Young couple discover they are brother and sister
Help for violent women.
But judge was is there no female assaults male charge? Oh judge why do police laugh at men who say they have been assaulted by their female friends?
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/107682/help-violent-women
Family violence is not just a man's domain and more women are seeking help for their abusive tendencies.
Stopping Violence Dunedin (SVD) manager Lynne Baird said the organisation received at least one phone call a week from women wanting to do something about their violent tendencies.
Feedback from probation officers and Women's Refuge reiterated a need for help targeted at women.
New Zealand police statistics showed in about 5% of domestic violence cases the offender was a woman, but in reality the proportion was "bound to be" more, she said.
The "It's not OK" campaign had raised awareness about the different kinds of violence and abuse in society and prompted more women to realise their behaviour was classed as negative.
Unhealthy power and control tactics were not just about violence but included emotional and economic abuse as well as using sex as a means of coercion or threat, using children to get your way and blaming others for your actions.
"It's not just about her with the black eye," Ms Baird said.
In response to this, SVD created a women's education programme, which will be trialled in Dunedin next month.
Among other things, it will explore patterns of behaviour and highlight tools for living a life free of violence and abuse.
The sessions cover building self-esteem, setting safe boundaries, developing good communication skills and the impact of society on women.
It will also focus on the impact of violence on children and partners.
The programme is being developed with the support of the Department of Internal Affairs and a Lions Foundation donation enabled it to be provided free.
The programme starts on June 1, with sessions to be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm.
ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz
A woman drove a man to suicide by crying rape
I am just on my way out to Christchurch prison to visit an innocent father convicted to 4 years imprisonment on false allegations of sexual violation. I give him hope and keep his spirit positive. Sadly he was shafted by a corrupt justice system and a vicious man hating lesbian detective. Shame on our disgusting justice system.His trial was sickening to witness but who cares eh!
A woman drove a man to suicide by crying rape and forced a second innocent man to consider taking his life after falsely accusing him of a similar sex attack.
By Chris Brook
25th May 2010
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
Despite being exposed in court as a serial liar, legal restrictions mean the 21-year-old woman can never be identified.
A jury took only 45 minutes to clear medical student Olumide Fadayomi, 27, of rape.
But several jurors at Sheffield Crown Court broke down in tears when the judge revealed the "victim" had a history of crying rape.
Judge Patrick Robertshaw launched a stinging attack on the Crown Prosecution Service for making Fadayomi stand trial.
He said: "The evidence did not, and was never going to, prove rape. The prime overriding consideration in the CPS's decision had been merely that the complainant wished the case to go ahead.
"It was little short of a craven abdication of responsibility for making an independent and fair-minded assessment of the case.
"It is quite astonishing these decisions are made by those who simply do not have experience of what happens in Crown Court because they never come into Crown Court.
"They sit behind desks and make decisions that result in this sort of trial taking place."
The judge revealed how 18 months earlier the same woman had made an allegation of rape.
He said the case never reached court because it was "lacking in credibility", but the accused man committed suicide "when facing that allegation".
After failing to have this first rape accused brought to court, the woman set about framing Fadayomi, a stranger she met in a nightclub.
The woman claimed Fadayomi attacked her in a house he shared in Walkley, Sheffield.
But a friend, who was with her that evening, told the court the woman danced and kissed Fadayomi, boasting: "I'm going to have his body tonight."
The woman later told her friend she planned to accuse the student of rape, saying: "He is not going to get away with it, I've got evidence this time."
Fadayomi told the jury the woman had agreed to sex. He said: "She never told me to stop and neither did she resist."
The student, from Nigeria, was doing a biomedical sciences course at the University of East London, but the incident happened in October when he went to Sheffield to do a 10-week music production course during a study break.
After the case Fadayomi recalled how the woman propositioned him by telling him she liked his "perfume" and that "she wouldn't mind having me that night".
They later returned to his house, where they had sex. Fadayomi then gave her £8 for a taxi and she left. He said he went out to buy food at 6am and police were waiting for him on his return.
Fadayomi said of his ordeal: "My life has been hell for the last seven months.
"I've not been able to sleep properly since all this happened. Some of my friends shunned me and my parents in Nigeria were heartbroken and scared of what might happen to me."
