awards between mothers and fathers, and ignored the fact that in the vast majority of cases, fathers voluntarily relinquish custody of their children through private arrangements; either because they are willing to do so, or because they do not expect a favorable court ruling.<ref name=Rossi2004>{{cite book |last=Rossi |first=Stacey Elin |title=The Battle and Backlash Rage On: Why Feminism Cannot be Obsolete |year=2004 |publisher=Xlibris |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4134-5934-0 |pages=261–278}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement criticize the family court system. They define court-determined custody as not a right to parent one's children but as the power to prevent the other partner from parenting,<ref name=Baskerville>]</ref> and they state that family courts are biased against fathers and shared custody.<ref>{{cite web | title =Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs Fourth Report |publisher=House of Commons, Parliament UK |date=2005-02-23 | url = http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmconst/116/116we23.htm | accessdate =2007-03-18 }}</ref><ref name="New research shows bias in restraining orders">{{cite web | last =Charalambous | first =Mark | authorlink = | title =New research shows bias in restraining orders |publisher=The Fatherhood Coalition | date =2005-07-10 | url =http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/newreadings/2005/MC_Gardner_Study-2_050710.htm | accessdate =2007-04-14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Operation of the Family Courts |publisher=House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee Family Justice |date=2004-11-08 | format = pdf | url =http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmconst/116/116ii.pdf | accessdate =2007-03-18 }}</ref> They state that the outcome of divorce is overly one-sided, divorce is initiated by mothers in more than two-thirds of cases - especially when children are involved, and that divorce provides advantages for women, such as automatic custody of the children and financial benefits in the form of child support payments.<ref name="Divorce as revolution">{{cite journal |last=Baskerville |first=S | title=Divorce as Revolution |journal = Salisbury Review | volume = 21 | issue = 4 | year = 2003 | url =http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/newreadings/2003/Divorce_as_Revolution_SBsum03.htm | accessdate =2008-11-10 | pages = }}</ref> They also state that family courts are slow to help fathers enforce their parental rights,<ref>{{cite news | last = Sacks | first = G | coauthors = Brass R | title =National Fatherhood Initiative's Ad Campaign Insults African-American Fathers |publisher= Daily Breeze |date=2004-05-25 | url =http://www.glennsacks.com/national_fatherhood_initiative_ads.htm | accessdate =2007-03-14 }}</ref> expensive and time-consuming.<ref name="Government and Fatherlessness">{{cite web | last =Baskerville | first =S |title=The Fatherhood Crisis: Time for a New Look |publisher=NCPA Policy Report No. 267 ISBN #1-56808-136-7. National Center for Policy Analysis. |month=June | year=2004 | url =http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st267/st267.pdf | accessdate =2007-03-18 |format=PDF}}</ref> | |||
| ===Custody and parenting=== | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement including Stephen Baskerville, a former President of the ], state that family courts are secretive, censoring and punitive of fathers who criticize them,<ref name = Baskerville/> and they also state that employees and activists within the courts support and benefit from the separation of children from their parents.<ref name = "Politics of Fatherhood - S. Baskerville">{{cite journal |last=Baskerville |first=S | title =The Politics of Fatherhood | journal = Political Science and Politics | volume = 35 | issue = 4 | year = 2002 | url =http://www.childrensjustice.org/politics-fatherhood.html | accessdate =2007-03-15 }}</ref><ref name="Family Violence - Baskerville">{{cite web | last =Baskerville | first =S | title =Family Violence in America The Truth About Domestic Violence and Child Abuse | month =May | year =2006 | url =http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/familyviolence.pdf?docID=641 | accessdate =2007-03-14 }}</ref><ref name="Taken Into Custody 24">]</ref> Baskerville further states that family law today represents civil rights abuses and intrusive perversion of government power.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 24"/> | |||
| {{Main|Child custody|shared parenting|best interests}} | |||
| According to the BBC, "Custody law is perhaps the best-known area of men's rights activism".<ref name="de Castella">{{cite news |last=de Castella |first=Tom |title=Just who are men's rights activists? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17907534 |work=BBC News Magazine |date=2 May 2012}}</ref> Journal Of Divorce and Remarriage a section written by Linda Nielsen, "One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and the family court system is what type of parenting plan is most beneficial for children after divorce". Stating that "children need two parents" and that "children have a fundamental human right to an opportunity and relationship with both their mother and father", members of the fathers' rights movement call for greater equality in parental responsibility following separation and divorce.<ref name="Parkin">{{cite news |last=Parkin |first=K |date=1974-06-12 |title=Fathers need their families |newspaper=] |url=http://www.fnf.org.uk/about-us/the-first-article |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216030136/http://www.fnf.org.uk/about-us/the-first-article |archive-date=16 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Shared Parenting Council">{{cite web |title=Shared Parenting Council |publisher=Shared Parenting Council |url=http://www.familylawwebguide.com.au/spca/index.php?page= |access-date=2008-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004094739/http://www.familylawwebguide.com.au/spca/index.php?page= |archive-date=4 October 2008}}</ref> They call for laws creating a ] of 50/50 shared custody after divorce or separation, so that children would spend equal time with each parent unless there were reasons against it.<ref name="Ottaman">{{cite book |last1=Ottman |first1=Ana |last2=Lee |first2=Rebekah |title=Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence |editor-last=Edleson |editor-first=Jeffrey L. |editor-last2=Renzetti |editor-first2=Claire M. |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2008 |pages= |chapter=Fathers' rights movement |isbn=978-1-4129-1800-8}}</ref> They point to studies showing that children in shared custody settings are better adjusted and have fewer social problems such as low academic achievement, crime, substance abuse, depression and suicide,<ref name="Politics of Fatherhood - S. Baskerville"/><ref name="Shared Parenting - Objections vs Facts">{{cite journal |title=Shared Parenting: Common Objections versus the Facts |publisher=American Coalition of Fathers and Children |journal=The Liberator |volume=32 |issue=3 |year=2005 |url=http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/4web.pdf?docID=481 |access-date=2007-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620011701/http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/4web.pdf?docID=481 |archive-date=20 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="Children Happier with shared parenting">{{cite web |last1=McCormick M |last2=Sacks |first2=G |title=HB 5267 Will Help Michigan's Children of Divorce |publisher=American Coalition of Fathers and Children |url=http://acfc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Lansing_State_Journal |access-date=2007-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405014203/http://acfc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Lansing_State_Journal |archive-date=5 April 2007}}</ref> and state that shared parenting is in fact in the best interests of the child.<ref name="Fathers & Families Comment on NYT article"/><ref name="Children's rights"/> ] states that for children, equally shared parenting with three conditions (the child has about equal time with mom and dad, the parents live close enough to each other that the child does not need to forfeit friends or activities when visiting the other parent, and there is no bad-mouthing) is the second best family arrangement to the intact two-parent family, followed by primary father custody and then primary mother custody, and he adds that if shared parenting cannot be agreed upon, children on average are better off psychologically, socially, academically, and physically, have higher levels of empathy and assertiveness, if their father is their primary custodial parent rather than their mother.<ref name=Farrell2001/> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement and their critics disagree about the correlation of negative developmental outcomes for children to sole custody situations. Social scientist V. C. McLoyd states that father absence covaries with other relevant family characteristics such as the lack of an income from a male adult, the absence of a second adult, and the lack of support from a second extended family system and conclude that it is the negative effects of poverty, and not the absence of a father, that result in negative developmental outcomes.<ref name="Father Absent Homes">{{cite journal |last=McLoyd |first=VC |title=Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development |journal=American Psychologist |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=185–204 |date=February 1998 |pmid=9491747 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.53.2.185 |url=http://content.apa.org/journals/amp/53/2/185}}</ref> On the other hand, Professor Craig Hart states that although the consequences of poverty and having a single parent are interrelated, each is a risk factor with independent effects on children,<ref name="Shared Parenting Research">{{cite web |last=Hart |first=CH |title=Combating the Myth that Parents Don't Matter |publisher=The Howard Center for Family Religion and Society |year=1999 |url=http://www.worldcongress.org/wcf2_spkrs/wcf2_hart.htm |access-date=2007-03-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211235613/http://www.worldcongress.org/wcf2_spkrs/wcf2_hart.htm |archive-date=11 February 2007}}</ref> and Silverstein and Auerbach state that the negative outcomes for children in sole custody situations correlate more strongly to "fatherlessness" than to any other variable including poverty.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deconstructing the Essential Father |publisher=SPARC |url=http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/deconstruct.php |access-date=2007-09-22 |archive-date=16 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516060629/http://deltabravo.net/custody/deconstruct.php |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Is there really a fatherhood crisis?"/> | |||
| Others contest these conclusions, state that family courts are biased in favor of fathers<ref name =fralr3/><ref name = "New research shows bias in restraining orders"/> and also state that the lower percentage of separated fathers as custodial parents is a result of choices made by fathers rather than bias of family courts.<ref name="Separation Divorce and Remarriage">{{cite book |author=Baker, Maureen |title=Families, labour and love: |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver |year=2001 |pages= 198–9|isbn=0-7748-0848-9 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement criticize the ] of the child standard currently used in many countries for making custody decisions, which they describe as highly subjective and based on the personal prejudices of family court judges and court-appointed child custody evaluators,<ref name="Fathers & Families Comment on NYT article">{{cite web |title=New York Times Press Gives Major Press Coverage for Fathers |publisher=Fathers & Families |date=2005-05-08 |url=http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/site/news.php?id=54 |access-date=2007-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828231255/http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/site/news.php?id=54 |archive-date=28 August 2007}}</ref><ref name="Children's rights">{{cite web |last=Schlafly |first=Phyllis |author-link=Phyllis Schlafly |title=Children's rights should include life with both parents |date=2007-07-23 |url=http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21639 |access-date=2007-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011044719/http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21639 |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Fatherphobia">{{cite news |last=Schlafly |first=Phyllis |author-link=Phyllis Schlafly |title=The Fatherphobia of Family Courts |date=2005-02-02 |url=http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2005/feb05/05-02-02.html |access-date=2007-04-24}}</ref><ref name="Family Feud">{{cite magazine |last=Newdow |first=M |title=Family Feud |magazine=] |date=2004-06-18 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2102650/ |access-date=2007-04-30}}</ref> and that courts are abusive when more than half custody is taken away from a willing, competent parent.<ref name="ACFC Appeal to Parents">{{cite web |title=An Appeal to the Parents of America about the Destruction of the American Family |publisher=American Coalition of Fathers and Children |url=http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/ACFC2saved.pdf?docID=181 |format=pdf |access-date=2007-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070508050549/http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/ACFC2saved.pdf?docID=181 |archive-date=8 May 2007}}</ref> Members of the fathers' rights movement including Ned Holstein state that a rebuttable presumption of shared parenting is supported by a majority of citizens.<ref name="F&F Testimony">{{cite web |publisher=Fathers & Families |title=Testimony in Support of an Act Relative to Shared Parenting |date=2003-09-25 |url=http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/Test%20HB%202464%20Custody.pdf |access-date=2007-10-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026184257/http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/Test%20HB%202464%20Custody.pdf |archive-date=26 October 2007}}</ref> Baskerville writes that proposals to enact shared parenting laws are opposed by divorce lawyers, and he says that "radical feminist" groups oppose shared parenting because of the possibility of domestic violence and child abuse.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=21}} | |||
