Child support payments and parental alienation

Radical feminists regard [traditional] marriage … as a "patriarchal" institution based on gender inequality and the division of labour between men and women. In this context the transfer of money between the payer man and the payee woman is essentially viewed as compensation to be expected and earned for every woman who separates from her male "oppressor". Hence, it is not surprising that women groups emphasise the "oppressor" male with repetitive claims about financial manipulation and domestic violence. Of course most of these claims are based on reports and generally we can never know which claims might be true or not true. Also with this categorising of the "oppressor" male the male's (father's) contact with the children has no importance. The feminist view appears to be that children are "all-right" without contact with the father. This situation perhaps explains the assertion by [one of these submissions] about fathers not having contact with children.

By contrast, the Association noted how the father groups had a special focus on the parallel of child contact and child financial support. These submissions reveal an alarming level of suicides by post-separation fathers who are alienated from their children. One such submission reminded that 'over 1 million children are living without their fathers and that … the legislation underpinning the Family Court of Australia and the Child Support Agency has been a major factor contributing to the fatherlessness crisis'. After analyzing the suicide rate amongst non-residential fathers, that submission reported that 'the death rate amongst child support payer fathers is almost double the rate of Australian males who do not have administrative child support assessments'.

During most of the 20th century the basis of mortality data in Australia fluctuated around 20 deaths per 100,000 population for males, and 5 deaths per 100,000 population for females. The rate of suicide in males in 1997 was 29.8 per 100,000 and 17.0 per 100,000 in 2006. Equivalent rates for females were 7.8 and 4.8 per 100,000. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare now reports that the suicide rate for men aged 20 to 39 years has risen by 70 per cent over the last two decades.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 1,901 males (16.8 per 100,000) and 634 females (5.6 per 100,000) died by suicide in 2012 alone. This finding has been highlighted in an academic paper by Susan Beaton and Peter Forster. Published by the Australian Psychological Society, these two experts in suicide preventions explain that 'suicide is the number one killer of men under 44 years' in Australia, and that the dramatic increase in male suicide is at least partially due to 'marriage breakdown ' coupled with 'poorer social support among … divorced males'.

Suicide is therefore much more common among Australian males than females, which is consistent with current trends observed particularly in other western countries. If a similar rise in female suicides were also occurring, one may assume that there would be a public outcry and a demand for remedy. Yet the extraordinarily high rate of male suicide is rarely discussed. According to a round of studies carried out in America, Europe, and Australia, one fundamental reason for the dramatic increase in male suicide is associated with the apparent discrimination encountered by fathers in the family courts, especially the denial of access to their children.

According to sociology professor Augustine Kpsowa of the University of California at Riverside, divorce following the loss of contact with their children has become a major factor of male suicide. 'As far as the divorced man is concerned, he has lost his marriage and lost his children and that can lead to depression and suicide', Professor Kpsowa says. The primary purpose of his important study was to examine the effect of marital status on the risk of suicide. Using a large nationally representative sample, Professor Kpsowa noted that the risk of suicide among divorced men was 2.4 times higher than that of their married counterparts. Amongst women, however, there was actually no statistically significant differentials in the risk of suicide by marital status categories. Indeed, divorced men were nearly 9.7 times more likely to commit suicide than comparable divorced women.

This leads to the conclusion beyond any reasonable doubt that marital status, especially divorce followed by the loss of assess to children, has strong net effect on mortality from suicide, 'but only among men'. Thus an important question arises: 'Why are divorced men killing themselves?' Professor Kpsowa provides the following answer to this question:

Some analysts argue that societal institutions tend to ignore or minimise male problems as evident in suicide statistics. For instance, in many jurisdictions … there seems to be an implicit assumption that the bound between a women and her children is stronger than that between a man and his children. As a consequence, in a divorce settlement, custody of children is more likely to be given to the wife.

In the end, the father loses not only his marriage, but his children. The result may be anger at the court system especially in situations wherein the husband feels betrayed because it was the wife that initiated the divorce, or because the courts virtually gave away everything that was previously owned by the ex-husband or the now defunct household to the former wife.

Events could spiral into resentment (toward the spouse and "the system"), bitterness, anxiety, and depression, reduced self-esteem, and a sense of "life not worth living". As depression and poor mental health are known markers of suicide risk, it may well be that one of the fundamental reasons for the observed association between divorce and suicide in men is the impact of post divorce (court sanctioned) "arrangements".

This explanation helps us understand what happened to people like Martin Romanchick, the police officer who hanged himself after being denied access due to charges brought by his ex-wife, which the court found to be frivolous. Or to Darryn White, the loving and caring father who hanged himself after being denied access to his children because he could not afford paying child support that was twice his take-home pay. In a letter signed 'In Memory of My Loving Father', his distressed 14 year-old daughter stated: 'I know my father was a good man and a good father … He obviously reached a point where he could see that justice was beyond his reach and decided that taking his life was the only way to end his suffering'.

Of course, the problem is not restricted to Australia. In the UK, a study commissioned by the Samaritans involving eleven leading social scientists concluded that marriage breakdown and a family court system perceived to favour women with the custody of children and the family home (even where these men are unemployed and have nowhere else to go) are significant factors in the suicide of countless men. When marriages fail, the research papertudy concluded, 'men are less likely to be awarded full custody of their children, more likely to be displaced from the family home and have less access to their children'. This means the loss of personal identity, social status and respect. Adding to loneliness and the natural isolation of so many men in their mid-life, these are significant causes the high risk of male suicide.

But returning to the problem in Australia, according to David Collier, a retiring judge from the Parramatta Family Court, such accusations have now become a 'major weapon' in the war between parents who wish to secure full custody of their children. Unfortunately, some excellent parents have completely lost any access to their children. This is particularly so when non-residential parents are falsely accused of child abuse and neglect, and even the sexual molestation of their children. Even after the Department of Child Protection (DCP) and the family courts entirely clear the innocent parent of any wrongdoing, more often than not the courts end up keeping the custody with the parent who made the false allegations.