Naheed Hussain, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South Yorkshire, on Monday night defended the decision to bring the case but said he would conduct a review following the judge's comments "to see if any lessons can be learned".
He said: "The decision to prosecute was taken by a senior lawyer. We were satisfied there was sufficient evidence not only from the complainant but from another witness whose evidence supported that of the complainant."
The law allows defendants accused of rape to be named, but the government intends to introduce anonymity for alleged rapists until conviction. - Daily Mail
Male victims of domestic violence need campaigns and services
Male victims of domestic violence need campaigns and services: report
A groundbreaking report from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found that male victims of domestic violence can suffer from a unique form of legal/administrative abuse previously unidentified in research, as well as experiencing most of the same impacts as female victims.
The Intimate Partner Abuse of Men report, to be launched this morning in Perth, found that “Male victims of intimate partner abuse and their children suffer a range of consequences, such as psychological distress (including disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders), suicidal ideation, impaired self-concept and loss of work.”
It found that male victims are often reluctant to disclose their experience of abuse or seek help because of their sometimes justified fears that they will not be believed, that they will not be assisted or will instead be blamed for the abuse.
The study recommends that government-funded public campaigns be conducted to raise awareness of domestic violence against men; that consideration should be given to providing publicly-funded services specifically for male victims; and that workers in health and welfare fields should be provided with training to assist them to recognise and respond effectively to male victims of domestic violence.
The study’s findings come after the release of statistics last year by the WA Department for Child Protection, showing that in 2007-08 women were responsible for more than three quarters of all substantiated child maltreatment.
Greg Andresen from the One in Three anti-violence campaign said “We know that one in three victims of family violence and abuse are male. This study confirms that these men have almost no services to help them, despite suffering from physical, emotional, verbal, sexual, financial and social abuse just like women victims.
“The study also discovered that some women abuse their male partners by manipulating legal and administrative resources such as taking out false restraining orders or not allowing the victim access to his children.”
In July 2009 the Federal Attorney-General asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into what improvements could be made to relevant family and domestic violence legal frameworks to protect the safety of women and their children. The One in Three campaign argues that this exclusion of male victims and their children is typical of government approaches to the issue of domestic violence which assume incorrectly that the vast majority of perpetrators are male and the vast majority of victims female.
Campaigners say that making a protection such as freedom from violence dependent on the victim’s sex violates some of the most fundamental principles of international human rights law.
Mr Andresen added, “Some will argue that domestic violence perpetrated by women is not a serious matter. However research overwhelmingly shows that coercion (control and domination) is a frequently cited reason by women for their own use of violence, and by male victims for their female partner’s use of violence.
“Other research confirms that women rarely use violence in self-defence. Self-defence is cited by women as the reason for their use of domestic violence including homicide in only a small minority of cases (between 5 and 20 per cent).
“Men are physically injured by female perpetrators, and often seriously, because women can do just as much harm with a weapon as men can, despite any differences in size or strength. And children suffer equally regardless of whether it’s Mum, Dad or both being violent.”
The One in Three campaign is calling upon state and federal governments and non-government service providers to heed the recommendations of the ECU study and provide services to all victims regardless of their sex. These include counselling and support services, accommodation services, help-lines and crisis response, and community education and prevention programmes.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Greg Andresen, One in Three spokesman, 0403 813 925, info@oneinthree.com.au
Dr Elizabeth Celi, Psychologist and Author, 0413 338 237, info@qualityliving.com.au
Divorced Dads Tips: The Difference Between Parental Alienation Syndrome & Mommy Manipulation!
http://newyorknewsbreak.com/divorced-dads-tips-the-difference-between-parental-alienation-syndrome-mommy-manipulation-095049
Divorced Dads Tips: The Difference Between Parental Alienation Syndrome & Mommy Manipulation!
We’ve seen a number of cases over the years of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) over the years. To be clear: It is not a recognized medical syndrome. And, it is often overused and inappropriately by divorced dads, it can torpedo their case fast simply because it is a simplistic overstatement of the true facts.
