The founder of a charity that seeks to help children of separated families maintain a loving relationship with both parents has called for more collaboration with agencies that support women.
James Cunningham founded James’ Ark around five years ago to help families suffering from long-term separation.
The charity has previously explained that it is often fathers who are most impacted by family division – with 40% losing contact with their children within two years of separation.
Last year, James’ Ark helped over 100 children connect with their fathers.
Notable cases include reconnecting a dad in Australia with his child in Jersey after 14 years.
But Mr Cunningham believes there is a bias against fathers across the island’s services, and wants to see more equality.
He called for an end to the toxicity of the family courts – where battles between spouses, often spurred on by lawyers, encourage acrimony when it comes to custody negotiations.
The courts, Mr Cunningham said, should have 50/50 shared custody as a starting point, and there should be clear and defined reasons as to why fathers should not have access to their children.
He said: “As a man and as a father, you want to be working towards fair or close to fair. That’s it. I think that’s what a lot of fathers and men want.
“It’s working together, really, isn’t it? Men and women. I feel that’s where we’ve lost our way.”
Mr Cunningham stressed that he supports both mothers and fathers through the process, and wants to see a system where both are treated better.
He added: “I would love to meet with other agencies that support women, and actually say: ‘Right, what are your struggles? Because these are our struggles. How can we work together?’ But some agencies haven’t wanted to do that.”
You can read a fuller interview with Mr Cunningham in Saturday’s JEP…