| ===Shared parenting=== | |||
| {{main|Child custody|shared parenting|best interests}} | |||
| Stating that "children need two parents" and that "children have a fundamental human right to an opportunity and relationship with both their mother and father", members of the fathers’ rights movement call for greater equality in parental responsibility following separation and divorce.<ref name = "The first article">{{cite web |last=Parkin |first=K |date=1974-06-12 |title=Fathers need their families |publisher= ] |url=http://www.fnf.org.uk/about-us/the-first-article |accessdate =2008-11-04 }}</ref><ref name ="Shared Parenting Council">{{cite web | title =Shared Parenting Council |publisher=Shared Parenting Council | url =http://www.familylawwebguide.com.au/spca/index.php?page= | accessdate =2008-11-04 }}</ref> They call for laws creating a ] of 50/50 shared custody after divorce or separation, so that children would spend equal time with each parent unless there were reasons against it.<ref name="Ottaman">{{cite book|last=Ottaman|first=Ana|coauthors=Lee, Rebekah|title=Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence|editor= Edleson, Jeffrey L., Renzetti, Claire M. |publisher=Sage Publications|date=2008|pages=252|chapter=Fathers' rights movement|isbn=978-1412918008|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=BOKAMXEA_jQC&pg=PA252}}</ref> They point to studies showing that children in shared custody settings are better adjusted and have fewer social problems such as low academic achievement, crime, pregnancy, substance abuse, depression and suicide,<ref name = "Politics of Fatherhood - S. Baskerville"/> <ref>Warren Farrell, , Ch. 1-2, N.Y.: Putnam, 2001</ref><ref name = "Shared Parenting - Objections vs Facts">{{cite journal | title =Shared Parenting: Common Objections versus the Facts |publisher= ] | journal = The Liberator | volume = 32 | issue = 3 | year = 2005 | url =http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/4web.pdf?docID=481 | accessdate =2007-03-15}}</ref><ref name ="Children Happier with shared parenting">{{cite web | last = McCormick M | coauthors = Sacks G | title =HB 5267 Will Help Michigan’s Children of Divorce | publisher = ] | url =http://acfc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Lansing_State_Journal | accessdate =2007-03-15}}</ref> and state that shared parenting is in fact in the best interests of the child.<ref name = "Fathers & Families Comment on NYT article"/><ref name="Children's rights"/> They state that if equally shared parenting is not able to be agreed upon, children on average do better with their fathers on most of the significant areas of measurement: psychological, social, academic, and physical health and that higher levels of empathy and assertiveness, and lower levels of ADHD are found among children raised by fathers.<ref name="Father and Child Reunion">{{cite book| last =Farrell | first =Warren | authorlink = | title =Father and Child Reunion |pages=Chap. 1–2 | publisher =Putnam |date=2001 |isbn=978-1585420759}}</ref> | |||
| Mo Yee Lee, after conducting a study of mothers and children, concluded that there are some advantages to joint custody arrangements; and overall, the degree of conflict between parents impacted the children more than the custody arrangement. | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement and their critics disagree about the correlation of negative developmental outcomes for children to sole custody situations. Critics of the fathers' rights movement and researcher V. C. McLoyd state that father absence covaries with other relevant family characteristics such as the lack of an income from a male adult, the absence of a second adult, and the lack of support from a second extended family system and conclude that it is the negative effects of poverty, and not the absence of a father, that result in negative developmental outcomes.<ref name = "Father Absent Homes">{{cite journal |author=McLoyd VC |title=Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development |journal=Am Psychol |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=185–204 |year=1998 |month=February |pmid=9491747 |doi= 10.1037/0003-066X.53.2.185|url=http://content.apa.org/journals/amp/53/2/185}}</ref> On the other hand, members of the fathers' rights movement state that although the consequences of poverty and having a single parent are interrelated, each is a risk factor with independent effects on children,<ref name = "Shared Parenting Research"> {{cite web | |||
| <ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Family Issues |last=Yee |first=MY |title=A Model of Children's Postdivorce Behavioral Adjustment in Maternal- and Dual-Residence Arrangements |doi=10.1177/0192513X02023005005 |url=http://jfi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/5/672 |volume=23 |issue=5 |pages=672–697 |year=2002 |s2cid=146326782}}; {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904062747/http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/joincust.htm |date=4 September 2006 }}</ref> Some feminist groups have stated that if shared parenting were ordered, fathers would not provide their share of the daily care for the children.<ref name="Baker"/> The ] also questions the motives of those promoting shared parenting, noting that it would result in substantial decreases in or termination of child support payments.<ref name="Weiser">{{cite web |last1=Weiser |first1=I |last2=Pappas |first2=M |title=Fathers' Responsibilities Before Fathers' Rights |publisher=NOW-NYS |date=2006-07-29 |url=http://www.nownys.org/fathers_resp.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704184757/http://www.nownys.org/fathers_resp.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-07-04 |access-date=2007-09-09}}</ref> | |||
| | last =Hart | |||
| | first =Craig H. | |||
| | title =Combating the Myth that Parents Don’t Matter | |||
| |publisher=The Howard Center for Family Religion and Society | |||
| | year =1999 | |||
| | url =http://www.worldcongress.org/wcf2_spkrs/wcf2_hart.htm | |||
| | accessdate =2007-03-28 }}</ref> and that the negative outcomes for children in sole custody situations correlate more strongly to "fatherlessness" than to any other variable including poverty.<ref> {{cite web | |||
| |title=Deconstructing the Essential Father | |||
| | publisher =SPARC | |||
| |url=http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/deconstruct.php | |||
| |accessdate=2007-09-22 }}</ref><ref name="Is there really a fatherhood crisis?"/> | |||
| Stephen Baskerville states that shared parenting has been demonstrated to reduce parental conflict by requiring parents to cooperate and compromise, and that it is the lack of constraint by one parent resulting from the ability of that parent to exclude the other, that results in increased parental conflict.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=305}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Seltzer |first=Judith |title=Father by Law: Effects of Joint Legal Custody on Nonresident Fathers' Involvement With Children |journal=Demography |volume=35 |issue=2 |date=May 1998 |pmid=9622777 |pages=135–46 |doi=10.2307/3004047 |jstor=3004047 |s2cid=32866442 |doi-access=free}}</ref> He further states that only when child support guidelines exceed true costs do parents ask for or seek to prevent changes in parenting time for financial reasons, adding that any argument that a parent is asking for increased parenting time to reduce child support is at the same time an argument that the other parent is making a profit from child support.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=249}}<ref>{{Cite report |title=Child Cost Economics and Litigation Issues: An Introduction to Applying Cost Shares Child Support Guidelines |author=R. Mark Rogers |author2=Donald J. Bieniewicz |page=22,23 |publisher=Presented at the Southern Economic Association Annual Meeting, Section for National Association of Forensic Economics, Alexandria, Virginia |date=12 November 2000}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement criticize the ] of the child standard currently used in many countries for making custody decisions, which they describe as highly subjective and based on the personal prejudices of family court judges and court-appointed child custody evaluators,<ref name = "Fathers & Families Comment on NYT article">{{cite web | title =New York Times Press Gives Major Press Coverage for Fathers | publisher =Fathers & Families | date =2005-05-08 | url =http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/site/news.php?id=54 |accessdate=2007-05-27 }}</ref><ref name="Children's rights">{{cite web | last =Schlafly | first =P | authorlink = Phyllis Schlafly | title =Children's rights should include life with both parents | date =2007-07-23 | url =http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21639 | accessdate =2007-09-30 }}</ref><ref name="Fatherphobia">{{cite web | last =Schlafly | first =P | |||
| | authorlink = Phyllis Schlafly | title =The Fatherphobia of Family Courts | date =2005-02-02 | url =http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2005/feb05/05-02-02.html | accessdate =2007-04-24 }}</ref><ref name="Family Feud">{{cite web | last =Newdow | first =M | title =Family Feud | publisher =Slate.Com | date =2004-06-18 | url =http://www.slate.com/id/2102650/ |accessdate=2007-04-30 }}</ref> and that courts are abusive when more than half custody is taken away from a willing, competent parent.<ref name ="ACFC Appeal to Parents">{{cite web | |||
| | title =An Appeal to the Parents of America about the Destruction of the American Family |publisher= ] | url = http://www.acfc.org/site/DocServer/ACFC2saved.pdf?docID=181 | accessdate =2007-03-15 |format = pdf }}</ref> Members of the fathers' rights movement including Ned Holstein state that a rebuttable presumption of shared parenting is supported by a majority of citizens,<ref name ="F&F Testimony">{{cite web | publisher =Fathers & Families | title =Testimony in Support of an Act Relative to Shared Parenting | date =2003-09-25 | url =http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/Test%20HB%202464%20Custody.pdf | accessdate =2007-10-14 |format=PDF}}</ref> and Baskerville states that proposals to enact such laws are opposed by divorce lawyers and by feminist organizations, the latter by invoking the specter of domestic violence and child abuse as ] directed against fathers and fathers' rights groups.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 303">]</ref> | |||
| Stephen Baskerville describes no-fault or unilateral divorce based on no fault as a power grab by the parent that initiates the divorce and he also states that fathers have a constitutional right to shared control of their children and through political action they intend to establish parental authority for both parents and for the well-being of their children.<ref name="Divorced From Reality">{{cite web |title=Divorced From Reality |website=] |date=January 2009 |url=http://touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=22-01-019-f |access-date=2010-06-03}}</ref><ref name="Parental Authority">{{cite web |author=Stephen Baskerville |title=Fathers' Rights Are Fathers' Duties |publisher=FatherMag.Com |date=1998–2000 |url=http://www.fathermag.com/803/action/ |access-date=2007-10-14}}</ref> Members of the fathers' rights movement state that a rebuttable presumption for shared parenting preserves a child's protection against unfit or violent parents.<ref name="F&F Position Paper">{{cite web |title=Position Paper of Fathers & Families |publisher=Fathers & Families |year=2007 |url=http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/Legislation/2007_HB1460_SB994_Position_Paper_Shared_Parenting.pdf |access-date=2007-10-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028142738/http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/Legislation/2007_HB1460_SB994_Position_Paper_Shared_Parenting.pdf |archive-date=28 October 2007}}</ref> | |||