It’s a phrase now that is embedded into the legal speak that goes on in Family Courtrooms everywhere when access/visitation denial by anything from a mildly angry to an extremely malicious mother. And therein lies the problem. By not characterizing the seriousness of the problems appropriately and accurately, a divorced dad loses credibility when he doesn’t distinguish between:
(a) Manipulation and/or alienation;
(b) Moderate, severe, extreme, fanatical forms of manipulation;
(c) Moderate, severe, extreme, fanatical forms of alienation.
Accurately portraying through evidence which pigeonhole your child’s symptoms seem to suggest tends to demonstrate reasonableness on the fathers part, which naturally confers credibility on that evidence because it does not come across as a distortion or exaggeration of the facts.
When a malicious mother ramps up her campaign of hatred to the point that the children are seized with an OVERWHELMING irrational fear of the father following separation and/or divorce PAS becomes a distinct possibility, but it is unlikely beforehand.
So what is overwhelming fear?
It does not include any fear that is superficial. The typical kind displayed by many children who either can and/or can’t explain their fear, but don’t act in a manner consistent with those fears.
Here’s an example of consistency that borders on fanatical: A child who is cowering in the corner, even when fully protected in a supervised access center with social workers, still refuses to try and have a relationship with their dad.
Usually children such as these have been so poisoned by a mother ingratiating the child into their world view through parentification: The process where a child is made a confident of a mother and where sharing of how dangerous daddy is takes place in a sophisticated and subtle way that is far beyond a child’s abilities to understand, appreciate and fend off.
At the simplest level, manipulation that is not constantly sustained lacks depth, because it lacks consistent reinforcement at every opportunity possible. I would characterize this as the typical tactic of an overwrought mother not necessarily wanting revenge, but who is venting inappropriately through involving their child in their tirades and rants.
Malicious Mommy Manipulation Syndrome begins here and ends when a mother is including hatred and anger with sufficient force to influence a child towards PAS.
I’ve used the above framework to discern for myself what level of manipulation and/or actual alienation is taking place. Alienation always relies upon some form of HUGE lie told to frighten the child such as: your Dad will kidnap you and you will never ever see me again. Then when Dad is tired of you, he will abandon you God knows where. Then some stranger will find you and kill you.
That would terrify any child. And that is where real PAS begins from my perspective.
I remember a conference we had for the National Shared Parenting Association about 10 years ago where there was a young woman, she was about 21 years old, came to speak with us after we did our opening remarks. She was in absolute tears. Her mother had told her that her father was a monster.
This lady was in her mid 20s and for most of her childhood into early teenage and early adulthood, she was told her dad is a monster. I guess when she went out on her own she mustered up enough courage to try and find him and she did. Here was the real shocker. He is a wonderful man, which basically means she was betrayed by her mother. We told her: “You know you are very brave and good for you that you mustered up the courage to go and find your dad and you are reconnecting with him.”
The biggest challenge she is going to face now is learning how to forgive her mother, if that is even still possible. She might not be able to. This is the cost of what happens in divorce. Sometimes children are forced to make a choice between their parents. No child should ever have to do that.
It is not appropriate to wage war over your kids but it is appropriate to wage peace. The best advice that we can give you is to choose happiness over perfection. You and your kids will have a better time for it and likely a better person as a result.
When you face a really difficult situation that seems as if your kids are manipulated or alienated remember this formula when describing it to the Family Court Judge:
Is what you are seeing exhibited in your child:
(a) Manipulation and/or alienation;
(b) Moderate, severe, extreme, fanatical forms of manipulation;
(c) Moderate, severe, extreme, fanatical forms of alienation.
And match your evidence closely to what you describe.
Remember all manipulation and alienation is wrong, but the key to resolving it in Family Court is vigorously exposing it accurately. That’s the beginning of any Family Court Game Plan where these are the main issues facing your children.
Finally, be patient. This form of abuse is difficult to detect, and to prove. It takes time. However having a management system for the diagnosis of the problem will often lead to its solution.
Forced family court client fall out blues.
Life is so hard for a shafted family court male client. The corrupt family court always runs with what the mother of the children says. They don’t ever want to view written evidence from government agencies that could prove the allegations made about him to be both false and malicious. Oh no, they will not listen to the entire population of a small West Coast town, who can easily vouch for his credibility as a loving and caring father of four.
