Atlantic Canada Advisory Councils on the Status of Women share the belief that custody and access issues must focus on what is in the best interests of the children.
We also believe that this must not happen at the expense of women's hard-won gains in their equality rights...their right to live free from violence.
To put things into context here, I remind you that less than five per cent of divorce cases result in drawn-out custody battles. Most divorcing parents work things out. Most divorcing parents already act in the children's best interests.
It is only a small proportion of divorces that become war zones. And that is why the committee's notion of so-called shared parenting in these cases is ludicrous.
Shared parenting is what parents who live together do when they deal collaboratively and consultatively with a myriad of day-to-day child care concerns. Once the marital relationship is broken, it is impossible, even in the most amicable of relationships, to reconstruct day-to-day collaborative and consultative parenting.
How could it be possible in a high conflict relationship, particularly where there is a history of violence, to actually engage successfully in shared parenting?
The Committee's recommendations indicate a quick jump to conclusions which cater to the divorced men's lobby. The Committee has rejected well-established findings on violence against women.
On Wednesday, co-chair Roger Gallaway said that violence happens in only a small number of Canadian homes.
Well, Mr. Gallaway, at least 25 per cent of Canadian women have suffered violence at the hands of an intimate partner. In fact, your own report cites a study which finds that 75 per cent of men are not violent in intimate relationships. Of course, that leaves 25 percent who are.
We believe domestic violence is a very big problem...one that does occur commonly in high-conflict custody cases...cases that too often drag on because of the power and control drive of the male partner.
The report recommends mediation for divorcing parents who cannot agree. But mediation assumes a power balance...that the husband and the wife are negotiating as equal partners. This doesn't happen in divorces where intimidation, emotional, psychological or physical abuse are the rule.
Parenting education is a good suggestion. But the concept needs more study and evaluation before we see just how well it works, whether it benefits children or is just a feel-good placebo. We are also very concerned about the committee's preoccupation with the idea of false accusations of abuse. The committee is calling for clear evidence of abuse before action is taken.
We agree that false accusations are serious and must be dealt with BUT we do not agree that false accusations are a common practice. Many allegations are reasonably founded and free of malice but may lack evidence that meets the criminal law standard.
Can we afford to wait until clear evidence is in before acting to protect our children or ourselves? Clear evidence may be a death certificate.
Many women in Atlantic Canada today are breathing a sigh of relief that this committee chose not to recommend that access denial be criminalized...just as many more men should be relieved the committee chose not to recommend that refusal to exercise access be criminalized.
As the report indicates, access is a contentious issue. We know that fathers refuse to exercise access far more often than women deny access. In any case, criminalizing denial or refusal would only escalate conflict.
Children are precious. They're our future. We must try as hard as possible to protect them from the pain and trauma of divorce. Parents should put the children's best interests first. But sometimes that just doesn't happen.
And that's why the Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access was struck. Unfortunately, this Committee was biased from the beginning...against women and against women as their childrens' primary caregiver.
This bias was reflected in their antagonistic and sarcastic tone and adversarial questioning of women representing women's groups and organizations.
Established research on domestic violence was dismissed...even mocked. Women who had suffered abuse at the hands of their husbands and summoned up their courage to testify before the committee were curtly treated and promptly silenced.
It is no wonder that so few women who have experienced or are experiencing high-conflict custody and access battles presented their stories to the Committee.
Even the Committee admits it didn't get the "full spectrum of views of divorced parents."
Sadly, this Committee report lacks credibility. And government should shelve it.
Committee Members
Patricia Doyle-Bedwell, Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Heidi Rankin, Prince Edward Island Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Patricia Gallagher-Jette, New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Joyce Hancock, Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women, Newfoundland and Labrador