| Critics of shared parenting state that joint custody arrangements are good for children only if there is no conflict between the parents.<ref>{{cite journal | journal = Journal of Family Issues | last = Yee | first = MY | title = A Model of Children's Postdivorce Behavioral Adjustment in Maternal- and Dual-Residence Arrangements | doi = 10.1177/0192513X02023005005 | url = http://jfi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/5/672 | volume = 23 | issue = 5 | pages = 672–697 | year = 2002}}; </ref> They state that if shared parenting were ordered, fathers would not provide their share of the daily care for the children.<ref name="Separation Divorce and Remarriage"/> Critics also question the motives of those promoting shared parenting, noting that it would result in substantial decreases in or termination of child support payments.<ref>{{Citation | last =American Bar Association | title =Guide to Family Law: Effect of Joint Custody | year =2000 | url =http://family.findlaw.com/child-support/support-guidelines/joint-custody-support.html |accessdate=2007-03-15 }}</ref><ref name =resp>{{cite web | coauthors =Weiser I & Pappas M |title=Fathers' Responsibilities Before Fathers' Rights |publisher=NOW-NYS | date =2006-07-29 | url =http://www.nownys.org/fathers_resp.html | accessdate=2007-09-09 }}</ref> | |||
| ] sociologist Michael Flood states that supporters of shared parenting use it only as a symbolic issue related to "rights", "equality", and "fairness" and that the father's rights movement is not actually interested in the shared care of their children or the children's wishes, adding that fathers' rights groups have advocated policies and strategies that are harmful to mothers and children and also harmful to the fathers themselves.<ref name="Flood 2006">{{cite conference |first=Michael |last=Flood |date=24 February 2006 |title=Separated Fathers and the Fathers' Rights Movement |book-title=Feminism, Law and the Family Workshop |publisher=University of Melbourne Law School |url=http://www.xyonline.net/downloads/Supportingseparatedfath.doc |format=DOC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207223803/http://www.xyonline.net/downloads/Supportingseparatedfath.doc |archive-date=7 February 2007}}</ref> In contrast, social scientist ] states that the bad divorced dad image is a myth that has led to harmful and dangerous social policies.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=17}} | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement state that shared parenting has been demonstrated to reduce parental conflict by requiring parents to cooperate and compromise, and that it is the lack of constraint by one parent resulting from the ability of that parent to exclude the other, that results in increased parental conflict.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 305">]</ref> They add that only when child support guidelines exceed true costs do parents ask for or seek to prevent changes in parenting time for financial reasons, adding that any argument that a parent is asking for increased parenting time to reduce child support is at the same time an argument that the other parent is making a profit from child support.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 249">]</ref> | |||
| Some fathers' rights activists object to the term "visitation", which they see as denigrating to their level of authority as parents, and instead prefer the use of "parenting time".{{sfnp|Crowley|2008|p=3}} | |||
| Critics state that some fathers' rights groups are more interested in enabling men to re-establish authority over their children and ex-partners and that issues of power and control in cases of domestic violence and child abuse are ignored.<ref>{{Citation | |||
| | last =Michigan National Organization for Women | |||
| | title =Mandated Joint Physical And Legal Custody Bill | |||
| | year =1996 | |||
| | url =http://www.michnow.org/jointcus.htm | |||
| |accessdate=2007-03-24 | |||
| | format ={{Dead link|date=June 2008}}{{ndash}} <sup></sup> }}</ref><ref name="callander">{{cite web | |||
| | last =Callander | |||
| | first =Debbi | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | coauthors =Martin Dufresne, Janet Menezes and Ellen Murray | |||
| |title=On Abuse, Shared Parenting, & the System | |||
| | date = | |||
| | url =http://www.womanabuseprevention.com/html/questions___answers.html | |||
| |accessdate=2007-03-24 }}</ref> Members of the fathers’ rights movement state that fathers have a constitutional right to shared control of their children and through political action they intend to establish parental authority for the well-being of their children.<ref name ="Parental Authority">{{cite web | |||
| | title =Fathers' Rights Are Fathers' Duties | |||
| | publisher =FatherMag.Com | |||
| | date =1998-2000 | |||
| | url =http://www.fathermag.com/803/action/ | |||
| |accessdate=2007-10-14 }}</ref> They also state that a rebuttable presumption for shared parenting preserves a child's protection against unfit or violent parents.<ref name ="F&F Position Paper">{{cite web | |||
| | title =Position Paper of Fathers & Families | |||
| | publisher =Fathers & Families | |||
| | year =2007 | |||
| | url =http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/Publications/Legislation/2007_HB1460_SB994_Position_Paper_Shared_Parenting.pdf | |||
| |accessdate=2007-10-06 |format=PDF}}</ref> | |||
| ===Child support=== | ===Child support=== | ||
| {{See also|Child support| |
{{See also|Child support|paternity fraud}} | ||
| From the source Northwestern University Law Review. Authors Tait, Anderson explained that "child support is a ubiquitous kind of debt, common to all income and wealth levels, with data showing that approximately 30% of the U.S. adult population has either been subjected to pay child support or has received it." Members of the fathers' rights movement campaign for the reform of child support guidelines, which in most Western countries are based on maintaining the children's standard of living after separation, and on the assumption that the children live with one parent and never with the other.<ref name="Fathers Are Capable Too - Comments on Child Support Guidelines">{{cite web |title=Comments on the Child Support Guidelines |publisher=F.A.C.T. Fathers Are Capable Too: Parenting Association |url=http://www.fact.on.ca/fin_supp/factcs7.htm |access-date=2007-04-12}}</ref><ref name="Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement"/> Activists state that the current guidelines are arbitrary, provide mothers with financial incentives to divorce, and leave fathers with little discretionary income to enjoy with the children during their parenting time.<ref name="Divorce as revolution"/><ref name="Fathers Are Capable Too - Comments on Child Support Guidelines"/><ref name="The Subversion of Child Support">{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=KC |title=The Subversion of Child Support |publisher=IFeminists.Com |date=2004-09-15 |url=http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2004/0915wilson.html |access-date=2007-03-17}}</ref> In the US, fathers' rights activists propose guidelines based on a Cost Shares model, in which child support would be based on the average income of the parents and the estimated child costs incurred by both parents.{{sfnp|Crowley|2003|pp=189–90}} Laura W. Morgan has stated that it focuses on the relative living standards of divorcing parents rather than the best interests of the children and financially supporting them at the same level after divorce.<ref>{{cite web |last=Morgan |first=LW |title=The "Cost Share" model of child support guidelines |date=2005-02-15 |url=http://www.supportguidelines.com/articles/art200407.html |access-date=2007-03-24 |archive-date=3 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503212130/http://www.supportguidelines.com/articles/art200407.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the fathers’ rights movement campaign for the reform of child support guidelines, which in most Western countries are based on maintaining the children's standard of living after separation, and on the assumption that the children live with one parent and never with the other.<ref name ="Fathers Are Capable Too - Comments on Child Support Guidelines">{{cite web | |||
| | title =Comments on the Child Support Guidelines | |||
| | publisher =F.A.C.T. Fathers Are Capable Too: Parenting Association | |||
| | date = | |||
| | url =http://www.fact.on.ca/fin_supp/factcs7.htm | |||
| | accessdate =2007-04-12 }}</ref><ref name="Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement"/> Activists state that the current guidelines are arbitrary, provide mothers with financial incentives to divorce, and leave fathers with little discretionary income to enjoy with the children during their parenting time.<ref name ="Divorce as revolution"/><ref name ="Fathers Are Capable Too - Comments on Child Support Guidelines"/><ref name ="The Subversion of Child Support">{{cite web | |||
| | last =Wilson | |||
| | first =KC | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =The Subversion of Child Support | |||
| | publisher =IFeminists.Com | |||
| | date =2004-09-15 | |||
| | url =http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2004/0915wilson.html | |||
| | accessdate =2007-03-17 }}</ref> In the US, fathers’ rights activists propose guidelines based on a Cost Shares model, in which child support would be based on the average income of the parents and the estimated child costs incurred by both parents.<ref name="crowley">{{cite book|last= Crowley|first=Jocelyn Elise|title=The Politics of Child Support in America |publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2003|pages=189–90|isbn=9780521535113|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=BvHIq27Jb3EC&pg=PA189}}</ref> Critics of the Cost Share Model guidelines including Laura W. Morgan state that it focuses on the relative living standards of divorcing parents rather than the best interests of the children and financially supporting them at the same level after divorce.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| |last=Morgan | |||
| |first=Laura W. | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| |title=The "Cost Share" model of child support guidelines | |||
| |date=2005-02-15 | |||
| | url =http://www.supportguidelines.com/articles/art200407.html | |||
| | accessdate =2007-03-24 }}</ref> | |||
| Solangel Maldonado states that the law should value a broader definition of fathering for poor fathers by reducing the focus on collecting child support and encouraging the informal contributions (such as groceries, clothes, toys, time with the children) of these fathers by counting these contributions as child support.<ref>{{cite web |last=Maldonado |first=S |title=Deadbeat or Deadbroke: Redefining Child Support for Poor Fathers |year=2006 |url=http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/Vol39/Issue3/DavisVol39No3_MALDONADO.pdf |access-date=2007-06-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306021547/http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/Vol39/Issue3/DavisVol39No3_MALDONADO.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2009}}</ref> | |||
| | last =Maldonado | |||
| | first =Solangel | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Deadbeat or Deadbroke: Redefining Child Support for Poor Fathers | |||
| |year=2006 | |||
| | url =http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/Vol39/Issue3/DavisVol39No3_MALDONADO.pdf | |||
| | accessdate =2007-06-21 |format=PDF}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the |
Members of the fathers' rights movement state that child support should be terminated under certain conditions, such as if the custodial parent limits access to the children by moving away against the wishes of the other parent, gives fraudulent testimony, or if paternity fraud is discovered,<ref name="Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement">{{cite web |title=Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement June 2001 |date=June 2001 |url=http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/2001/CSGuidelineRecommendations2001.htm |access-date=2007-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406095103/http://fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/2001/CSGuidelineRecommendations2001.htm |archive-date=6 April 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> adding that two men should not have to pay child support for the same child.<ref name="Fathers Are Capable Too - Comments on Child Support Guidelines"/> | ||
| | title =Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement June, 2001 | |||
| |month=June | year=2001 | |||
| | url =http://www.fatherhoodcoalition.org/cpf/2001/CSGuidelineRecommendations2001.htm | |||
| | accessdate =2007-04-15 }}</ref> adding that two men should not have to pay child support for the same child.<ref name ="Fathers Are Capable Too - Comments on Child Support Guidelines"/> | |||
| Stephen Baskerville states that it is often difficult for fathers in financial hardship or who take on a larger caregiving role with their children to have their child support payments lowered. He also states that unemployment is the primary cause of child support arrears, and further states that these arrearages make the father subject to arrest and imprisonment without due process.<ref name="Is there really a fatherhood crisis?">{{cite web |last=Baskerville |first=S |title=Is There Really A Fatherhood Crisis? |publisher=The Independent Institute |year=2004 |url=http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=13&articleID=35 |access-date=2007-05-01}}</ref> | |||
| | last =Baskerville | |||
| | first =Stephen | |||
| | authorlink = | |||
| | title =Is There Really A Fatherhood Crisis? | |||
| | publisher =The Independent Institute | |||
| |date=May 2004 | |||
| | url =http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=13&articleID=35 | |||
| |accessdate=2007-05-01 }}</ref> | |||