Police don’t care about false allegations as they enjoy persecuting a middle aged white man, easy target for the filth bullies.They don't want to know the truth. Sadly police beat you up every time you are hauled into a South Island station. When they struggle to crack you, they throw in the round cell for a week, and then ship you off for a 3 month Christmas holiday in the loony bin (forensic ward)
Dishonest maternal family members like Nick Yeatman employ a dozen or so men so they can strip your house of everything you ever owned. You try in vain to stop your possessions vanishing, but police laugh and beat you, then arrest you.
Lawyers lie so they can extend litigation on for many heartbreaking years.
Psychologists write up huge reports that are a total load of crap. Creeps like the report writer John Watson hound your mother too death. Be warned Watson justice is coming.
Judges don’t care as like police they can spot an easy target on legal aid. How can you sleep at night Judge Strettell?
False allegations of child abuse and domestic violence are the ingredients needed to get your house burnt down.
How does one rebuild a shattered life?
Not a day goes by that my heart bleeds for the love I once enjoyed with my children.
Police seek details on alleged kidnapping
Police seek details on alleged kidnapping
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/3732592/Police-seek-details-from-FBI
New Zealand police say they are seeking more details from the FBI as it hunts for a New Zealand woman accused of having kidnapped her one-year-old child and fleeing the United States to this country.
American officials believe Bianca Ellen Ormsby, 21, left Los Angeles on March 16 with her daughter, Sydney Thomas, on a flight to Auckland, according to FBI Special Agent James Brennan.
A criminal complaint was filed last month a Detroit court, and Ms Ormsby has been charged with international parental kidnapping.
A spokesman for New Zealand police said officials were aware of the situation and had requested clarification from US authorities.
"Until we have a response we are not in a position to comment further," police said when asked whether they were pursuing Ms Ormsby's links with family members in New Zealand to track her whereabouts.
Ms Ormsby, who was born in New Zealand, moved to the United States with her family 12 years ago, and was studying at University of Michigan when she met the child's father. She was living with her own father, Auckland medical school graduate Adrian Ormsby, a pathologist, when she disappeared with the child.
At the time, Ms Ormsby and Sydney's father, Adam Thomas, 21, had temporary joint legal custody of Sydney. The FBI said that on March 9, Ms Ormsby picked Sydney up from Mr Thomas' home in Farmington Hills, where he lived with his own parents, and vanished.
Mr Thomas has started a Facebook page titled "Help bring home my kidnapped daughter", on which he said Sydney had just learned to crawl the last time he saw her.
If the New Zealander is extradited and convicted of the federal charge, she faces up to three years in prison.
Ms Ormsby alleged in mid-July 2009 that Mr Thomas was verbally and physically abusive and obtained a personal protection order against him, which she terminated two months later.
During the custody battle, Mr Thomas expressed concerns about Ms Ormsby's mental state, and also expressed concerns to the court as early as July 2009 that she might flee to New Zealand with Sydney.
Ms Ormsby's Hamilton-based maternal grandmother has been phoned by her granddaughter from within New Zealand, the New Zealand Herald reported.
"I do know that she's in New Zealand but she has moved from the place she's been at," said the grandmother, who said mother and baby were safe and well. "I don't know where she is."
The grandmother said that "half the family" had become involved since the pair's arrival and some family members had been put in a difficult position.
"As far as I'm concerned, she is being a very difficult person. I feel sorry for the baby, but what can we do?"
Abuse of men `hidden epidemic'
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/hidden-epidemic-of-women-beating-up-men/story-e6frea8c-1225869842575
Abuse of men `hidden epidemic'
Weekend Australian (Australia) - Saturday, May 22, 2010
Author: STEPHEN LUNN
WOMEN beating up their men -- whether physically, emotionally or financially -- has become a hidden epidemic because blokes are too fearful of being labelled wimps if they cry for help.
A new study has found for male victims of "intimate partner abuse", the cumulative effect of repeat "knees in the nuts" or being heaped with scorn is a damaging erosion of self-worth. But a typical response to men who do complain is, "C'mon, you're a bloke -- get over it".
Similar to the pattern of abuse of women by men, it often starts with verbal, financial and psychological abuse, but over time escalates to physical and sometimes even sexual abuse.
The issue is even more under-reported for men than women, because men fear either being seen as wimps or not being believed, the study says. Support services for abuse victims are skewed towards females, it adds.
