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I realise this is a bit dated but it made interesting reading, if only to realise that things haven't changed much in the last seven years and that you're not alone if access to your children is being withheld... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/7528771/Agony-of-the-frozen-out-fathers.html
Or this one from 2014... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2678528/The-vengeful-mothers-tear-fathers-childrens-lives-Britains-parenting-guru-one-unspoken-scandals-age.html
I disagree, I think things have and are constantly improving in the family court. It might not feel like it to the parents who are involved in protracted proceedings and clearly there will always be extreme cases, the same as there will always be unreasonable parents but people are constantly campaigning to make improvements.
Families Need Fathers for example have open dialogue with Cafcass and Sir James Mumby and things are gradually moving with the times especially as younger judges are coming through the ranks. I think the majority of people that are likely to say that things have not improved are the more extreme fathers rights groups.
Actd can probably pass on some info to you from a Family Court presentation he attended in Bristol last year.
I have to agree with Yoda on this one, my family court experience was better than what I had anticipated, and I left with the feeling that had I been ready to reduce my work hours and asked for more nights, I would have gotten it.
Despite that, there is still a tremendous bias out there and as a father you have to ask for and prove things which you can take for granted as a mother, but the way to change that is by example and with a lot of patience.
I.e., the baby group I take my child to is called "Mother and toddler group". Last time I was there there were 3 fathers with their toddlers, so gently but surely I'm trying to drop hints that they may want to change the name of the group.
I believe that small grassroots gestures like that done consistently over time will take us further than any amount of complaining ever can.
I did indeed attend a couple of briefings given by Stephen Wildblood and he is a very forward thinking judge, and I think if (or hopefully when) more judges like him come along, things could change very rapidly for the better.
Of course, in any case that goes to court, there is by definition a conflict, which means that one side is going to come out not getting everything they want, but it can still be a good result for all.
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