Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1517916
4 Unity SUNDAY 24 MARCH 2024 Are fathers punished by the courts? For & Against AS soon as a father steps into the courtroom, the situation is immediately against them if they are male. Is it fair that hearings are held in court- rooms, sometimes without air condition- ing, where a man who does not wear a tie and a blazer can be found in contempt of Court? Women who wear a blouse and blazer on the other hand are not liable for anything, but if a man dresses in this manner they are in contempt of Court. This comparison is far from frivolous for Flimkien Missirijiet Inqumu. Indeed, it is the tip of the iceberg, as there are various other ways in which men experience dis- crimination when compared to women. Mediation is the primary bone of con- tention for FMI. Why does society appear to perceive that when child custody is split equally between a father and a mother, that is a man and a woman, this is a victo- ry for the father and a loss for the mother? We are indeed critical of the norm in sep- aration and divorce cases where children are generally assigned to live with moth- ers, rather than simply following a prin- ciple of equality where custody is equally shared between both parents. FMI also has qualms on issues relating to accusations of domestic violence. Are studies being carried out on how certain lawyers with a relatively large share of clients, accuse their partners of domestic violence? On how, coincidentally, many of these charges tend to be a photocopy of each other? What legal retribution ex- ists for those who are found to have levied false accusations? Do they get to be dou- bly charged with what they have accused the other person of? Do they get fined for damages that can at least cover the legal expenses for those who are falsely ac- cused? Do doctors who issue false medi- cal certificates, lose their warrant if these accusations are unproven? Flimkien Missirijiet Inqumu believes the system makes it easy for malicious accu- sations to be made, especially when the length of time these cases take up, the ac- cuser can still win, whatever the outcome of the accusation. What about the problematic issues in- side the courtroom. Why are hearings not recorded? Are magistrates' sentences be- ing reviewed and checked, to see if there is a chance that 'Magistrate A' is ruling against a particular gender and Magistrate B against the other gender? Can court sit- tings be recorded so that the proceedings of the hearing are minuted exactly? There are situations during which a magistrate utters a comment that is then not written and reproduced in the court minutes. One can only wonder why it was not written down. When a man is accused of an act of do- mestic violence, it seems that they are already guilty before evidence has been presented in court. Such men have lim- ited time with their children, and are al- ways under supervision even though they have not yet been proven guilty. In many instances, the legal and policing system fails to empathise with such men, ignor- ing the possibility that these men could be innocent, and as such are already facing an uphill battle in defending themselves. Court delays are another harsh reali- ty. For example, children still in primary school when their parents' court pro- ceedings start, might end up fishing their compulsory school educaton without the case even being settled. Nobody can give these children back this lost time. Indeed, months may pass between one court sitting and another, with hearings postponed on any excuse, and they are various: ranging from lawyers' parents' days, court officers being sick or on leave, papers forgotten or lost but eventually found, lawyers' absences, court experts unable to cope with their workloads, or court officials unavailable to minute the proceedings. Meanwhile, fathers are waiting. For Flimkien Missirijiet Inqumu, this lost time will never be recouped. Contemporary society is now characterised by a younger generation without fathers as role models. And it is the family that is suffering, and now on course for even greater suffering for future generations. Flimkien MIssirijiet Inqumu - Il-Papà Jhobbok Ukoll for The NGO Flimkien Missirijiet Inqumu asserts that men are immediately discriminated against in child custody court disputes (Illum, 28 June 2022). Unity invited FMI to elaborate further on such a statement and Prof. Marceline Naudi, resident academic at the Faculty for Social Wellbeing's Department of Gender and Sexualities, to react at this assertion