"I didn't expect that the stories I was hearing from men would be so similar to the stories of female abuse," said Alfred Allan, professor at Edith Cowan University and co-author of Intimate Partner Abuse of Men.
"Physical abuse isn't as big a problem for males as females, and when a male assaults a female, it's generally more severe, but there are male victims out there who are falling through the cracks."
The study is based on interviews with male victims and service providers working in the field of domestic abuse.
"She would actually hit him with the pan . . . throw reasonably large objects at him . . . punch him to the point of bruising," one service provider recalled of a client's interview. "I've lost count of how many times she's kneed me in the nuts," a male victim said.
The report notes the growing prevalence of the abuse of men by their partner. More than 80 per cent of the nearly 200 service providers in the areas of health, welfare and justice reportedproviding support for at least one man in the previous 12 months who had been a victim of intimate partner abuse, the report says. Some are same sex, but many are female partners.
Psychologist and author in men's mental health Elizabeth Celi describes the abuse of men by their spouse as a "silent phenomenon". She says women perpetrators tend to combine verbal and emotional abuse of their partner with any physical violence.
" Given women's verbal and emotional literacy, a viper tongue can really maim a man's sense of self-worth," Dr Celi said.
"Men also face the social stigma of being a victim. Not only is he questioning his own masculinity and identity, unfortunately he is more often than not disbelieved or disregarded. `You must have done something to deserve it' or `C'mon, you're a bloke, get over it', are typical reactions."
Gary Bryant, executive officer of Men's Advisory Network, which commissioned the study, says it proves men aren't just perpetrators of domestic violence ; they're also victims, but with less of a voice.
Help required to locate separated NZ fathers
Dear Peter
Hi,
My name is Kirsten Ritchie and I am conducting research at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, titled “The mental health and parenting practices of recently separated parents”. I would like to thank you for your superb response to my first email - I greatly appreciate your time and effort. The key benefits of this research are that we can get an idea of how mothers and fathers cope after a separation. We will get an insight into the experiences of separation, the difficulties that parents face in their adjustment to the separation, and what the risk factors may be for problems after separation. This is really important research, as there has been relatively little done in this field, especially in New Zealand, and it gives mothers and fathers a chance to speak about the problems and difficulties they face after separation.
The problem is that I have been inundated with help from mothers - which is great - but I am short on responses from fathers. In order for this study to succeed in the key benefits I have described above , I need to hear from mothers and fathers in more or less equal numbers . So, if you are a recently (within the last 2 years) separated father, please would you take part in my study by clicking on the link below.
Alternatively, could you please support this important research by forwarding my email to any recently separated fathers that you know. The survey takes only 20-25 minutes to complete and closes at midnight on May 31st, and there will be a second, even shorter survey later in the year. As an incentive, anyone who completes both surveys will enter a draw to win one of three $100 shopping vouchers.
http://psycdb.canterbury.ac.nz/limesurvey/index.php?sid=13416&lang=en
Kind regards,
Kirsten Ritchie
Time to Abort Fatherhood at Will
This article is well worth the read. "Real justice" is a delusion in New Zealand.
"But we also know that things will continue this way because we live in a parasitic matriarchy, and that any sense of real justice that gets it the way of its operation will be simply removed, as easy as an unwanted baby."
Time to Abort Fatherhood at Will
Delays on child abuse cases 'unacceptable'
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3709606/Delays-on-child-abuse-cases-unacceptable
Delays on child abuse cases 'unacceptable'
Police have been urged to consider prioritising child abuse cases after an Independent Police Conduct Authority
inquiry found "numerous'' files locked in a cupboard at Westport's police station.
The inquiry followed a discovery last June of a backlog of more than 100 child abuse investigation files in Wairarapa, where there had been little or no progress on the original complaint.
In December, following submissions from the public about delays in other areas, the IPCA widened its inquiry to cover the whole country and today released part one of its findings.
IPCA chairwoman Justice Lowell Goddard said a number of improvements that could be made by police had been identified, and that the IPCA considered it important to report on them immediately.
``Whilst there have been failures in the Wairarapa and elsewhere, such as Rotorua and Westport, these are not representative of all police child abuse investigations,'' Justice Goddard said.
