The fathers' rights movement has simultaneously evolved in many countries, advocating for shared parenting after divorce or separation, and the right of children and fathers to have close and meaningful relationships. This article provides details about the fathers' rights movement in specific countries.
Australia
Fathers' rights groups began in Australia in the 1970s with the founding of organizations such as the Lone Fathers Association. Other well-known groups include Equality for Fathers, Dads Against Discrimination, Fathers Without Rights, The Men's Confraternity and the Shared Parenting Council. As with other fathers' rights activists, Australian organizations focus on issues of erosion of the family unit, custody, access, child support, domestic violence (including false allegations, and violence against men), child abuse, maintenance, the reintroduction of fault into divorce proceedings, biased and adversarial court systems and secrecy issues. Groups have successfully garnered media, as well as influence on politicians and legal reform. On May 22, 2006, Australia passed the "Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006" making both parents responsible for decisions about their child through the concept of 'equal shared parental responsibility'. The Act requires courts to consider an order that the child spend equal amounts of time with each parent under certain circumstances, but the Act does not state that courts must order that the child spend equal amounts of time with each parent. While Dad's in Distress expressed both appreciation of the Act as a small step in the right direction and concern whether the changes would be taken seriously by Family Law Practitioners and Barry Williams, national president and founder of the Lone Fathers Association, stated, "I think these new laws are going to be the best in 30 years", The Men's Confraternity welcomed the changes but also expressed disappointment and stated that the Act does not "force the Court to view parents as equals."
The Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting)Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting). Home Page. Date accessed 28 March 2013. was formed in Australia in 1998. The party's web-site states that the core policies centre on the issue of family law and child support reform. The Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting) is currently registered as a political party with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).Australian Electoral Commission's current Index of Registered Political Parties. Date accessed 28 March 2013
Fathers' rights groups in Australia have condemned the actions of a militant men's group that engaged in criminal activities, including stalking and harassment.
Belgium
Since Sep 2006 the Belgian federal law on "co-parenté" came into effect. It introduced a presumption of dual location or shared residency which by law should be taken into serious consideration and thorough investigation with priority in each individual case by the Belgian family courts and judges on the request of either one of the divorcing parents separately. Immediate court-access can also be requested by one parent, when additional reinforcement orders are necessary.
Canada
In an attempt to pass a law creating a rebuttable presumption for shared parenting, several fathers' rights groups launched an action in the Federal Court of Canada to overturn the child custody provisions of the existing federal Divorce Act claiming that the legal test used to decide which parent obtains custody is biased against fathers, thereby violating the discrimination based on sex provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Canada has few father's rights organizations, most are political in nature to lobby long term for changes to the Divorce act. www.OttawaMensCentre.com provides resources for fathers including lawyer referrals to deal with classic cases of alienation and false allegations. Most vocal among them has been Canadian Association for Equality which advocates equal parenting and social rights for people regardless of gender.
The Canadian Equal Parenting Council, a coalition of 40 member organizations and worldwide affiliates stated that it is pleased with a proposed amendment to the Divorce Act to create a presumption for equal parenting.
The Equal Parenting Party, a minor provincial political party, existed in Ontario from 2014 to 2018. It ran two candidates in the 2014 Ontario general election and received 0.01% of the popular vote.
Finland
There are at least two registered associations in Finland with a focus in fathers' rights: Association for Equality of Men (established 2009) and Fathers for Children Association (established 2012). The former works for equality of the genders in general from the viewpoint of men. The latter focuses on retaining the bonds between fathers and children after divorce. Fathers for Children disapproves parental alienation regardless of the sex of the parent who is trying to alienate a child from the other parent.
France
Separation of the parents has no effect on the rules governing the awarding of parental authority. Parental authority continues to be exercised jointly except if in the interest of the child the exercise of this authority must be entrusted to only one of the parents.European Commission – European Judicial Network – Parental responsibility – France
There are 117 national and regional French organizations promoting parent equality after separation with respect to child custody : SOS Papa since 1990, SVP Papas, LPLM (Les Papas = Les Mamans), Egalité parentale, Osons l'égalité parentale pour nos enfants,http://pourlegaliteparentale.org/liens.php and Collectif la Grue Jaune since Feb 2013.
The latest was created after 2 Fathers climbed on top of 2 yellow and grey cranes in February 2013 in Nantes and tries to gather mothers, fathers and grandparents.