| Stephen Baskerville states that the purpose of child support should be publicly determined, and enforcement programs must be designed to serve that purpose, observing the due process of law.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=298}} | |||
| Some legal scholars and feminist writers have said that the fathers' rights movement puts the interests of fathers above the interests of children, for example by suggesting that it is acceptable for fathers to withdraw child support if they are not given access to their children, or by lobbying for changes in family law that would allegedly heighten children's exposure to abusive fathers, and would allegedly further endanger mothers who are victims of domestic violence.<ref name=Rossi2004/><ref name="Kaye 1998a">{{cite journal |last1=Kaye |first1=Miranda |first2=Julia |last2=Tolmie |title=Discoursing Dads: The Rhetorical Devices of Fathers' Rights Groups |journal=Melbourne University Law Review |year=1998 |volume=22 |pages=172–174}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Kelly |last=Behre |date=13 June 2014 |title=The Fathers' Rights Movement Undermines Victims of Domestic Violence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/06/13/fathers-rights-and-womens-equality/the-fathers-rights-movement-undermines-victims-of-domestic-violence |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=4 July 2016}}</ref> | |||
| ===Domestic violence=== | |||
| {{main|Domestic violence|Child abuse}} | |||
| Supporters of the fathers' rights movement assert that some women make false claims of domestic violence, sexual or child abuse in order to gain an upper hand in divorce, custody disputes and/or prevent fathers from seeing their children, and they state that lawyers advise women to make such claims.<ref name="gavanas"/><ref name="Fatherphobia"/> They state that false claims of domestic violence and child abuse are encouraged by the inflammatory "win or lose" nature of child custody hearings, that men are presumed to be guilty rather than innocent by police and by the courts,<ref name="Family Violence - Baskerville"/><ref name="Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement"/><ref name = "Controlling DV Against Men"/> and that false allegations hurt the real victims of domestic violence.<ref name = "DV Laws"/> They oppose the use of certain definitions of violence in child custody hearings that are based on fear, harassment and/or stalking, viewing them as vaguely defined and difficult to refute.<ref name = "DV Laws">{{cite web | |||
| |title=An Epidemic of Civil Rights Abuses: Ranking of States’ Domestic Violence Laws | |||
| |publisher=Respecting accuracy in domestic abuse reporting | |||
| |month=September | year=2006 | |||
| | url =http://www.mediaradar.org/docs/Ranking-of-States-DV-Laws.pdf | |||
| | accessdate =2007-05-05 |format=PDF}}</ref> Lawyers and advocates for abused women assert that family court proceedings are not uncommonly accompanied with allegations of domestic violence because of the prevalence of domestic violence in society rather than as a result of false allegations of domestic violence. They also assert that domestic violence often begins or increases around the time of divorce or separation.<ref name= Ottaman/> | |||
| Supporters of the fathers' rights movement assert that some women make false claims of domestic violence, sexual or child abuse in order to gain an upper hand in divorce, custody disputes and/or prevent fathers from seeing their children, and they state that lawyers advise women to make such claims.<ref name="Gavanas 2004b"/><ref name="Fatherphobia"/> They state that false claims of domestic violence and child abuse are encouraged by the inflammatory "win or lose" nature of child custody hearings, that men are presumed to be guilty rather than innocent by police and by the courts,<ref name="Recommendations for Child Support Guideline Revisement"/><ref name="Controlling DV Against Men">{{cite web |title=Controlling Domestic Violence Against Men |last1=Corry |first1=CE |last2=Fiebert |first2=MS |last3=Pizzey |first3=E |publisher=Equal Justice Foundation |year=2002 |url=http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv-9.htm |access-date=2007-10-04}}</ref> Lawyers and advocates for abused women assert that family court proceedings are commonly accompanied with allegations of domestic violence because of the prevalence of domestic violence in society rather than as a result of false allegations of domestic violence. They also assert that domestic violence often begins or increases around the time of divorce or separation.<ref name="Ottaman"/> Sociologist Michael Flood argues that fathers' rights groups have had a damaging impact on the field of domestic violence programming and policy by attempting to discredit female victims of violence, to wind back the legal protections available to victims and the sanctions imposed on perpetrators, and to undermine services for the victims of men's violence.<ref name="Flood 2010">{{cite journal |last=Flood |first=Michael |year=2010 |title='Fathers' Rights' and the Defense of Paternal Authority in Australia |journal=Violence Against Women |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=328–347 |url=http://www.xyonline.net/content/fathers-rights-and-defence-paternal-authority-australia |doi=10.1177/1077801209360918 |pmid=20133921 |s2cid=206667283}}</ref> Stephen Baskerville asserts that when child abuse occurs the perpetrator is not likely to be the father, and that child abuse most often occurs after the father has been separated from his children.<ref name="Divorce as revolution"/> Baskerville proposes that domestic violence and child abuse must be adjudicated as criminal assault, observing due process protections, and that government funding for programs addressing these issues must be made contingent on such protections.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=298}} | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement state that the paternal risk of child abuse is minimal.<ref name="Family Violence - Baskerville"/> They add that when child abuse occurs, the perpetrator is not likely to be the father, and that the child abuse most often occurs after the father has been separated from his children.<ref name="Divorce as revolution"/><ref name="Family Violence - Baskerville"/> They state that government policies are creating child abuse by separating children from their fathers.<ref name="Family Violence - Baskerville"/> | |||
| Supporters of the fathers’ rights movement point to domestic violence studies based on the ] (CTS), which suggest that men and women act violently toward their partners in about equal percentages.<ref name = "Controlling DV Against Men">{{cite web | |||
| | title =Controlling Domestic Violence Against Men | |||
| | coauthors =Charles E. Corry, Ph.D., Martin S. Fiebert, Ph.D., and Erin Pizzey | |||
| | publisher =Equal Justice Foundation | |||
| |year=2002 | |||
| | url =http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv-9.htm | |||
| | accessdate =2007-10-04 }}</ref><ref name = husbandbatt>{{cite web | |||
| | coauthors = Michael Flood | |||
| |title=Claims about Husband Battering | |||
| |publisher=American Coalition of Fathers and Children also Omaha World Herald, Daytona | |||
| | Beach News-Journal and the Louisville Courier-Journal | |||
| |date=August 1999 | |||
| | url =http://www.xyonline.net/husbandbattering.shtml | |||
| | accessdate =2007-09-21 }}</ref><ref name = "Men need help too">{{cite web | |||
| | coauthors = McCormick, Mike and Sacks, Glenn J | |||
| |title=October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month Ignores Many Victims | |||
| |publisher=American Coalition of Fathers and Children also Omaha World Herald, Daytona | |||
| | Beach News-Journal and the Louisville Courier-Journal | |||
| |month=October | year=2006 | |||
| | url =http://www.acfc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=octobers_dv_awareness | |||
| | accessdate =2007-03-15 }}</ref> Members of the fathers' rights movement including Michael McCormick and Glenn Sacks state that men comprise a "significant minority" of the victims of domestic violence,<ref name = "Equal Rights">{{cite web | |||
| | coauthors = McCormick, Mike and Sacks, Glenn J | |||
| |title=Equal Rights Amendment Yes, ‘Women’s Equality Amendment’ No | |||
| |publisher=GlennSacks.Com, also the Louisville Courier | |||
| |month=October | year=2006 | |||
| | url =http://www.glennsacks.com/equal_rights_amendment.htm | |||
| | accessdate =2007-04-15 }}</ref> and other supporters call for more services to be provided for male victims of domestic violence.<ref name = "Men need help too"/> Critics of the CTS dispute its reliability.<ref name=Taft_et_al> Taft, Angela, Kelsey Hegarty and Michael Flood, 'Are men and women equally violent to intimate partners?' in ''Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health'' Volume 25 Issue 6 Page 498-500, December 2001</ref><ref name=Flood06/><ref name=Archer> Archer, John, 'Assessment of the reliability of the Conflict Tactics Scale: A meta-analytic review', ''Journal of Interpersonal Violence'', 14(12), December 1999, pp. 1263-1289</ref> Michael Flood states that the CTS definitions of domestic violence obscure "variations in the meaning, consequences, and context of violent behaviors in families and relationships."<ref name=Flood06>Flood, Michael, 'The Debate Over Men’s Versus Women’s Family Violence' in ''Australian Institute of Judicial Administration'', Family Violence Conference, Adelaide, February 23rd to 24th, 2006</ref> | |||
| Supporters of the fathers' rights movement propose that domestic violence and child abuse must be adjudicated as criminal assault, observing due process protections, and that government funding for programs addressing these issues must be made contingent on such protections.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 298"/> | |||
| ===Parenting time interference=== | ===Parenting time interference=== | ||
| {{ |
{{See also|Gatekeeper parent|Parental alienation syndrome}} | ||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement state that some mothers interfere with the father's parenting time and that such interference should be stopped.<ref name = "Parenting Time Interference a problem for dads">{{cite web | |||
| | coauthors = Thompson, Dianna and Sacks, Glenn | |||
| |title=Equal Parents Week Highlights Need for Family Court Reform | |||
| |publisher=GlennSacks.Com also Lansing State Journal 2002-09-26 | |||
| | date = | |||
| | url =http://glennsacks.com/equal_parents_week_pf.htm | |||
| | accessdate =2007-03-15 }}</ref> They state that parenting time interference can result from the custodial parent's relocation beyond a practical distance from the noncustodial parent and they campaign for a rebuttable presumption prohibiting such relocations.<ref name="Move Away">{{cite web | |||
| | title =AB 400 Will Help Wisconsin's Children of Divorce | |||
| | coauthers =Jeffery Leving and Glenn Sacks | |||
| | publisher =Glenn Sacks | |||
| | date =2005-06-17 | |||
| | url =http://www.glennsacks.com/ab_400_will.htm | |||
| |accessdate=2007-05-12 }}</ref> | |||
| ] states that some mothers interfere with the father's parenting time and that such interference should be stopped.<ref name="Parenting Time Interference a problem for dads">{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=D |last2=Sacks |first2=G |title=Equal Parents Week Highlights Need for Family Court Reform |publisher=GlennSacks.Com |date=2002-09-26 |url=http://glennsacks.com/equal_parents_week_pf.htm |access-date=2007-03-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214213644/http://www.glennsacks.com/equal_parents_week_pf.htm |archive-date=14 December 2006}}</ref> Sacks and ] state that parenting time interference can result from the custodial parent's relocation beyond a practical distance from the noncustodial parent and they campaign for a rebuttable presumption prohibiting such relocations.<ref name="Move Away">{{cite web |title=AB 400 Will Help Wisconsin's Children of Divorce |first1=Jeffery |last1=Leving |first2=Glenn |last2=Sacks |publisher=glennsacks.com |date=2005-06-17 |url=http://www.glennsacks.com/ab_400_will.htm |access-date=2007-05-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210014141/http://www.glennsacks.com/ab_400_will.htm |archive-date=10 February 2007}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement also state that parental alienation is a well-documented phenomenon and that ] is a valid syndrome<ref name=Ottaman/><ref name = "Validity Amid Controversy">{{cite web |last=Bone |first=J. Michael | authorlink = |title=Parental Alienation Syndrome: Examining the Validity Amid Controversy |publisher=Parental-Alienation.Com - The Family Law Section, Vol. XX, No. 1, Fall/Winter 2003, p 24-27 |date=Fall/Winter 2003 | url =http://parental-alienation.com/articles/article0004.htm | accessdate =2007-05-04 }}</ref> in which a child is alienated by a parent against the other parent for the purpose of gaining or retaining full custody of the children, and they offer advice to fathers about what to do if their access to their children is affected by parental alienation.<ref name = "Parental Alienation Syndrome">{{cite web |last=Hayward |first=Stan | authorlink = |title=A guide to the parental alienation syndrome |publisher=UK Men and Father's Rights | date = | url =http://www.coeffic.demon.co.uk/pas.htm | accessdate =2007-03-15 }}</ref> | |||
| Fathers' rights activists have also advocated for the inclusion of parental alienation syndrome, a proposed syndrome developed by ] that alleges unjustified disruption of the relationship between a parent and a child is caused by the other parent.<ref> | |||