``But it is important to acknowledge that the failures may occur again unless shortcomings in police practices, policies, and procedures are remedied.''
A review conducted of CIB files held at Westport found a detective constable who had responsibility for child abuse left the police in December 2008. "Numerous'' files were found locked in cupboards in the constable's office.
Two large boxes of files were discovered, which included four historic child abuse files, the report found.
"The child abuse files had been recorded and were properly shown as assigned to the Detective Constable at Westport. There had simply been a failure by the Detective Constable to progress the investigations and this was not detected through supervisory oversight until after the Detective Constable's departure,'' the report found.
On discovering the files appropriate steps were taken by Police to progress the investigations, the report says.
Among the IPCA recommendations was that consideration be given to including child abuse investigations as a priority in the police's national business plan and that how the cases were documented in the national database be reviewed.
The IPCA also suggested investigators on child abuse teams be exclusively focused on child abuse cases and that police review the way in which staff were selected for the cases.
Consideration should also be given to setting a national standard on the number of child abuse investigation files to be held by an investigator at any one time, the IPCA said.
Police Commissioner Howard Broad said today police would be working through the IPCA's recommendations.
``Unfortunately child abuse issues feature regularly in police operational reports and in the last three years it has been a rare week when child abuse has not been on the agenda for the police,'' Mr Broad said.
``We absolutely agree with the IPCA that child abuse must be prevented. Police are part of the solution and to do this we must ensure that we are doing our job to the highest standard.''
Mr Broad said police already had many actions under way to address the problems and a team had been working with the IPCA.
``On receiving this report I am motivated to get as many of the recommendations implemented in as short a time as possible and will be taking a taskforce approach to this.''
Mr Broad said the delays found in Wairarapa were unacceptable and, in response, police had conducted a national audit of child abuse case, which found most were being dealt with in a proper and timely manner.
``Child abuse is an abhorrent crime and we want every investigation to be completed to the highest standard. It is disappointing that not every file was documented or conducted according to standards, but the vast majority stood up to very robust inspection,'' he said.
``I don't want people to think our system is broken when it is not. We have a desire to do our absolute best for at risk children and ensuring that we have the best practices, policies and procedures in place is extremely important in achieving this goal.'
We treat our babies like dogs'
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10645232
We treat our babies like dogs'
By Anna Leask
Nia Glassie. Photo / Supplied
The Ministry of Health revealed 74 children aged under one year were admitted to hospital after violent attacks last year, compared with 45 in 2007.
The surge comes as Social Development Minister Paula Bennett said children were being treated like "dogs".
In an open letter to police, Bennett wrote: "It is unacceptable that our youngest, most vulnerable children are being treated like dogs. The shameful statistics have got to change."
The deaths of 3-month old twins Chris and Cru Kahui in 2006 led to a major Government campaign to stamp out child abuse. Millions of dollars were spent on advertising campaigns such as the Never, Ever Shake a Baby series.
Bennett admitted she was "absolutely horrified" at the findings. "There isn't one nice answer and, frankly, if there was we'd be doing it.
"Some of it's going to be tough stuff for us to get our heads around, like are we leaving children in people's homes too long or putting them back in the right families?"
Child Protection Services chief executive Anthea Simcock said more health professionals were recognising abuse-related injuries than before because of a higher awareness of the problem.
"You have to look at the whole picture, you can't always assume it's one thing," she said.
"One contributing factor could be more awareness.
"Some people will say recession-based stresses in the family could be an issue, some say it's poverty-based."
Simcock said poverty, combined with low education levels in families, lack of support, and younger parents, were also factors.
Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Holden, of the national adult sex assault and child abuse team, said most victims were abused by people they knew. Separate figures obtained under the Official Information Act show the agency charged with protecting vulnerable kids is intervening more than before.
Child, Youth and Family took 85 newborn babies into its care last year, up from 78 in 2006, according to the Ministry of Social Development.
The agency received 1005 warnings about at-risk kids from family members, police or other government agencies last year, more than double the 440 received in 2006.
Ministry of Social Development chief executive Peter Hughes said the number of children under one who die through maltreatment was three times higher than in the 1-4 age group. "Every five days a child under 2 is hospitalised because of abuse."
The police have also come under fire for being too slow to investigate child abuse cases.
