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Original poster

Do you agree with Fathers For Justice? - *beware* -*contentious*

54 replies

wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 08:39

I'm not asking if you agree that fathers who have had a raw deal should be given justice - I'm asking whether you think that Fathers For Justic and the idiots that use their name are right in doing what they do? I agree that some fathers should be given more rights by the court but that doesn't include all fathers. I'm getting really sick of seeing/reading things about idiots dressed up, doing idiotic things, when by all reports they don't deserve to have kids and if they do why aren't they 'at home' trying every legal route to see their kids and not just pissing about??

Last night, was coming home and along one tiny stretch of road was 4 huge board thingys in a field saying the usual - 'Fathers for justice' 'Fathers have rights' 'Children need fathers' etc and it's probably just me but it made my blood boil. you don't see other 'causes' doing that sort of rubbish all over the place!!

Ok, end of rant!!! But do you think they're right to go to such extremes all the time or are they just arrogant t*ssers?

OP posts:
Cadbury · 11/11/2004 08:49

I agree that the way they g about getting themselves publicised is "idiotic" but it appears to be getting the publicity they are after!
I got the impression from some interviews they did that they had exhausted all legal channels to get access to their kids but there must always be one more court they can take it too.
I do think that there is no call for climbing up palaces or throwing powder at the pm (although I have felt like throwing the odd punch his way before now). As for the costumes, well, we remember who the are and what they are fighting for don't we!

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 09:06

I just think that by getting the publicity that way (ok, we'd all love to do that to the pm but that's beside the point) then they're giving other fathers, who may have a real case, a very bad name. And they try and say they've exhausted the legal system but, as you say, there is always one more court and always one more thing to try. They could either be spending their time fighting a court decision or maybe working if they need the money to fight?? There's one thast's ignoring his new child to 'fight' to see his other ones - WTF!!!!!

OP posts:
marialuisa · 11/11/2004 09:16

Yes, some fathers are being dealt a rough deal but TBH any time the background of someone from F4J is investigated he is exposed as a coomplete waste of space.

Read an interview with its founder and his ex-wife. The court system actually resolved their probs (including his failure to pay maintenance)!

DillyDally · 11/11/2004 09:38

They do get publicity but I think they also give out the wrong kind of message (that unlawful behaviour is the best way to get your message across) and if I was a father i am not sure I would be happy with the way they try and get publicity. They do the cause no good in the eyes of Middle England.

As an aside, my ex joked that he was going to dress up as spiderman and climb big ben and take DD dressed up as robin with him, until i pointed out that by taking her along, it wouldn't really demonstrate that he was getting no access. Doh.

fairyfly · 11/11/2004 09:41

Yes i do agree with them, if someone wasn't giving me access to my kids i don't know what the hell i would do. But i would fight for my rights.

DillyDally · 11/11/2004 09:43

I agree with the cause (just to be clear) but not the way they go about it.

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 09:55

But ff - does dressing up and making a nuisance of yourself really count as fighting for you kids or does it just make you a common or garden twat - especially when it's (according to reports) their fault they can't see their kids - either because of something they've done or because they would rather be sensationalist than do the hard slog of going through a court.

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popsycal · 11/11/2004 09:57

I know very little about fathers 4 justice but do know that if my kids were taken away from me i would go to any lengths to get them back

i also know that some of the media spout crap about all sorts of things

but as i said, i know very little

DillyDally · 11/11/2004 09:58

If you were to join them, what would your superhero costume be? I quite fancy The Hulk

joash · 11/11/2004 09:59

Wasn't Fathers 4 justice formed by a couple of men who had been refused access to their kids because of their physical voilence towards mums and children?

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 10:00

Dilly - mine would have to WonderWoman - if I was going to be on national TV then knee-high boots and a short skirt would be the only way to go!!!

OP posts:
popsycal · 11/11/2004 10:01

didnt wonderwoman just wear a big pair of blue knickers.....no skirt...

