Media Release - 18/10/01 - For immediate release

Gender Stereotypes Misleading

"The practice of referring to a father taking his child into his custody as 'abduction' is most often highly misleading", FARE spokesperson Darryl Ward said today. He was referring to reports of Lower Hutt Police searching for a man who had 'snatched' his eight week old baby.

"Obviously we cannot comment on this particular case given that details are so sketchy, nor can we condone abduction of children from a parent in any form. But we ask why is it so often called 'abduction' when a child is taken by its father".

"Our adversarial family court system sees 20,000 children in divorce situations legally abducted from one of their parents every year, usually their father. Only 3,000 New Zealand children lost their fathers during the entire Second World War. This makes the Family Court and its related agencies New Zealand's leading child abductor".

"The only remedy to this situation is to implement the provisions of the Shared Parenting Bill so that children are no longer routinely abducted from one of their parents", he concluded.

ends

Darryl Ward may be contacted on 025-230 1667 or via taliesin@paradise.net.nz

FAMILIES APART REQUIRE EQUALITY (FARE) 19 Hornsey Road, Wellington, Tel 04 389 4222 Fax 04 934 4080 Mob 025 439 461 E-mail - aasbt@attglobal.net

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