Call for ‘Mens Rights Department’
An Auckland meeting on men’s rights and issues ended with a call for a ‘Men’s Rights Department’ at government level, similar to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The meeting was called by Julie Whitehouse of ‘Single Parents New Zealand’, who was alarmed by the stories she heard from men during picnics and outings of her group.
She said that in her experience, most of the men in her groups had been subject to unfounded accusations in order to force separation from their children.
The meeting, which included representatives from men’s groups as well as individual men’s rights campaigners, heard the stories of some fathers who now have day-to-day care of their children after protracted fights to have them removed from unsafe situations. The fathers reported that they had been often be thwarted by false allegations against them and a misuse of the Domestic Violence Act.
Many attendees also called for a revamp of the Family Court and the review of the Domestic Purposes Benefit.