| Parental alienation syndrome is not actually well supported by scientific research and has minimal acceptance in the mental health and legal scholarly communities,<ref name = Bow2009>{{cite journal | last = Bow | first = JN | coauthors = Gould JW; Flens JR | year = 2009 | title = Examining Parental Alienation in Child Custody Cases: A Survey of Mental Health and Legal Professionals | journal = The American Journal of Family Therapy | volume = 37 | issue = 2 | pages = 127—145 | doi = 10.1080/01926180801960658 }}</ref> and it is not considered a syndrome by any appropriate governing body including the American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association.<ref name=angry/><ref name=Ottaman/><ref name="Stmt on PAS">{{cite web | title =Statement on Parental Alienation Syndrome | publisher =American Psychological Association | date =2005-10-28 | url =http://www.apa.org/releases/passyndrome.html | accessdate =2007-03-11 }}</ref><ref name=Hoult2006 >{{cite journal | last = Hoult | first = JA | year = 2006 | title = The Evidentiary Admissibility of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Science, Law, and Policy | journal = Children's Legal Rights Journal | volume = 26 | issue = 1 | url = http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=910267 }}</ref> It has also been described as a legal strategy, and one that has been rejected by some members of the legal community, including the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.<ref name=Ottaman/><ref name="legal">{{cite press release | title =Child Abuse Experts Applaud Legal Community for Rejecting Parental Alienation Syndrome | publisher =The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence | date =2006-07-12 | url =http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/PR_PAS.html | accessdate =2007-03-12 }}</ref> Critics and members of the fathers' rights movement agree about the danger that claims of parental alienation syndrome may be used by abusive fathers as a weapon against appropriately protective mothers in order to win custody.<ref name="legal"/><ref name = "Protect Children from Alienation">{{cite web | coauthors =Jeffery M. Leving and Glenn Sacks | authorlink = |title=Protect Children from Alienation |publisher=Ifeminists.Com |date=2006-07-12 | url =http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0712sacks.html | accessdate =2007-10-13 }}</ref> | |||
| * {{cite web |url=http://padsupport.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/new-campaign-ask-dsm-to-include-parental-alienation-in-upcoming-edition-by-glenn-sacks-ma-for-fathers-families/ |title=New Campaign: Ask DSM to Include Parental Alienation in Upcoming Edition: By Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families |last1=Sacks |first1=G |author-link=Glenn Sacks |last2=Holstein |first2=N |date=2009-12-02 |publisher=Parental Alienation Disorder Support |access-date=2010-06-08}} | |||
| * {{cite web |url=http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/?page_id=5372 |title=Campaign: Ask DSM to Include Parental Alienation in Upcoming Edition |last=Sacks |first=G |author-link=Glenn Sacks |date=2009-12-01 |website=] |access-date=2010-06-08}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} | |||
| * {{cite web |url=http://www.fathersandfamilies.org/?p=1624 |title=DSM V & Parental Alienation Syndrome |date=2009-02-17 |website=] |access-date=2010-06-08}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Neither PAS nor PAD are accepted by any legal or mental health organization.<ref name="Comerford2008">{{cite book |editor-last=O'Brien |editor-first=Jodi A. |last=Comerford |first=Lynn |title=Encyclopedia of Gender and Society |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif |chapter=Fatherhood Movements |year=2008 |pages=283–88 |isbn=978-1-4129-0916-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nyHS4WyUKEC&pg=PT317}}</ref><ref name="Jordan2009">{{cite journal |last=Jordan |first=Ana |year=2009 |title='Dads aren't Demons. Mums aren't Madonnas.' Constructions of fatherhood and masculinities in the (real) Fathers 4 Justice campaign |journal=Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=419–433 |doi=10.1080/09649060903430280 |s2cid=145716897}}</ref> Despite lobbying, parental alienation syndrome was not included in the draft of the DSM manual that was released in 2010,<ref name="Rotstein2010">{{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10046/1036018-114.stm |title=Mental health professionals getting update on definitions |last=Rotstein |first=G |date=2010-02-15 |work=] |access-date=2010-03-02}}</ref> though parental alienation disorder does appear as a "Condition Proposed by Outside Sources" to be reviewed by a working group.<ref name=CPOS>{{cite web |url=http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/ConditionsProposedbyOutsideSources.aspx |title=Conditions Proposed by Outside Sources |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |year=2010 |access-date=2010-03-20}}</ref> | |||
| ===No-fault divorce=== | ===No-fault divorce=== | ||
| {{Main|No-fault divorce}} | {{Main|No-fault divorce}} | ||
| ] states that laws establishing no-fault divorce did not stop at removing the requirement that grounds be cited for a divorce, so as to allow for divorce by "mutual consent"; it also allows either spouse to end the marriage without any agreement or fault by the other.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=45}} ] states that no-fault divorce should be referred to as unilateral divorce.<ref name=Keynote>{{cite web |title=Phyllis Schlafly's keynote address |publisher=American Coalition of Fathers and Children |year=2006 |url=http://www.acfc.org/media/video/2006nflrc/ka/ka-schlafly.wmv |format=wmv |last=Schlafly |first=P |author-link=Phyllis Schlafly |access-date=2007-05-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926002543/http://www.acfc.org/media/video/2006nflrc/ka/ka-schlafly.wmv |archive-date=26 September 2007}}</ref> | |||
| Stephen Baskerville states that laws establishing no-fault divorce can be seen as one of the boldest social experiments in modern history that have effectively ended marriage as a legal contract.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=46}} He states that it is not possible to form a binding agreement to create a family, adding that government officials can, at the request of one spouse, end a marriage over the objection of the other.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=46}} He states that no-fault divorce has left fathers with no protection against what he describes as the confiscation of their children.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=44}} | |||
| Baskerville states that fault has entered through the back door in the form of child custody hearings, and that the forcibly divorced spouse ("defendant") is presumed guilty.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 76-77">]</ref> Similarly, some other members of the fathers' rights movement believe that men fail to get appropriate recognition of their innocence as a result of no-fault divorce.<ref name=kaye/> Baskerville describes a proposed amendment of no-fault divorce laws that would create a rebuttable presumption that custody of any minor children be awarded to the respondent regardless of gender. He also notes the predictions of Tim O'Brien, the author of the proposed amendment and a ], who states that the proposed amendment would result in a plummeting divorce rate and reduced negative consequences for children.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 306">]</ref> | |||
| Baskerville states that fault has entered through the back door in the form of child custody hearings, and that the forcibly divorced spouse ("defendant") is presumed guilty.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=76–77}} Similarly, other members of the fathers' rights movement believe that men fail to get appropriate recognition of their innocence as a result of no-fault divorce.<ref name="Kaye 1998b"/> | |||
| Some members of the fathers' rights movement propose "reasonable limits" on no-fault divorce when children are involved.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 298">]</ref> Some members support the end of the no-fault principle in child custody and divorce decisions.<ref name=kaye/><ref name="khader">{{cite journal|last=Khader|first=Serene J. |date=October–December 2008|title=When Equality Justifies Women’s Subjection: Luce Irigaray’s Critique of Equality and the Fathers’ Rights Movement|journal=Hypatia:A Journal of Feminist Philosophy|publisher=Indiana University Press|volume=23|issue=4|pages=pp. 48–74|oclc=doi = 10.2979/HYP.2008.23.4.48|doi=10.2979/HYP.2008.23.4.48}}</ref><ref name= Cheltenham>{{cite web | title =Restoring Control over matrimonial and family law | date = September 2004 | url =http://www.ukmm.org.uk/publics/rcomfl/report.htm |accessdate=2008-12-07 | coauthors = The Cheltenham Group }}</ref> Some members of the fathers' rights movement state that the availability of divorce should also be limited.<ref name=kaye/> | |||
| Stephen Baskerville proposes "reasonable limits" on no-fault divorce when children are involved.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=298}} Some members of the FRM support the end of the no-fault principle in child custody and divorce decisions.<ref name="Kaye 1998b"/><ref name="Khader">{{cite journal |last=Khader |first=Serene J. |date=October–December 2008 |title=When Equality Justifies Women's Subjection: Luce Irigaray's Critique of Equality and the Fathers' Rights Movement |journal=Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy |publisher=Indiana University Press |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=48–74 |doi=10.2979/HYP.2008.23.4.48}}</ref><ref name="Cheltenham">{{cite web |title=Restoring Control over matrimonial and family law |date=September 2004 |url=http://www.ukmm.org.uk/publics/rcomfl/report.htm |publisher=The Cheltenham Group |access-date=2008-12-07}}</ref> Some members of the fathers' rights movement state that the availability of divorce should also be limited.<ref name="Kaye 1998b"/> | |||
| ===Government involvement=== | ===Government involvement=== | ||
| Stephen Baskerville states that governments throughout the United States and other democracies are engaged, by accident or design, in a campaign against fathers and fatherhood, which in his view, lies at the root of a larger problem that threatens marriage, destroys families, devastates the lives of many children, and undermines ], ] and ].{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|pp=18, 268, 287}} Baskerville also states that it is the removal of the father from the family through divorce that initiates problems for which the government is perceived as the solution rather than the problem, and that these problems are then used to justify the continued existence and expansion of the government.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=287}} Members of the fathers' rights movement state that modern divorce involves government officials invading parents' private lives, evicting people from their homes, seizing their property, and taking away their children.{{sfnp|Baskerville|2007|p=20}}<ref name="Gavanas 2002">{{cite book |last=Gavanas |first=Anna |title=Making Men Into Fathers: Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood |year=2002 |editor-last=Hobson |editor-first=B |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZHeEA4syMUC&pg=PA220 |page=220 |isbn=978-0-511-02952-3 |chapter=The Fatherhood Responsibility Movement: the centrality of marriage, work and male sexuality in reconstructions of masculinity and fatherhood}}</ref> | |||
| {{See also|Individual rights|group rights}} | |||
| ===Parental and reproductive rights=== | |||
| Stephen Baskerville states that governments throughout the United States and other democracies are engaged, by accident or design, in a campaign against fathers and fatherhood, which in his view, lies at the root of a larger problem that threatens marriage, destroys families, devastates the lives of many children, and undermines ], ] and ].<ref>]</ref> Baskerville also states that it is the removal of the father from the family through divorce that initiates problems for which the government is perceived as the solution rather than the problem, and that these problems are then used to justify the continued existence and expansion of the government.<ref>]</ref> Members of the fathers' rights movement state that modern divorce involves government officials invading parents' private lives, evicting people from their homes, seizing their property, and taking away their children.<ref name="Taken Into Custody 20">]</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gavanas |first=Anna |title=Making Men Into Fathers: Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood |year=2002 |editor=Barbara Hobson |publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages= 220|isbn=9780511029523, 0511029527 | url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=8ZHeEA4syMUC&pg=PA220&dq=fathers%27+rights&lr=&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a }}</ref> | |||
| {{See also|Parents' rights movement|Planned Parenthood v. Casey}} | |||
