I have been hearing here on GM and in many places evrywhere the misconception that mothers tend to get custody more than fathers when both are seeking it. I have always been under the impression that this is not true. What I learned somewhere is that men usually get custody when they seek it and that women often get custody because men tend NOT to seek it. I decided to do some research and mostly came up with lots of info that was very anti-woman and totally conservative. (men's rights type of places.) One place that listed lots of sources that back this up, though, is this site. I haven't read everything they have to say- so I hope they aren't awful either, but they seem to be advocates for children and women who have survived abuse.
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/Research/PAS/PAS1/DV/dv.htm...
So does anyone have some more info on this. I know some of you all work in law and the new story on the features page by Heather is so excellent. What do you all think.
Mothers Vs. Fathers in Custody Battles
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Tue, 2005-01-04 16:12
#1
Mothers Vs. Fathers in Custody Battles
I mean
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/Research/PAS/PAS1/DV/dv.html
i've heard that "women get custody more than men" is a myth as well. women do have custody of children more often, but people try to stretch that into "men are denied rights to their children!" when really most of those men weren't seeking custody in the first place. it's often brought up as an example of anti-man sexism.
i'll have to check out the link you provided. a few times in my classes people have mentioned the courts being in favor of mothers, and i've always been curious about that.
i watch alot of judge shows, yeah i know just tv trash but it tends to be that if the father is seeking custody judges are shocked by a father merely stepping up and they try to accomodate because mostly the fathers dont want full custody. infact it seems these days fathers want no involvment. women do have custody more often. simply because the father isnt around or doesnt wanna be. i think men get preferencial treatment, but most often men arent after custody.
melissa
sorry i dont know any hard facts.
I it usually goes, whomever seeks it and fights for it, is deserving of it, provides the most stable home, usually gets it, we see alot of women recieveing custody and as soon as the man petitions for custody its handed over. but there is alot more to those stories.
Hopefully the judgements are made on the basis of whom would be the best primrary caregiver and not the sex of the party. There is alot of considerations made, not nesessarly is the mother the best parent for the child, nor the father. I can imagine, every case is individualized and you see more children with the mother as primamry caregiver because alot of men never petition or dont want custody.
I realized one place I read this was in The Hip Mama Guide. Ariel Gore says that in litigated custody trials, fathers win custody 70% of the time. I am not sure where the info comes from- perhaps one of those studies on the link above. She has some good books in her resources section under Divorce and Family Law.
IF 70% of males recieve custody when they petition how exactlly to you relate that to the actual number/percentage of who petition?
I mean , anyone have statistics on how many women petition -vs- men who petition?
Maybe those figures a biased a little. Thats saying that in a custody battle more men "win" than women?
Every case is individualized and custody is based on the case presented by the petitioner.
Show me statisitics on how many women " win" the case if they are the petitioner.??
Not in cases of a female respondent, male petitioner
Thats silly to use those figures. If the man is petioning for custody, then 70% is normal.
Cases are presented to the court in petioner/repondent form
man petitioner
female respondent
then obviously, 70% of cases in that form would result in a petitioner being granted the motion
If the Female was the petitioner, and she "lost" 70% of the time, that would be one thing but those figures are based on a male petitioner.
She doesn't say who the petitionaer is at all, male or female.
I think it's true that men are granted some custody/visitation 70% of the time that they seek it but I don't think that statistic means they are granted FULL custody. Most fathers are mearly looking for some form of visitation and are usualy granted it, unless there are underlying circumstances that would prevent a judge from allowing that to happen.
Judges tend to leave the child in their current situation as much as possible, unless there's reason not to. It's better for the child to stay with mom and just visit dad.....Very rarely would a judge take a child from his mother's home when they've been living there forever.