International Men's Day 2015: Landmark Debate in Parliament
For immediate release: 20th November 2015
19th November 2015 saw a landmark debate in Parliament, campaigned for by the MP for Shipley, Philip Davies. For the first time a debate was held in Parliament for International Men's Day (IMD) mirroring the regularly held parliamentary debates on International Women's Day (IWD).
Jerry Karlin, Chair of Families Need Fathers commented: "MPs are traditionally elected to represent men and women regardless of their own gender and we expect them to focus on matters concerning all their constituents irrespective of gender. However both IMD and IWD are good opportunities for Parliament to focus on celebrating noteworthy achievements as well as highlighting notable failings in the gender arena. We note that the perfectly justified enthusiasm for eradicating gender inequalities shows a growing tradition of concentrating on factors affecting women only and not men, as regards their health and their position in the family, home, school and workplace. This increasingly is eclipsing consideration of the difficulties experienced by surprisingly large numbers of men in many areas such as suicide rates, divorce/separation and domestic violence, all areas where there is staggeringly less support for men than there is for women. We as a gender-neutral organisation congratulate Philip Davies MP and his parliamentary colleagues for standing up and highlighting - with statistics rather than hearsay - so many important inequities in modern Britain in such a balanced and fair manner."
We invite you to view the Parliament video below:
ENDS
For comment, case studies or information please contact: media@fnf.org.uk.
Notes for editors:
Families Need Fathers - because both parents matter
FNF is a registered charity providing information and support on shared parenting issues arising from family breakdown, and support to divorced and separated parents, irrespective of gender or marital status. FNF is NOT a fathers' rights group - we support the best interests of children - namely mature and collaborative parenting by both parents - an objective which is insufficiently demonstrated in the family court system and associated services.
Our primary concern is the maintenance of the child’s meaningful relationship with both parents.
Founded in 1974, FNF helps thousands of parents every year.
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