| Fathers' rights advocates have worked for the right of unwed, otherwise fit, fathers to get custody if the mother tries to have their child ] by a third party or if child welfare authorities place the child in ].<ref name="Williams 2002"/><ref name="Shanley">{{cite book |last=Shanley |first=Mary Lyndon |title=Making babies, making families: what matters most in an age of reproductive technologies, surrogacy, adoption, and same-sex and unwed parents |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GnloZRnWOAC&pg=PA44 |pages=46–47 |isbn=978-0-8070-4409-4}}</ref> Fathers' rights activists seek a gender-neutral approach in which unwed men and women would have equal rights in adoption issues, an approach that critics state does not sufficiently acknowledge the different biological roles in procreation and pregnancy, and the disparity in society's social and economic structures.<ref name="Shanley"/><ref name="isbn0-415-91027-7">{{cite book |last=Fineman |first=Martha |title=The neutered mother, the sexual family, and other twentieth century tragedies |url=https://archive.org/details/neuteredmotherse00fine |url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-415-91027-9}}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2016}} In the US, some states have passed laws to protect the rights of unwed fathers to custody. Courts have increasingly supported these rights, though judges often require evidence that the father has shown interest in, and given financial and emotional support to, the mother during pregnancy.<ref name="Williams 2002"/><ref name="Godwin">{{cite book |last1=Godwin |first1=Raymond |last2=Beauvais-Godwin |first2=Laura |title=The Complete Adoption Book: Everything You Need to Know to Adopt a Child |publisher=Adams Media Corporation |location=Avon, MA |year=2005 |url=https://archive.org/details/completeadoption00beau_0/page/96 |url-access=registration |pages=96–97 |isbn=978-1-59337-369-6}}</ref> | |||
| ===Unwarranted termination of parental rights === | |||
| {{main|Parents' rights movement}} | |||
| Parents' rights advocates state that many parents' parental rights are unnecessarily terminated, and that children are separated from fathers and mothers and adopted through the actions of family courts and government social service agencies seeking to meet their own targets, rather than looking at the merits of each case.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| | title =Unwarranted Adoptions | |||
| | publisher =BBC | |||
| | date = | |||
| | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3662494.stm | |||
| |accessdate=2007-06-05 }}</ref> | |||
| Some fathers' rights advocates have sought the right to prevent women from having an ] without the father's consent, based on the idea that it is discriminatory for men not to have the ability to participate in a decision to terminate a pregnancy.<ref name="Williams 2002"/><ref name="Sex & Society">{{cite book |author=<!--none given--> |title=Sex and Society, Volume 2 |year=2009 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish Reference |isbn=978-0-7614-7907-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YtsxeWE7VD0C&pg=PA596 |page=596}}</ref> This option is not supported by any laws in the United States.<ref name="Buchanan 2007"/> Fathers' rights advocates Jeffrey M. Leving and Glenn Sacks have stated that "choice for men is a flawed solution."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=3&num=7589 |title="Weiser"ect a Man's Choice, Too |last1=Leving |first1=Jeffery M. |last2=Sacks |first2=Glenn |date=9 August 2006 |publisher=National Ledger |access-date=2010-06-06 |archive-date=13 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413235003/http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=3&num=7589 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Advocates have also expressed the desire to have a ] in which the option exists to sever all responsibility for child support for an unwanted child. Commenting on this, legal scholar Kim Buchanan states, "The only way men's lack of a pregnancy opt-out can be framed as a gender injustice is to accept that men have a right to visit the consequences of unprotected sex (or contraceptive failure) exclusively on their female partners."<ref name="Buchanan 2007">{{cite journal |last=Buchanan |first=KS |title=Lawrence v. Geduldig: Regulating Women's Sexuality |journal=Emory Law Journal |year=2007 |volume=56 |pages=1235–1290 |url=http://www.law.emory.edu/fileadmin/journals/elj/56/4/Buchanan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627084232/http://www.law.emory.edu/fileadmin/journals/elj/56/4/Buchanan.pdf |archive-date=27 June 2010}}</ref> Some feminists, however, such as former president of the feminist organization ], attorney ], have supported the ] concept, stating "if a woman makes a unilateral decision to bring pregnancy to term, and the biological father does not, and cannot, share in this decision, he should not be liable for 21 years of support... autonomous women making independent decisions about their lives should not expect men to finance their choice.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.salon.com/2000/10/19/mens_choice/ |title=A man's right to choose |last1=Young |first1=Kathy |date=19 October 2000 |work=] |access-date=10 May 2011}}</ref> | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement state that government employees harm children by disregarding the loving bonds they share with their fathers, when social workers place children in the foster care system without informing their fathers.<ref>{{cite news | title =Choosing foster parents over fathers | last = Leving | first = JM | coauthors = Sacks G | publisher = ] | date =2007-07-11 | url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070711/news_lz1e11leving.html |accessdate=2007-10-05 }}</ref> | |||
| === |
===Parental leave=== | ||
| {{Main|Paternity leave}} | |||
| Fathers' and parents' rights campaigners state that parenting time should be used to replace contact, visitation and residence. The term visitation is particularly objectionable to fathers' rights activists, who believe that this term reinforces the idea that only one parent raises the children. It is perceived that there is a stigma associated with treating one parent as resident and the other as non-resident. | |||
| Pressure from father's rights groups, among others, have in several countries resulted in gender-neutral program(s) eligible for parental leave. While historically, maternity benefits were given to mothers based on the physical biology of childbirth, including the need to protect the health and financial well-being of the woman and child, parental leave benefits emphasize gender-neutral child-rearing, the benefits of the participation of fathers in children's care, and redress discrimination against men who wish to be involved with their infants.<ref>Baker, Maureen, Parental Benefit Policies and the Gendered Division of Labor The Social Service Review, Vol. 71, No. 1 (March 1997), pp. 51–71 </ref><ref name="Reese 2004">{{cite book |last1=Reese |first1=Laura A. |last2=Gottfried |first2=Heidi |title=Equity in the workplace: gendering workplace policy analysis |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lexington, Mass |year=2004 |pages=187–88 |isbn=978-0-7391-0688-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dK5p625del8C&pg=PA187}}</ref> | |||
| ==Criticism== | |||
| Members of the fathers' rights movement state that child support should be referred to as parental transfer payments.<ref name = Keynote/> | |||
| Advocates of ] argue against ] frequently referenced by Fathers' right advocates.<ref name="a856">{{cite journal | last=Boyd | first=Susan B. | title=Is Equality Enough? Fathers' Rights and Women's Rights Advocacy | journal=International Series in Law and Society | date=27 May 2008 | ssrn=1137678 | url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1137678 | access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> | |||
| The ] investment is seen by some as one justification for ] between Fathers' rights and ].<ref name="b412">{{cite journal | title=Equality, Gestational Erasure, and the Constitutional Law of Parenthood | |||
| == Notable supporters == | |||
| | journal=J. Am. Acad. Matrimonial Law. | date=8 March 2021 | url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jaaml35&div=6&id=&page= | access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> | |||
| Public supporters of the fathers' rights movement and their issues, include divorced (and subsequently widowed) ] founder, ],<ref>{{cite web | title =Bob Geldof | publisher =Shared Parenting Information Group (SPIG) UK | url = http://www.spig.clara.net/geldof.htm | accessdate =2007-05-01 }}</ref> Irish writer and journalist ] and ], former president of the ].<ref>{{cite web | title =Welcome to California Shared Parenting Alliance |publisher=California Shared Parenting Alliance | url =http://cspaonline.org/ | accessdate =2007-03-18 }}</ref><ref name ="Family law reform helps children">{{cite news | last = Fittro | first = T | coauthors = Baskerville S | title =Family law reform helps children | publisher = Sunday Gazette Mail | url =http://www.wvgazette.com/section//2007022517 | accessdate =2007-03-18 }}</ref> | |||
| === Significant writers === | |||
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| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| {{Portal|Feminism}} | |||
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| *]- ] (Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, India, Australia) | |||
| == |
==References== | ||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| *{{cite book |author=O'Connell, Diane; Braver, Sanford L. |title=Divorced dads: shattering the myths |publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam |location=New York |year=1998 |pages= |isbn=0-87477-862-X |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}} | |||
| == |
==Works cited== | ||
| * {{cite book |last=Baskerville |first=Stephen |title=Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family |publisher=Cumberland House Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58182-594-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781581825947 |url-access=registration}} | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| * {{cite book |editor1-last=Collier |editor1-first=Richard |editor2-last=Sheldon |editor2-first=Sally |title=Fathers' Rights Activism and Law Reform in Comparative Perspective |year=2006a |publisher=Hart Publishing |isbn=978-1-84113-629-5}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Jocelyn E. |title=Defiant Dads: Fathers' Rights Activists in America |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8014-4690-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/defiantdadsfathe00crow/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Jocelyn E. |title=The Politics of Child Support in America |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-521-53511-3 |url=}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Parke |first1=RD |last2=Brott |first2=AA |title=Throwaway Dads: The Myths and Barriers that Keep Men from Being the Fathers They Want to Be |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-395-86041-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/throwawaydadsmyt00park/page/n8/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}} | |||
| == |
==Further reading== | ||
| * {{cite news |last1=Collier |first1=Richard |last2=Sheldon |first2=Sally |title=Unfamiliar territory: The issue of a father's rights and responsibilities covers more than just the media-highlighted subject of access to his children |newspaper=The Guardian |date=1 November 2006b |url=http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1935970,00.html |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080520124643/http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0%2C%2C1935970%2C00.html |archive-date=20 May 2008}} | |||
| *<cite id = Baskerville2007>{{cite book | last =Baskerville | first = S |title=Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family |publisher= Cumberland House Publishing |location= |year=2007 |pages= |isbn=1-58182-594-3 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=| url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1581825943/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link}} | |||
| *<cite id = FRALR>{{cite book |last =Collier | first = R | coauthors = Sheldon S (eds.)|title=Fathers' Rights Activism and Law Reform in Comparative Perspective |year=2006 |publisher= Hart Publishing | isbn = 1841136298 | url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1841136298/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link}} | |||
| *<cite id = Farrell2001>{{cite book|last=Farrell |first=Warren |coauthors=|title=Father and Child Reunion |publisher=Putnam|date=2001|isbn=978-1585420759}} | |||
| *<cite id = Parke1999>{{cite book|last=Parke |first=RD |coauthors=Brot AA |title=Throwaway Dads: The Myths and Barriers that Keep Men from Being the Fathers They Want to be|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|date=1999|isbn=0395860415|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=uKN8gCzWFscC&printsec=frontcover}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 12:31, 3 November 2024
Social movement interested in family law
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The fathers' rights movement is a social movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to family law, including child custody and child support, that affect fathers and their children. Many of its members are fathers who desire to share the parenting of their children equally with their children's mothers—either after divorce or marital separation. The movement includes men as well as women, often the second wives of divorced fathers or other family members of men who have had some engagement with family law. Most Fathers' rights advocates argue for formal gender equality.
