CHILDREN aren't going astray on this island because of a lack of money, according to the president of a local fathers advocacy group - the problem lies in absent fathers.

"Many fathers will not be enjoying their Father's Day this year," Eddie Fisher, president of Childwatch, said last night. "The majority of fathers on this island are not in the lives of their children."

Childwatch seeks to change a social and legal system that it perceives to be biased against fathers.

"I'm not a mathematician, but I estimate there is a 50 per cent divorce rate," he said. "That's a commonly used statistic. And there is a 35 per cent out-of-wedlock rate.

"Consequently, I would imagine that would add up to more fathers not in the marital home. Most of these fathers will be either visiting their child on Father's Day or they will be estranged from the child by the custodial parent."

In a letter addressed to several prominent political leaders, including Premier Jennifer Smith and former Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon, Childwatch press officer Morris Figueiredo wrote: "We firmly believe that with the divorce rate and out-of-wedlock births, our children under the present system fail in many areas at home, school and life in general.

"The sad statistics of our prison population, drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy and failing school levels prove to the most ardent supporter of the present system that is placing heavy burdens on the primary care giver and turning the secondary parent into a disenfranchised visitor.

"More importantly, our children are being destroyed by a system that must declare a winner, rather than encourage shared parenting responsibilities."

Mr. Fisher expressed frustration that Government refuses to take fathers' issues seriously.

He said Childwatch had been turned down twice in its attempts to register as a charity.

"We applied for charity status and we were denied," Mr. Fisher said. "We appealed and were refused again. First it was refused by Minister Paula Cox of Education and then we were referred in appeal to Minister Nelson Bascome of Health & Social Services.

"It's fascinating, because these two Ministers are crying out blue murder for the public to get involved."

He said Childwatch was denied charity status because the group "did not have a charitable purpose" and also because "there were already more than enough similar groups doing the same thing".

"So I ask this question," said Mr. Fisher. "If we didn't have a charitable purpose, why are there so many other people doing it? It doesn't make sense."

Mr. Fisher went to the Centre on Philanthropy and discovered there was, in fact, only one other fathers' group with a similar purpose, and that was the Fathers' Resource Centre.

"We are a non-profit group manned by volunteers," said Mr. Fisher. "All we are trying to do is work for our children. Basically, we were trying to amend the laws and the Matrimonial Causes Act, make them less biased and discriminatory. We were trying to provide funds for male counsellors. There are no male counsellors on the island, to my knowledge."

He said it was sad the Government was so apathetic towards the situation, since Childwatch's main aim was to assist Government in finding solutions and forming new policies.

"We see myriad problems that need addressing," he said. "We deal with anything from men who needed counselling, to men (like myself) who have been locked out of their children's lives; right through to men who have been incarcerated for failure to pay child support."

He said in many cases the father had been paying child support directly to the mother instead of through the court system, but because they could not produce a receipt they were thrown into jail.

"Another man I know has custody of both his children," Mr. Fisher said. "He asked for some support from the mother. She said, 'I'm not going to pay you support. If you go to court for it, I'll go to court and ask for the children back.' So he just backed off."

He said the legal system was blatantly biased towards mothers.

"One of the biggest problems we have is the legal system," he said. "If a father is denied access to his children (despite a court order saying he can see them), there is nothing the police can do, besides talk to the mother. They can't seize the child.

"Yet, if the father is late on just one child support payment, he's thrown into prison."

He said Childwatch did not want to see mothers incarcerated.

"That's not what we are about," he said. "What we are about is fighting for the rights of our children to have equal access to both parents.

"Society and the courts are saying money is the overriding factor in this whole situation. I am here to tell you that our children are not going astray because of lack of money. They are failing because they don't have, in many cases, a father in their lives.

"We all know that lots of fathers don't care, but that is a whole different issue. I am not here to speak for fathers who don't care."

Childwatch is working for the following things:

That the Human Rights Commission be given real powers to end gender discrimination perpetrated by any person pertaining to child custody issues, thereby ending child alienation and the resulting abuse.

The court judgments be rendered without regard to gender and be considered on the issues of parental performance, offering both parents, if capable and willing, equal access to raise their children.

That both the Affiliation and the Matrimonial Causes Act be amended for the benefit of our children having first taken input from all relevant groups.

That an independent ombudsman be appointed with power to investigate all matters pertaining to child custody and to end the injustices and disenchantment of the system that it perceived as being gender bias. Further, to have powers to order a review of any report.

That Social Services and court officials receive in-depth training as to the vital importance of a father in the lives of children. And that Social Services make concerted efforts to include male case workers and to amend the mind set of present social workers to bring fairness and accountability to a one sided system.