Letter to The Listener refuting claims that the Family Court is biased against men

Gender Bias

We were deeply concerned to read the sentence in the March 17 Editorial, “But just as the strong gender bias against men in custody cases needs to be addressed, so too must the assumptions that count against women in sex cases”. On what research or facts do you base this statement that there is a strong gender bias against men in custody cases?
This has not been proven, it is not substantiated by any statistics or research; this is a claim made loudly by a small group of disaffected fathers who have not got the result they wanted in the Family Court. To see their claims printed as a statement of fact in your magazine is alarming to people who work closely with those who use the Family Court, particularly the women and children who have experienced domestic violence and need the protection of the court to live a violence-free life or even stay alive.
We refer you to an article in Butterworths Family Law Journal in 2004, by Wellington family lawyer Wendy Davis. This article (available at http://www.nzfvc.org.nz/PublicationDetails.aspx?publication=13018) shows how these claims by a small number of people have influenced the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, in a way that offers less protection to women and children, despite the fact that the Act’s intent was specifically to give priority to the safety of victims of domestic violence.
Reported statistics show that 95 percent of domestic violence in New Zealand is perpetrated by men against women and children. It is now accepted that being exposed to violence in the home is extremely damaging for children whether they see it, hear it or just know about it. It is also a fact that most New Zealand children have their mother as the main caregiver before separation and the court takes this into account when deciding custody after separation.
—Brian Gardner, National Manager, National Network of Stopping Violence