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 10:01

joash - i think so, which is exactly my point - they make a big fuss in the name of a legitimate cause but they themselves just seem to be a bunch of ....... (insert appropriate word)

OP posts:
Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 10:02

Was it Supergirl then - I remember one of them wore an indecently short mini!!!

OP posts:
secur · 11/11/2004 10:02

Message withdrawn

DillyDally · 11/11/2004 10:02

Highly impractical for scaling large buildings wobblyknicks..I foresee bridget jones style knicker flashing, but probably lots more coverage in the tabloids

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 10:04

secur (ta btw) - totally and utterly agree!! Makes them look very suspicious at least!!!

dilly - I'm sure there's special supergirl knicks that come with the outfit that don't look odd when flashed!!!

OP posts:
fairyfly · 11/11/2004 10:05

Well yes there will always be twats in every protest, people making excuses and taking advantage of a good cause. I feel for the genuine men who are missing there children. They should be very angry with the other men who are just playing games with it.
If they choose to dress up to get attention then that is a right of theres and it has done what they set out to do, we now have all heard of them.
Comic relief and all the rest people look like arseholes, why cant they.
I am aware that some men complain of no access when they have it, they are guilt ridden and looking for excuses. I have two children off a man like that, if i saw him up there i would shoot him down. But if it gets one caring good father back with his child then i am all for it. Children need a male role model if at all possible and i know if my father did that for me i would be incredibly proud of him.

Blackduck · 11/11/2004 10:06

Didn't Barness whatshername (family division) say she refused to meet with them because she knew they wouldn't talk 'to' her, but rather 'tell' her and that she wasn't prepared for such a onesided stance. (she has met with other such groups....but then she hasn't had doubledecker buses driven past her home by the other groups...)

fairyfly · 11/11/2004 10:06

oh and i would be poison ivvy

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 10:08

ff - you've got a point but the Comic Relief people raise money by looking like prats - the FFJ people are wasting time that could be spent for their kids by looking like prats. And I agree that if it got one good father back with his kids then it would be worth it, but what if it gets one abusive father back with his kids just because he made a big enough protest???

OP posts:
popsycal · 11/11/2004 10:11

but what if an abusive father gets back with their kids in another way wk?

i don't think you can stick them all together under one big umbrella and tar them withthe same brush....

geekgrrl · 11/11/2004 10:12

I don't think they're doing themselves much of a favour, but having seen the kind of situation they face within my family I can see how powerless they are and how desperate they might get.
My brother has a 10 year old daughter who he hasn't seen for almost four years now. His ex-wife went to extreme lengths to avoid contact, and the courts did nothing at all - they acknowledged that what she did wasn't right, but said that anything they did to punish her, i.e. fines, would be detrimental to my niece. My brother used to fly to Berlin (where his ex and daughter live) every two weeks (his contact order was for one weekend every fortnight) - only for his ex to boycott contact. He got to see his daughter maybe 3 times a year. Last time he went his ex FIL (a solicitor and chum of the family court judges, btw!) attacked him physically in front of my then 6 year old niece- tried to kick him in the balls to be exact - and told him that if he came again to see his dd they would accuse him of sexually abusing her to make sure the courts stopped the contact order. All this venom seems to stem from the fact that my brother - a mild mannered, geeky mathematics professor - was the first to call an end to their relationship. He doesn't have any more options within the legal system (granted, it's the German legal system, not the English one, but the family courts' attitudes are similar).

Original poster
wobblyknicks · 11/11/2004 10:15

All I'm saying is that yes, their protest may help a good father get the rights he should have but they seem to be trying to get rights for fathers who shouldn't have them anyway, which is why they've been refused in court and have gone for another way of trying to get them. And if it works, like they're obviously hoping it will, then that's not a good thing.

OP posts:
popsycal · 11/11/2004 10:15

I might get shot down for this but....
I thik every child has the right to see their father id they wish to. Some fathers might need supervised access if there is a background of violence etc. I think it is the child's right and when old enough, the child's decision

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