Last year, the Independent Police Complaints Authority launched an inquiry into delays in investigating cases after a judge criticised Wairarapa police for slow responses.
It was revealed there was a backlog of 108 files in Wairarapa. Police in Auckland and Christchurch were also battling to clear files, some three years old.
At the time chairwoman Justice Lowell Goddard said the authority had asked police for a robust audit of child abuse files to determine whether delays happened in other districts.
- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: REBECCA LEWIS
By Anna Leask
Fairer policies and greater gender equity will boost S'pore's birth rate, says professor
Fathers, please step up
Fairer policies and greater gender equity will boost S'pore's birth rate, says professor
By Tan Hui Yee, Correspondent
Professor Rosling says Singapore has not seen a reversal
in the decline of fertility rates, unlike other high-income
nations like Australia, because it lags behind in gender
equality. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI
SINGAPORE fathers are the real losers when they abdicate child-rearing responsibilities to mothers. And the state, too, becomes much poorer for it, says noted Swedish international health professor and public statistics advocate Hans Rosling.
Singapore, he notes, vexes over its baby shortage because the situation threatens its economic survival. But it should be more concerned that its falling total fertility rate (TFR) shows poor gender equity, which is an indicator of social progress.
The 62-year-old academic from Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet, which awards the Nobel Prize for medicine, was in town recently to speak at the UBS Philanthropy Forum.
'A fertility rate of 1.23 children per woman indicates that life is not that optimal for young women in Singapore. You can gather from that that Singapore women have to make a choice, either to have children or to have an active professional career,' he says.
Their inordinate sacrifice stems from the fact that would-be fathers here are not rising to the task of child-rearing, and state support for equal parenting roles is not adequate. In response, women are saying 'no' to babies.
Singapore, he notes, is a close cousin to Sweden in income and infant mortality rate. Yet both countries are moving in opposite directions when it comes to fertility rates, with the Swedish figure climbing to a 16-year high of 1.94 children per woman last year, while Singapore's dipped to a nadir of 1.23.
Read the full interview inThe Straits Times today.
Raquel Welsh - It's sex o'clock in America
The following quote says it all about the non existence of moral standards. New Zealand women are the most promiscuous in the Western World but who cares as sex sells.
Seriously, folks, if an aging sex symbol like me starts waving the red flag of caution over how low moral standards have plummeted, you know it's gotta be pretty bad.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/
It's sex o'clock in America
- Raquel Welch: The Pill has altered society in ways good and bad
- An upside has been empowerment of women in life decisions
- Welch: Downside is loss of caution and discernment in choice of sex partners
And as I've grown older over the past five decades -- from 1960 to 2010 -- and lived through this revolutionary period in female sexuality, I've seen how it has altered American society -- for better or worse.
On the upside, by the early 60's The Pill had made it easier for a woman to choose to delay having children until after she established herself in a career. Nonetheless, for young women of childbearing age (I was one of them) there was a need for some careful soul searching -- and consideration about the long-range effects of oral contraceptives -- before addressing this very personal decision. It was a decision I too would have to face when I discovered I was pregnant at age 19.
Even though I was married to the baby's father, Jim Welch, I wasn't prepared for this development. It meant I would have to put my career ambitions on hold. But "the choice" was not mine alone to make. I had always wanted to have Jim's babies, but wasn't at all sure how he would react. At the time, we were 19-year-old newlyweds, struggling to make ends meet. But he was unflinching in his desire to keep our baby and his positive, upbeat attitude about the whole prospect turned everything around. I have always loved Jim for how he responded in that moment.
During my pregnancy, I came to realize that this process was not about me. I was just a spectator to the metamorphosis that was happening inside my womb so that another life could be born. It came down to an act of self-sacrifice, especially for me, as a woman. But both of us were fully involved, not just for that moment, but for the rest of our lives. And it's scary. You may think you can skirt around the issue and dodge the decision, but I've never known anyone who could. Jim and I had two beautiful children who've been an ongoing blessing to both of us.
Later, I would strike out on my own, with my little ones, as a single mother to pursue a career in the movies. It was far from ideal, but my children didn't impede my progress. They grounded me in reality and forced me into an early maturity. I should add that having two babies didn't destroy my figure.
