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Father's Rights - Part 1

© Kerry Hook

We are seeing an alarming shift in values based upon the rise of the father's rights movement. This is a movement that at first appears like a wonderful idea. Men becoming more involved in their children's lives, but it has a dark underside to it, that has gone unexamined for too long. Women are losing custody of their children in numbers unheard of for a very long time. Single moms beware - custody is NEVER settled until your child is grown.

What we see in North America and other Western cultures is a male dominated society, and when men feel they are under threat they will make every effort to re-exert their power and control. Behind the father's rights movement lies a deep seated, profound need to control women. Their interest in becoming more involved in their child's life comes only after a divorce and in conjunction with a custody battle. The true agenda of these groups is to reduce or eliminate child support altogether by lobbying politicians to pass laws which mandate joint custody and provide better chances of men gaining sole custody. According to research, joint custody is NOT a viable option in ANY high conflict situation. The typical cases which end up in litigation ARE the high conflict situations. Further, this "movement" allows men to control women through visitation schedules and move-a-way laws.

The father's rights groups would have you believe that men are discriminated against in custody battles. Studies show that though few men sue for sole custody, the majority who do WIN (60-70%). This huge discrepancy is best accounted for by the fact that it is men who control the courtrooms, and it is men who have the money for costly litigation. Women still earn only 73 cents for every dollar a man makes (even when education is EQUAL.) Incidentally, abusers are TWICE as likely to sue for sole custody, and according to one report, "doggedly pursue custody through litigation". Litigation is an extension of the abuse. The courts, and the father's rights movement have ENABLED abusers to continue their abuse. Many of these women were threatened throughout the relationship by the abuser, that he would take the children away from them and they would never see them again. Many women stay because of this fear - it is another way to control women. Please read "Divorced from Justice" by Karen Winner. She followed 19 cases of abusive relationships going through a custody battle, and found that in 16 of these cases the ABUSERS won custody. The tragic fact is that there are a lot of women losing custody to known abusers. (There are many documented cases.)

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