Parental Equality Group Calls For "Less Words And More Action" From Lawyers And Politicians

Parental Equality Group has said there needs to be "less words and more action by both lawyers and politicians" in order to ensure that both sets of parents have equal rights in respect of their children.

The Group said that the reality today is that parental alienation is a real problem affecting many fathers who face daily heart ache because they cannot see their children or because the law does not treat them fairly.

It follows comments made by family lawyer Ann Ballestrino to GBC where she said that “the law adapts to society” and because more men are now “care givers ...  when you come to deciding residency of children it’s very much a 50/50 split”.

The Group agrees with the sentiment but says this is not the reality on the ground and many of its members and others face real difficulties seeing their children due to parental alienation issues and their experience is that some lawyers simply do not help with their over aggressive attitude. We are not singling out Ms Ballestrino or anyone else but unfortunately neither lawyers nor the law has caught up with societal values in 21st century Gibraltar.

The same is true of most politicians who have the power to help solve this issue and nothing is done about it. There are exceptions and in this regard we wish to highlight the work of GSD MP Daniel Feetham and TG MP Marlene Hassan Nahon who have both campaigned on parental alienation, joint residency rights and a half way house for men.

What we need is presumption in our law that “joint residency” between both parents is what the courts should order unless there is a compelling reason why that should not be the case. This is the position in other countries and if we truly want the law to reflect social values we should recognize that both parents matter and the only way to ensure current injustices are dealt with is by a change in the law.

Many fathers are unfortunately forgotten and treated very badly by the current system. Fathers who divorce their partners will invariably have to move out of the matrimonial home and those that do not have joint residency rights will only be entitled to a bedsit or one bedroom flat from housing. They then cannot enjoy proper living time with their children because they simply do not have any space. Some mothers know this and so they refuse to agree joint residency and this just plays into the hands of those that alienate their children from their former partners out of spite.

Finally we note the recent exchanges in parliament over a half way house for men. There is a refuge for women. Society should move with the times and there should be one for men. The recent announcement in relation to flats for homeless men simply lacks transparency and as both the GSD, TG and Action for Housing have said, we need a half way house.