NEVER HATE YOUR EX MORE THAN YOU LOVE YOUR CHILD!

‘My kids don't go back and forth; none of this 50/50 time with the mums and dads. My children live with me; that is it’. This comment, made by Kate Winslet during an interview with Vogue magazine, inspired a controversial Christmas ad campaign by UK rights group Fathers4Justice. 

Their ad features a picture of Kate under which reads the slogan ‘Kate, every child deserves their father this Christmas’, followed by details of her interview. 

Also featured in what’s been termed the ‘Crummy Mummy’ campaign are Halle Berry (‘Halle, a father is for life, not just conception’), Katie Holmes (‘Katie, do you believe in equal parents, equal love?’) and Kim Basinger (‘Kim, never hate your ex more than you love your child’). 

Fathers4Justice are fighting to give fathers equal rights to see their children after separation. They are a proactive group who use publicity to increase public awareness of fathers’ rights issues. Their campaign succeeded in attracting significant media coverage and drawing attention to these issues at a time of year when it is especially difficult for parents who are unable to see their children. 

The group have been criticised for their tactics not only by the lawyers of these celebrities but by certain UK media sources who claim that the campaign is misogynistic and disingenuous given that some of the women now have amicable custody arrangements. 

Regardless of their custody arrangements, Kate and others in the public eye must realise that they are role models and that their actions and comments can be damaging. Fathers4Justice are challenging inequality and anti-father discrimination including the commonly held belief that a child having a relationship with their father can be disruptive. 

In the UK, as in Ireland, the law favours mothers. Too often, fathers are unnecessarily prevented from having regular contact with their kids. I hope that 2014 will see an improvement in outcomes for separated fathers but I think there’ll need to be more proactive, perhaps controversial campaigns before this will be achieved. 

In case you were wondering, Kate is threatening to sue, while Halle and the others have refused to comment. 

Kevin Brophy,
Brophy Solcitors