Fathers4Justice terminated!

It comes as a huge relief to me that Fathers4Justice (F4J) have folded their tent. I don’t agree that they advanced the campaign for reform of our appalling family justice system. Quite the reverse! Their antics alienated the very people whose hearts and minds we needed to win over; their conduct made people say, “No wonder they’re not being allowed to see their kids!”

Mainstream organizations like EQUAL PARENTING COUNCIL, FNF, MATCH and JUMP have been lobbying for years and we’ve made considerable progress in getting across what is quite a sophisticated case. We have, for example, in recent years persuaded those at the top of the Conservative Party of the rightness of our grievances and our reform programme for solving the problem. We have networked around the globe with judges, family law practitioners, mediators, mental health professionals, MPs and garnered their support. It has been (and continues to be) a long hard slog. I regret that we’ve not yet achieved any meaningful change in the law. Neither did F4J.

I believe F4J hurt our cause. They were successful in grabbing the headlines, but I think the publicity had a negative impact. The feedback we’ve received globally is that they are perceived as irresponsible – and as lunatics and women-haters. F4J Founder, Matt O’Connor, seems to have reached that conclusion himself and uses it to justify the closing down of his pressure group.

The fact is, when ordinary, decent parents are prevented from seeing their children, they become incensed and outraged. Some of them become bitter and twisted, which is to be expected. We have had our fair share of them, as have the other main organizations. They are unmanageable. The most extreme of them gravitated to F4J with predictable results. The fact is, most of these extremists can’t even get on with each other!

However, whilst I don’t like them or their works, I recognize that the vast majority ended up the way they are because they and their children were badly wronged by our family courts and a justice system that doesn’t deliver justice. It delivers injustice and misery to children, parents and grandparents. This can be fixed by implementing changes that have been tried and tested abroad. We are 30 years behind!

These changes will be won by reasonable argument and respectful persuasion, not by obnoxious and offensive conduct.

Tony Coe, President
EQUAL PARENTING COUNCIL
tony.coe@EqualParenting.org
www.EqualParenting.org

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