Both are members of PEF Platform for European fathers (the first one via SOS Papa Nord Picardie)
Germany
In Germany, one parent may apply to the family court for sole right of custody. The court will agree to such an application if they decide the removal of joint custody and transfer of custody to one parent is in the child's best interests.European Commission – European Judicial Network – Parental responsibility – Germany
Non-married Fathers; To obtain "Shared Custody" (and any real rights concerning children) is possible through marriage or by the mother signing a declaration of shared custody or since May 2013 by applying to the court. Sole custody (for the father) is of course not realistic under the current German family law. The German Supreme Court (Bundesverfassungericht) has decided on 21 July 2010 that the actual Family Law is against the German Constitution Law. For a very detailed explanation of the legal situation, see Wikipedia German web page;:de:Sorgerecht
Joint custody can be defeated when the parents do not agree. See Constitutional Court decision 1 BvR 738/01 from March 1, 2004, paragraph II. 1. a) The third sentence is translated into English as: "The joint exercise of parental responsibility presupposes a viable social relationship between the parents and requires a minimal level of agreement between them." If one parent refuses to cooperate, the court changes joint custody to sole custody. The law governing the choice of parent receiving sole custody is based on "best interests of the child" The non-cooperation of a parent is not a factor when determining "best interests of the child" and therefore which parent receives sole custody. A parent can refuse to cooperate in order to force a decision in favor of sole custody and then be eligible to win sole custody after refusing to cooperate with the other parent.
Mathieu Carriere, a well-known German actor, who after the mother and sole custodian of his 8-year-old daughter sued him for allowing several newspapers to publish pictures of Carriere with his daughter, decided to refuse to pay a 5,000 Euro fine associated with the lawsuit and instead announced publicly that he would be serving a 10-day prison sentence in support of the campaign for equal rights for both parents following divorce or separation.
There are many small to medium-sized organizations created to advocate for changing rights like Blauer-Weihnachtsmann.de, Väteraufbruch.
Greece
1,000,000 divorced fathers are living in Greece. With the present Greek family civil law, there is almost no option for shared or joined parenting between parents in a case of divorce. In 98% of these cases, the Greek judges decide against the fathers and order that the mothers will have the exclusive child custody. The unic association SYGAPA with 35.000 members, hold many activities for equality between parents and for changing the Greek civil law. As of 2013Greek fathers are still expecting real equality from politicians. They have created the "European Social Movement" covering all European countries.
History:
The association SYGAPA www.sos-sygapa.eu with his President Nicolas Spitalas have changed the mentality and his 35,000 members support the actions: 2003: mediation, 2004: Scientific actions, 2005: International Forum, 2006: Congress, 2007: activists actions, 2008: Organisation at Thessaloniki, 2009: Athens-Syntagma, 2010: Conference at Drama, 2011: activism at Larissa, 2012: Publication of books, 2013: propositions for the family law, 2014: presentation of the books of professor Nicolas Spitalas (1:The Social Movement of Divorces Parents and 2: Histories of divorced people). The SYGAPA association transformed at Political Party: THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL MOVEMENT and in Greece: GREEK SOCIAL MOVEMENT (E.K.K.). At European elections (2007-2012) and Parlement elections: 2015.
Hungary Shared parenting can be requested from the court by one parent after January 1, 2022. The Family Court has the right to maintain full parents rights after divorce/separation or order shared parenting even upon request of either parents. Post-divorce equal shared parenting is gaining ground, though it is not the most common way of child care after divorce at the present moment.
In principle, during divorce or separation the state takes away the presence and caring of one parent and the revenue share of the other parent from the children. In other words, divorce in Dual Earner Dual Carer family means 100% increase in child raising costs for one of the parents.
The Apák az Igazságért Egyesület, 'Fathers for Justice Association, Hungary', is one non-political organisation promoting fathers' rights. Its main roles are specified as: Social equality, shared custody, the elimination of obstacles to parental contact, help with social services procedures, solving problems with child support awards, filing privacy lawsuit, supporting child custody cases, rights of the children. It has grown from a Facebook group created in 2014.
The main organisation is non-political, called the Association of Divorce Fathers, Hungary (ADF), it was founded in 1989 when NGO's became possible again after 40 years. ADF has Prof. Miklós Hernádi, the writer, as honorary president. The current slogan is "Apák összefognak gyermekeikért" (Fathers Unite for Their Children). ADF activities cover protests, media events, petitions, it offers Fathers'Day programs and free legal counselling.