It probably was not planned to coincide with Father’s Day, but a new women’s advocacy group will hold its official launch this week. Leading Women for Shared Parenting was founded in Massachusetts in May, but it is expected to include parenting advocacy groups from across the United States and Canada. Its main focus will be on the push to make equality in parenting a reality.
According to a report from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, members of LW4SP will include family law attorneys, social workers, congresswomen (democrats and republicans) as well as domestic abuse workers.
Terry Brennan, a divorced father who suggested the idea to his female colleagues (and then stepped out of the way) believes that men cannot win the battle for equality by themselves, and they need female partners in this regard in the same way that they need women as co-parents.
A number of the group’s members acknowlege the inherent power imbalance when custody decrees leave fathers with alternating weekends and only one day per week. Additionally, imbalanced parenting schedules leave fathers with a great burden of child support even though they are capable of caring for children on an equal basis.
Legislation that would presume that equal parenting time is in a child’s best interest has not garnered support in many states, but the hope is that the formation of LW4SP will create the awareness needed to move forward from past notions of parenting.
In the meantime, fathers seeking custody and parenting time can benefit from the experience and guidance of a family law attorney.
Source: StarTribune.com, Divorced dads get big gift from fired-up moms, June 8, 2013