Heroes or Villains?

Catherine Griffin puts the magnifying glass on father-child relationships of the 21st century and takes a look at the changing attitude of society towards dads who want to figure in their kid’s lives as much as their mum. Here, we put the spotlight on the Fathers 4 Justice phenomenon and their crusade in the name of fathers’ rights.

Picture the scene: You’re on an afternoon out with your kids, when you spot a pair of grown men, dressed as Batman and Robin, armed with coloured flour-bombs and shouting slogans at the traffic. Do you: a) Consider stopping, so that your kids can spend some time in the company of these humorous chaps, or, b) Clamp your foot down on the accelerator and get out of there, faster than you can say “loony ahoy!”

The men in tights I speak of are the maverick campaigners for fathers’ rights, Fathers 4 Justice, who’ve earned a reputation for carrying out comic-book capers to draw attention to the plight of fathers and grandparents, whose rights to child access, they say, are inadequately supported by current family law.

They may well be model parents, when out of their superhero garb, but their behaviour plays up to every stereotype of the bad dad: self-absorbed, exhibitionistic and childish. So, why are these dads driven to such extreme measures to publicise the cause of fathers’ rights?

A glance at the statistics goes some way to explaining the problem they’re battling. Nearly seven hundred children a day in the U.K. experience a separation or divorce of their parents. Following a break-up with their partner, forty per cent of fathers lose contact with their children within two years.

Matt O’Connor, 37-year old dad, divorcee and founder of Fathers 4 Justice, says the law isn’t fighting the corner of fathers to help improve these gloomy figures. He also believes the 1989 Children Act, passed by parliament as a means of safeguarding the welfare of children, is failing to do its job.

The philosophy of the Act is that, in the event of separation or divorce, the court should not intervene in dividing parental responsibility unless it’s essential. This legislation was designed to uphold the right of children, parents and grandparents to enjoy a meaningful, loving relationship with each other.

The current system does have its success stories, with nine out of ten separated couples reaching agreement on access out of court. But, with break-ups being an all too common part of modern life, there are still between 15,000 and 20,000 couples going through painful in-court fighting to resolve access disputes each year.

Recent measures by the government to improve its ailing and much criticised family law have been dismissed by fathers’ rights’ groups as another example of taking baby steps where giant strides were needed.

The government’s Parenting Plans, announced in January, were aimed at improving contact arrangements for children and parents, following a split. The package included improved access to mediation services that encourage out-of-court access agreements and better and speedier management of family cases by the courts.

The plans also gave judges powers to implement a “medium range” of penalties, such as community service, when parents breach contact orders.

Fathers 4 Justice say the proposals fall way short of their demand for a strict 50/50 split on access between both parents. Matt O’Connor says, “In a world where relationship breakdowns are inevitable, it should be recognised that if the parents can’t agree, the law must apply the principle of equality to ensure the child retains the love and care of both it’s parents and grandparents.”

Matt says the government has missed a golden opportunity to give family law the thorough shake-up it needs. The plans, he says, are typical of their “sham and scam” style of politics – simply “papering over the cracks” of existing legislation, making no significant change.

Without real change, Matt says the country’s “epidemic of mass fatherlessness” will only get worse. He says the trademark wacky publicity stunts of Fathers 4 Justice will continue until they succeed in removing what he calls the “cloak of secrecy” surrounding the methods of the family courts and the government’s betrayal of the rights of children, parents and grandparents.

Whilst their methods may be dubious, their cause – truth, justice and equality in family law – is arguably a righteous one, worth the might of superhero intervention!

Whilst Matt is certainly willing to laugh at himself – and who wouldn’t laugh at a middle-aged man in spandex – he is all seriousness when it comes to achieving the groups’ goal to help create a climate of change. He says: “This campaign doesn’t mean anything if we don’t make a difference.” Until then, he says, Fathers 4 Justice will continue to challenge and surprise both the public and the authorities.