Fathers unite in fight for custody rights

A closed Facebook group with 300 fathers as members is aiming to change the child custody law.

The members want joint custody to come into force when the child is born.

Common to all the fathers in the group is that they do not live with the mother of their children, and that they feel discriminated against when it comes to the right to be with their children.

Taboo

”Fathers hesitate to speak up about this because doing so can have a negative effect on their custody rights, so this has become a taboo topic,” says group member Jógvan Páll Hansen.

He says that many fathers are keen to speak up on the matter, but their lawyers have advised them not to.

The rules

Joint custody applies when:

▪ The parents were married at the time of the child’s birth

▪ The parents married after the child’s birth

▪ The parents were separated at the time of the child’s birth but reunited at a later date.

▪ The parents have officially submitted a joint custody agreement to the relevant authority. 

In all other circumstances, the mother has full custody of the child, according to the existing child custody law.

Translated by prosa.fo