[Solved] Child custody and fathers

Hi Mel...how interesting!

There has always been a huge inbalance in our custody laws...For centuries all of the power was in the fathers hands, mothers had no rights at all.

Women had been campaigning throughout the 19th century for womens rights. The onset of WW1 had a deep impact on the womens cause as they fulfilled many of the roles traditionally thought of as "mans work". In 1918 as a direct result of womens war effort women over 30 were given the vote...But the Suffragettes continued to lobby and in 1928 voting rights for women over the age of 21 was put into law. WW11 further strengthened womens position...The introduction of the pill and the "sexual revolution" really cemented it all.

The Guardianship Act of 1973 turned custody law on its head! Where women had no rights, the act performed a complete U turn taking the rights from the father and giving them all to the mother...crazy! To go from one extreme to the other solved nothing in my opinion.

Until there is true equality in parenting the situation cant improve, and stuck in the middle of this mess are the children....often used as pawns or weapons to punish the absent parent with (usually the father) their rights are disregarded in this chaos, parental responsibility, just words with no meaning, except to the CSA who use it to pursue the non resident parent ruthlessly, like gangsters demanding protection money! A government run racket....

The law talks up fathers rights but when it comes down to it its just lip service. They talk about protecting children but more often than not fall far short of this. Children continue to be physically and emotionally abused, neglect is ignored, mothers hardly ever face the consequences of their actions. Courts award contact which is continually breached and very rarely enforced.

I think that the whole process should be taken out of the court setting completely. There is no consistency or continuity, a family law case on average takes three hearings and you can expect that at each hearing there is a different judge sitting, each with very different views. CAFCASS is in disarray and has been deemed unfit for purpose and with the Legal Aid reforms just introduced big trouble looms as ordinary people pushed to breaking point attempt to self represent. Women are already being coached by unscrupulous solicitors to fabricate domestic violence and harrassment allegations to prevent contact, and often with no proof required in court. This will increase steeply because its the only way to continue to receive Legal Aid.

I believe that family centres should be created where separating families are given help and guidance and the starting point is equality for both parents. Attitudes must change and childrens rights and needs have to be at the center of it all. The problems of the parents need not be visited on the children.

The changes should start at school, children should be given parenting classes and taught about things like parental alienation, divorce and shared parenting. Its there that a new approach can be developed and attitudes changed.

Politics has muddied family law and whilst they debate on the correct terminology and word changes in a particular clause of a new Bill, children continue to suffer.

Thank you very much Nannyjane this information is extremely helpful and you have given me the pre-war angle I never even considered!!! I am looking into old law but had only gone as far back as the Guardianship Act.

...I dont think you can look at the introduction of the Guardianship Act without considering the possible reasons for it. Women were empowered through both World Wars and demanded change! Divorce and "unmarried mothers" became an acceptable part of society at the end of the 20th century, and the Guardianship act was a direct result of that in my opinion. The politicians were seen to be doing something new, moving with the times, and upholding womens rights...

Archetypally fathers went out to work and mothers cared for the home and children...so to grant primary care and responsibility of the children to the mother was something they were already doing really, it just got rubber stamped! Politically it was an easy thing to do and made the politicians look good! It didnt rock the boat as it didnt create the need to make any great changes to the roles of men and women, as these were already in place.... It must have seemed groundbreaking at the time and the bra burners would have seen it as a victory for women! 😆 I was 18 in 1973 and I dont recall that much was made of the introduction of the Guardianship Act, it passed with a whisper!

However,handing over control just moved the problems around and didnt do anything about addressing the rights of children. Then to introduce the Childrens Act of 1989 without addressing the fundamentallly flawed Guardianship Act just created a bigger monster! As much as it was wrong for fathers to have all the power pre 1973, it was equally as wrong to hand over all that power to women. Probably worse in fact as women were now in a position to claim "pay back time"!

i think it would be enlightening to look at the Australian and Scandinavian models of Family Law, as I believe they are light years ahead of us in terms of putting children first and working with families inclusively. I keep meaning to research it myself!