Demographics
The fathers' rights movement exists almost exclusively in industrialized countries, where divorce has become more common. It emerged in the West from the 1960s onwards as part of the men's movement with organizations such as Families Need Fathers, which originated in the 1970s. In the late twentieth century, the growth of the internet permitted wider discussion, publicity and activism about issues of interest to fathers' rights activists. Factors thought to contribute to the development of the fathers' rights movement include shifting household demographics brought about by rising divorce and falling marriage rates, changes in the understanding and expectations of fatherhood, motherhood and childhood as well as shifts in how legal systems impact families.
Fathers' rights groups in the West are primarily composed of white, middle or working class, heterosexual men. Members tend to be politically conservative but do not share a single set of political or social views and are highly diverse in their goals and methods. Members of the fathers' rights movement advocate for strong relationships with their children and focus on a narrowly defined set of issues based on the concerns of divorced or divorcing men. Women, often new partners including second wives or other family members of men who have had some engagement with family law and mothers without custody, are also members of the fathers' rights movement, and fathers' rights activists emphasize this. Two studies of fathers' rights groups in North America found that fifteen percent of their members were women.
The fathers' rights movement organizations Families Need Fathers and the Lone Fathers Association have campaigned for fathers' rights over many decades. Longer lasting organizations appear to result from the longterm dedication and commitment of key individuals. Other fathers' rights groups have tended to form and dissolve quickly. Internal disagreements over ideology and tactics are common, and members tend not to remain with the groups after they have been helped.
Political and social views
The fathers' rights movement has both liberal and conservative branches, with different viewpoints about how men and women compare. Although both groups agree on the victimization and discrimination against men, they disagree on why men and women differ (nature versus nurture) and traditional gender roles. The liberal version believes the differences between the genders are due to culture and supports equality between men and women; in contrast, the conservative branch believes in traditional patriarchal/complementary families and that the differences between genders are due to biology. Ross Parke and Armin Brott view the fathers' rights movement as one of three strands within the men's movement that deal almost exclusively with fatherhood, the other two being the good fathers' movement and groups forming the Christian Men's movement – the Promise Keepers being the largest.
Warren Farrell, a veteran of the women's, men's and fathers' movement since the 1970s, describes the fathers' rights movement as part of a larger "gender transition movement" and thinks that, similar to women in the 1960s, fathers are transitioning from gender-based to more flexible family roles. Farrell also believes the movement helps children by increasing the number who are raised equally by both parents, which in turn increases the children's social, academic, psychological, and physical benefits—in his opinion it becomes a children's rights issue with fathers acting as advocates.
Members of the fathers' rights movement assert that fathers are discriminated against as a result of gender bias in family law; that custody decisions have been a denial of equal rights; and that the influence of money has corrupted family law. The movement's primary focus has been to campaign (including lobbying and research) for formal equal rights for fathers, and sometimes for children, and to campaign for changes to family law related to child custody, support and maintenance, domestic violence and the family court system itself. Fathers' rights groups also provide emotional and practical support for members during separation and divorce. The fathers' rights movement is considered to be a part of the broader manosphere, a set of Internet forums promoting masculinity along with opposition to feminism.
Some fathers' rights groups have become frustrated with the slow pace of traditional campaigning for law reform; groups such as the originally UK-based Fathers 4 Justice have become increasingly vocal and visible, undertaking public demonstrations that have attracted public attention and influenced the politics of family justice. Following protests, some fathers' rights activists have been convicted of offenses such as harassment and assault. Fathers' rights groups have condemned threats and violent acts, with Matt O'Connor of Fathers 4 Justice asserting that his organization was committed to "peaceful, non-violent direct action" and that members caught engaging in intimidation would be expelled. An example of this was in January 2006, when Matt temporarily disbanded the group after it was revealed that a fringe subsection of members were plotting to kidnap Leo Blair, the young son of Tony Blair, the former UK Prime Minister. According to the police, the plot never progressed beyond the "chattering stage". Four months later the group was refounded.
Legal scholar Richard Collier writes that fathers' rights activists often base their arguments for reform on "anecdotal evidence and assertion" rather than "evidence-backed research", and argues that implementing their proposed changes to the law "may have potentially deleterious consequences" for mothers and children. Collier, along with researchers Martha Fineman and Michael Flood, have said the movement perpetuates negative stereotypes of women as hostile, deceptive, vindictive, and irresponsible as well as the stereotype that women are out to take advantage of men financially. Collier links such negative views of women with ideas of a crisis of masculinity within the broader men's movement, often in tandem with "virulent" anti-feminism.
Main issues
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Family court system
See also: Family lawMembers of the fathers' rights movement state that family courts are biased against fathers and shared custody. Critics of the movement argue that fathers' groups ignore actual trends in family law that seek to affirm the symbolic importance of fathers within a heteronormative family structure.
Stephen Baskerville, president of the American Coalition of Fathers and Children and fathers' rights advocate, defines court-determined custody as not a right to parent one's children but as the power to prevent the other partner from parenting. He states that the outcome of divorce is overly one-sided and is initiated by mothers in more than two-thirds of cases – especially when children are involved. He also states that divorce provides advantages for women such as automatic custody of the children and financial benefits in the form of child support payments. Members of the FR movement also state that family courts are slow to help fathers enforce their parental rights, and are expensive and time-consuming.
Baskerville has also stated that family courts are secretive, censoring and punitive towards fathers who criticize them. He also claims that employees and activists within the courts support and benefit from the separation of children from their parents and that family law today represents civil rights abuses and intrusive perversion of government power.
Others contest these conclusions, stating that family courts are biased in favor of fathers and that the lower percentage of separated fathers as custodial parents is a result of choices made by fathers rather than bias of family courts. Other writers state that fathers' rights activists incorrectly maintain that the courts are biased against fathers while in reality the vast majority of cases are settled by private agreement and fathers voluntarily relinquish primary custody of their children, which explains the lower percentage of custodial fathers; and that the "bias" of courts is in favour of the primary caregiver, not mothers per se. Collier writes that fathers' rights activists "misread the gendered nature of law's regulation of shared parenting historically". According to sociologist Michael Flood, father's rights activists have exaggerated the disparity in custody awards between mothers and fathers, and ignored the fact that in the vast majority of cases, fathers voluntarily relinquish custody of their children through private arrangements; either because they are willing to do so, or because they do not expect a favorable court ruling.
Custody and parenting
Main articles: Child custody, shared parenting, and best interestsAccording to the BBC, "Custody law is perhaps the best-known area of men's rights activism". Journal Of Divorce and Remarriage a section written by Linda Nielsen, "One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and the family court system is what type of parenting plan is most beneficial for children after divorce". Stating that "children need two parents" and that "children have a fundamental human right to an opportunity and relationship with both their mother and father", members of the fathers' rights movement call for greater equality in parental responsibility following separation and divorce. They call for laws creating a rebuttable presumption of 50/50 shared custody after divorce or separation, so that children would spend equal time with each parent unless there were reasons against it. They point to studies showing that children in shared custody settings are better adjusted and have fewer social problems such as low academic achievement, crime, substance abuse, depression and suicide, and state that shared parenting is in fact in the best interests of the child. Warren Farrell states that for children, equally shared parenting with three conditions (the child has about equal time with mom and dad, the parents live close enough to each other that the child does not need to forfeit friends or activities when visiting the other parent, and there is no bad-mouthing) is the second best family arrangement to the intact two-parent family, followed by primary father custody and then primary mother custody, and he adds that if shared parenting cannot be agreed upon, children on average are better off psychologically, socially, academically, and physically, have higher levels of empathy and assertiveness, if their father is their primary custodial parent rather than their mother.
Members of the fathers' rights movement and their critics disagree about the correlation of negative developmental outcomes for children to sole custody situations. Social scientist V. C. McLoyd states that father absence covaries with other relevant family characteristics such as the lack of an income from a male adult, the absence of a second adult, and the lack of support from a second extended family system and conclude that it is the negative effects of poverty, and not the absence of a father, that result in negative developmental outcomes. On the other hand, Professor Craig Hart states that although the consequences of poverty and having a single parent are interrelated, each is a risk factor with independent effects on children, and Silverstein and Auerbach state that the negative outcomes for children in sole custody situations correlate more strongly to "fatherlessness" than to any other variable including poverty.
Members of the fathers' rights movement criticize the best interests of the child standard currently used in many countries for making custody decisions, which they describe as highly subjective and based on the personal prejudices of family court judges and court-appointed child custody evaluators, and that courts are abusive when more than half custody is taken away from a willing, competent parent. Members of the fathers' rights movement including Ned Holstein state that a rebuttable presumption of shared parenting is supported by a majority of citizens. Baskerville writes that proposals to enact shared parenting laws are opposed by divorce lawyers, and he says that "radical feminist" groups oppose shared parenting because of the possibility of domestic violence and child abuse.
Mo Yee Lee, after conducting a study of mothers and children, concluded that there are some advantages to joint custody arrangements; and overall, the degree of conflict between parents impacted the children more than the custody arrangement. Some feminist groups have stated that if shared parenting were ordered, fathers would not provide their share of the daily care for the children. The National Organization For Women also questions the motives of those promoting shared parenting, noting that it would result in substantial decreases in or termination of child support payments.
