Welcome to our site
Fathers Have Rights Too
Not just Women are victims of mental abuse and depression, Men are also victims of all this and more... when it comes to a divorce and the custody, access and the welfare of their children.
A Father is for Life,
Not just Conception.
Fathers' Rights
Whether you're in a rock-steady relationship with the mother of your children, or barely on speaking terms, you have rights and responsibilities.
Family Matters
Many children are now growing up without the love, care and discipline of one parent, normally their fathers. Often they will live in families where there are multiple transient step-fathers. The consequence of this is a generation of feral children and feckless adolescents. The government talks about taking remedial steps to address the symptons, but not the causes. Whilst the traditional nuclear family may be an anomaly in today's contemporary society, children still need the love and care of their Father.
The law under review?
Child Access laws may be amended in the near future, to enforce access arrangements where one parent refuses to comply. At present, many fathers complain that their ex-partners are ignoring any rulings or arrangments laid out by the courts. If the government review favours changes, this may mean parents who withold access rights could be served a community service order, or even tagged.
- What does parental responsibility mean?
- Getting parental responsibility
- What are the responsibilities?
- The child's mother wants to put the baby up for adoption?
- The law under review?
Fathers rights issues
There are a number of issues which drive the participants in the fathers' rights movement:
- Residence with the children is rarely given to the father after divorce or separation.
- Shared residence (and shared parenting) is seldom used as an expedient to resolve family child residency disputes, frequently resulting in fathers being marginalised and unable to perform effectively in their capacity as fathers.
- When contact is denied, the courts frequently do not enforce their own orders.
- Whereas mothers get parental responsibility automatically, fathers only do so if they were married to the mother or signed the birth certificate.
- Fathers are obliged to pay means tested child support irrespective of whether they are allowed to see their children, and with no account taken of the mother's household's income.
- Parental leave favours mothers, paternity leave is substantially less than maternity leave.
- Contact centre places are hard to obtain because of inadequate funding and at the same time their use is frequently demanded unreasonably - resulting in children being unnecessarily deprived of the love and care of their non-resident parent.
- When a father makes representations in court to see his child when this is being obstructed by the mother, adversarial court proceedings against the mother are inevitably the cause of further conflict. If a court can determine that a child should see its father, this could be done without reference to the mother, who may be deemed irrelevant to the proceedings in cases of implacable hostility.
Donations
Fathers Rights Gibraltar relies entirely on income from donations and merchandise. Your support makes our campaign stronger.
Gibraltar has a (Women in Need) Home for women and their children who have gone or are going through a divorce or separation or are victims of violence by their partners and have no where to go, Thats very good, but what about Fathers who are victims of mental abuse and other types of violences, is there any place in Gibraltar for Fathers NO! there isent, some fathers have care and control of their children and have been homeless whiles no help have been given by the Government or any other trusts.
What does parental responsibility mean?
As the father of a child you have a duty to maintain the child until it leaves school by paying a proportion of your income. This can be done inside the relationship or, if it breaks up, either through agreement with the child's mother or through the Child Support Agency. This is your responsibility even if you weren't in a long-term relationship with the mother when the child was conceived.
If you are not married to the mother of your child, you won't have automatic parental responsibility - even if you are living with the child's mother.
Getting parental responsibility
You can get equal parental responsibility under any of the following circumstances:
- Registering the child's birth jointly with the child's mother;
- Making a parental responsibility agreement with the mother;
- Acquiring a parental responsibility order from a court;
- If you are appointed as guardian;
- If you marry the child's mother.
Legally, parental responsibility goes on until your child reaches 18 but as they get older so the law assumes that your child is more capable of making their own decisions.
What are the responsibilities?
As a parent (with parental responsibility) the Children Act 1989 says your responsibilities are 'all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property'.
This includes:
- Safeguarding and promoting a child's health, development and welfare;
- Financially supporting the child;
- Providing direction and guidance to the child;
- Maintaining direct and regular contact with the child;
- Acting as a legal representative until the child is 16 if required;
- Ensuring that the child is suitably educated;
In order to fulfil these responsibilities there are certain rights that can be used by the parent. These can include:
- Having the child living with the person with responsibility or having a say in where the child lives;
- Controlling, directing and guiding the child's upbringing;
- If the child is not living with you, having a personal relationship and regular contact with the child;
- Acting as a legal representative until the child is 16 if required;
- Choosing the child's name, but there may be restrictions on changing a child's name;
- Choosing the child's education;
- Being the person to give consent for medical treatment, issuing passports, adoption and marriage for a child under 18;
- Choosing a guardian for the child;
- Making decisions about the child's property on the child's behalf and for their benefit.