Stephen Baskerville states that shared parenting has been demonstrated to reduce parental conflict by requiring parents to cooperate and compromise, and that it is the lack of constraint by one parent resulting from the ability of that parent to exclude the other, that results in increased parental conflict. He further states that only when child support guidelines exceed true costs do parents ask for or seek to prevent changes in parenting time for financial reasons, adding that any argument that a parent is asking for increased parenting time to reduce child support is at the same time an argument that the other parent is making a profit from child support.
Stephen Baskerville describes no-fault or unilateral divorce based on no fault as a power grab by the parent that initiates the divorce and he also states that fathers have a constitutional right to shared control of their children and through political action they intend to establish parental authority for both parents and for the well-being of their children. Members of the fathers' rights movement state that a rebuttable presumption for shared parenting preserves a child's protection against unfit or violent parents.
Pro-feminist sociologist Michael Flood states that supporters of shared parenting use it only as a symbolic issue related to "rights", "equality", and "fairness" and that the father's rights movement is not actually interested in the shared care of their children or the children's wishes, adding that fathers' rights groups have advocated policies and strategies that are harmful to mothers and children and also harmful to the fathers themselves. In contrast, social scientist Sanford Braver states that the bad divorced dad image is a myth that has led to harmful and dangerous social policies.
Some fathers' rights activists object to the term "visitation", which they see as denigrating to their level of authority as parents, and instead prefer the use of "parenting time".
Child support
See also: Child support and paternity fraudFrom the source Northwestern University Law Review. Authors Tait, Anderson explained that "child support is a ubiquitous kind of debt, common to all income and wealth levels, with data showing that approximately 30% of the U.S. adult population has either been subjected to pay child support or has received it." Members of the fathers' rights movement campaign for the reform of child support guidelines, which in most Western countries are based on maintaining the children's standard of living after separation, and on the assumption that the children live with one parent and never with the other. Activists state that the current guidelines are arbitrary, provide mothers with financial incentives to divorce, and leave fathers with little discretionary income to enjoy with the children during their parenting time. In the US, fathers' rights activists propose guidelines based on a Cost Shares model, in which child support would be based on the average income of the parents and the estimated child costs incurred by both parents. Laura W. Morgan has stated that it focuses on the relative living standards of divorcing parents rather than the best interests of the children and financially supporting them at the same level after divorce.
Solangel Maldonado states that the law should value a broader definition of fathering for poor fathers by reducing the focus on collecting child support and encouraging the informal contributions (such as groceries, clothes, toys, time with the children) of these fathers by counting these contributions as child support.
Members of the fathers' rights movement state that child support should be terminated under certain conditions, such as if the custodial parent limits access to the children by moving away against the wishes of the other parent, gives fraudulent testimony, or if paternity fraud is discovered, adding that two men should not have to pay child support for the same child.
Stephen Baskerville states that it is often difficult for fathers in financial hardship or who take on a larger caregiving role with their children to have their child support payments lowered. He also states that unemployment is the primary cause of child support arrears, and further states that these arrearages make the father subject to arrest and imprisonment without due process.
Stephen Baskerville states that the purpose of child support should be publicly determined, and enforcement programs must be designed to serve that purpose, observing the due process of law.
Some legal scholars and feminist writers have said that the fathers' rights movement puts the interests of fathers above the interests of children, for example by suggesting that it is acceptable for fathers to withdraw child support if they are not given access to their children, or by lobbying for changes in family law that would allegedly heighten children's exposure to abusive fathers, and would allegedly further endanger mothers who are victims of domestic violence.
Supporters of the fathers' rights movement assert that some women make false claims of domestic violence, sexual or child abuse in order to gain an upper hand in divorce, custody disputes and/or prevent fathers from seeing their children, and they state that lawyers advise women to make such claims. They state that false claims of domestic violence and child abuse are encouraged by the inflammatory "win or lose" nature of child custody hearings, that men are presumed to be guilty rather than innocent by police and by the courts, Lawyers and advocates for abused women assert that family court proceedings are commonly accompanied with allegations of domestic violence because of the prevalence of domestic violence in society rather than as a result of false allegations of domestic violence. They also assert that domestic violence often begins or increases around the time of divorce or separation. Sociologist Michael Flood argues that fathers' rights groups have had a damaging impact on the field of domestic violence programming and policy by attempting to discredit female victims of violence, to wind back the legal protections available to victims and the sanctions imposed on perpetrators, and to undermine services for the victims of men's violence. Stephen Baskerville asserts that when child abuse occurs the perpetrator is not likely to be the father, and that child abuse most often occurs after the father has been separated from his children. Baskerville proposes that domestic violence and child abuse must be adjudicated as criminal assault, observing due process protections, and that government funding for programs addressing these issues must be made contingent on such protections.
Parenting time interference
See also: Gatekeeper parent and Parental alienation syndromeGlenn Sacks states that some mothers interfere with the father's parenting time and that such interference should be stopped. Sacks and Jeffery M. Leving state that parenting time interference can result from the custodial parent's relocation beyond a practical distance from the noncustodial parent and they campaign for a rebuttable presumption prohibiting such relocations.
Fathers' rights activists have also advocated for the inclusion of parental alienation syndrome, a proposed syndrome developed by Richard A. Gardner that alleges unjustified disruption of the relationship between a parent and a child is caused by the other parent. Neither PAS nor PAD are accepted by any legal or mental health organization. Despite lobbying, parental alienation syndrome was not included in the draft of the DSM manual that was released in 2010, though parental alienation disorder does appear as a "Condition Proposed by Outside Sources" to be reviewed by a working group.
No-fault divorce
Main article: No-fault divorceStephen Baskerville states that laws establishing no-fault divorce did not stop at removing the requirement that grounds be cited for a divorce, so as to allow for divorce by "mutual consent"; it also allows either spouse to end the marriage without any agreement or fault by the other. Phyllis Schlafly states that no-fault divorce should be referred to as unilateral divorce.
Stephen Baskerville states that laws establishing no-fault divorce can be seen as one of the boldest social experiments in modern history that have effectively ended marriage as a legal contract. He states that it is not possible to form a binding agreement to create a family, adding that government officials can, at the request of one spouse, end a marriage over the objection of the other. He states that no-fault divorce has left fathers with no protection against what he describes as the confiscation of their children.
Baskerville states that fault has entered through the back door in the form of child custody hearings, and that the forcibly divorced spouse ("defendant") is presumed guilty. Similarly, other members of the fathers' rights movement believe that men fail to get appropriate recognition of their innocence as a result of no-fault divorce.
Stephen Baskerville proposes "reasonable limits" on no-fault divorce when children are involved. Some members of the FRM support the end of the no-fault principle in child custody and divorce decisions. Some members of the fathers' rights movement state that the availability of divorce should also be limited.
Government involvement
Stephen Baskerville states that governments throughout the United States and other democracies are engaged, by accident or design, in a campaign against fathers and fatherhood, which in his view, lies at the root of a larger problem that threatens marriage, destroys families, devastates the lives of many children, and undermines parents, democracy and accountability. Baskerville also states that it is the removal of the father from the family through divorce that initiates problems for which the government is perceived as the solution rather than the problem, and that these problems are then used to justify the continued existence and expansion of the government. Members of the fathers' rights movement state that modern divorce involves government officials invading parents' private lives, evicting people from their homes, seizing their property, and taking away their children.
Parental and reproductive rights
See also: Parents' rights movement and Planned Parenthood v. CaseyFathers' rights advocates have worked for the right of unwed, otherwise fit, fathers to get custody if the mother tries to have their child adopted by a third party or if child welfare authorities place the child in foster care. Fathers' rights activists seek a gender-neutral approach in which unwed men and women would have equal rights in adoption issues, an approach that critics state does not sufficiently acknowledge the different biological roles in procreation and pregnancy, and the disparity in society's social and economic structures. In the US, some states have passed laws to protect the rights of unwed fathers to custody. Courts have increasingly supported these rights, though judges often require evidence that the father has shown interest in, and given financial and emotional support to, the mother during pregnancy.
Some fathers' rights advocates have sought the right to prevent women from having an abortion without the father's consent, based on the idea that it is discriminatory for men not to have the ability to participate in a decision to terminate a pregnancy. This option is not supported by any laws in the United States. Fathers' rights advocates Jeffrey M. Leving and Glenn Sacks have stated that "choice for men is a flawed solution." Advocates have also expressed the desire to have a "financial abortion" in which the option exists to sever all responsibility for child support for an unwanted child. Commenting on this, legal scholar Kim Buchanan states, "The only way men's lack of a pregnancy opt-out can be framed as a gender injustice is to accept that men have a right to visit the consequences of unprotected sex (or contraceptive failure) exclusively on their female partners." Some feminists, however, such as former president of the feminist organization National Organization for Women, attorney Karen DeCrow, have supported the "financial abortion" concept, stating "if a woman makes a unilateral decision to bring pregnancy to term, and the biological father does not, and cannot, share in this decision, he should not be liable for 21 years of support... autonomous women making independent decisions about their lives should not expect men to finance their choice.
Parental leave
Main article: Paternity leavePressure from father's rights groups, among others, have in several countries resulted in gender-neutral program(s) eligible for parental leave. While historically, maternity benefits were given to mothers based on the physical biology of childbirth, including the need to protect the health and financial well-being of the woman and child, parental leave benefits emphasize gender-neutral child-rearing, the benefits of the participation of fathers in children's care, and redress discrimination against men who wish to be involved with their infants.
Criticism
Advocates of substantive equality argue against formal equality frequently referenced by Fathers' right advocates. The gestation investment is seen by some as one justification for substantive equality between Fathers' rights and Mothers' rights.
See also
References
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- Leving, Jeffery M.; Sacks, Glenn (9 August 2006). ""Weiser"ect a Man's Choice, Too". National Ledger. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- Young, Kathy (19 October 2000). "A man's right to choose". Salon. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- Baker, Maureen, Parental Benefit Policies and the Gendered Division of Labor The Social Service Review, Vol. 71, No. 1 (March 1997), pp. 51–71
- Reese, Laura A.; Gottfried, Heidi (2004). Equity in the workplace: gendering workplace policy analysis. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books. pp. 187–88. ISBN 978-0-7391-0688-4.
- "Equality, Gestational Erasure, and the Constitutional Law of Parenthood". J. Am. Acad. Matrimonial Law. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
Works cited
- Baskerville, Stephen (2007). Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family. Cumberland House Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58182-594-7.
- Collier, Richard; Sheldon, Sally, eds. (2006a). Fathers' Rights Activism and Law Reform in Comparative Perspective. Hart Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84113-629-5.
- Crowley, Jocelyn E. (2008). Defiant Dads: Fathers' Rights Activists in America. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4690-0.
- Crowley, Jocelyn E. (2003). The Politics of Child Support in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53511-3.
- Parke, RD; Brott, AA (1999). Throwaway Dads: The Myths and Barriers that Keep Men from Being the Fathers They Want to Be. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-86041-0.
Further reading
- Collier, Richard; Sheldon, Sally (1 November 2006b). "Unfamiliar territory: The issue of a father's rights and responsibilities covers more than just the media-highlighted subject of access to his children". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008.
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