But if I'd had a different attitude about sex, conception and responsibility, things would have been very different.
One significant, and enduring, effect of The Pill on female sexual attitudes during the 60's, was: "Now we can have sex anytime we want, without the consequences. Hallelujah, let's party!"
It remains this way. These days, nobody seems able to "keep it in their pants" or honor a commitment! Raising the question: Is marriage still a viable option? I'm ashamed to admit that I myself have been married four times, and yet I still feel that it is the cornerstone of civilization, an essential institution that stabilizes society, provides a sanctuary for children and saves us from anarchy.
In stark contrast, a lack of sexual inhibitions, or as some call it, "sexual freedom," has taken the caution and discernment out of choosing a sexual partner, which used to be the equivalent of choosing a life partner. Without a commitment, the trust and loyalty between couples of childbearing age is missing, and obviously leads to incidents of infidelity. No one seems immune.
As a result of the example set by their elders, by the 1990s teenage sexual promiscuity -- or hooking up -- with multiple partners had become a common occurrence. Many of my friends who were parents of teenagers sat in stunned silence several years ago when it came to light that oral sex had become a popular practice among adolescent girls in middle schools across the country.
Seriously, folks, if an aging sex symbol like me starts waving the red flag of caution over how low moral standards have plummeted, you know it's gotta be pretty bad. In fact, it's precisely because of the sexy image I've had that it's important for me to speak up and say: Come on girls! Time to pull up our socks! We're capable of so much better.
The Fresh Air Fund is great for kids.
Hi Peter
I haven't reached out to you in a few months, but I wanted to let you know that The Fresh Air Fund is again in need of host families for this summer. If you could help get the word out on Dad4Justice it would really help us place these wonderful children into a loving host family for up to two weeks of a fresh air experience they will never forget.
I've put together a new social media release, so please feel free to use any of the images, graphics, banners, or copy - by the way, we just created a new video called "Two Weeks" that is truly heartwarming:
http://freshairfundhost.com/
Please let me know if you are able to post or tweet and if you have any questions. Your efforts can help a child have an experience that will change their life!
Thank you so much,
Sara
Shared custody the best and worst
Welcome to the new age child who has four parents.
http://www.theage. com.au/opinion/ society-and- culture/shared- custody-the- best-and- worst-20100507- ujm0.html
Shared custody the best and worst
JO CASE
May 8, 2010Snot ran into my mouth. My eyes swelled beneath my fingers. I realised that my sobbing, expelled from deep inside my chest, actually sounded like "boo-hoo, boo-hoo".
It was probably this moment of self-awareness that made me realise how ridiculous I was being. It propelled me out of bed and into the bathroom, to alternately blow my nose, exhale a final series of stuttering sobs, and inspect the damage.
Come on, I told myself sternly, looking deep into my own slitted red eyes. He's not dead, he's just at his father's. Like he is every other week of his life. You'll see him soon. The next thought, the one that really sobered me up, was, ''What if his father rang you right now and asked you to take him for the week? How would you get your work done and your deadlines met?''
When people hear that I share custody of my son with his dad on an arrangement of one week on, one week off, they generally have one of three reactions.
The most common, oddly, is, ''You're so lucky. You get the best of both worlds.'' This mostly comes from harried mothers, who juggle work and kids and partners and say things like, "I can't remember the last time I saw a film." To them, my life is a kind of paradise of going out, having a career free of childcare restrictions, and finding time to visit the hairdresser's alone.
The second reaction is, ''I could never do that. I'd just go insane with missing him/her/them. That's so good of you.'' Again, this comes from fellow mothers. These ones disinfect their kids' toys when they drop them on the floor and no longer accept lunch or dinner invitations because their child needs their routine and must be in bed at the designated hour, no matter what, to prevent transformation into a pumpkin. Translation:
''I could never do that. You must not love your child like I do. Life must be easy when you can farm your child off to someone else for half your life.''
The third reaction is, ''Wow. Really? That is great. Good on you.'' This comes from separated fathers who are only allowed access to their children for one weekend a fortnight. They tend to beam at me like I am a saint. (Generally because they were once married to women like the ones who give me Reaction Two, and share the opinion that my actions are rare and benevolent - only they are sincere.) "Well, it's only what's fair," I say. This is true - though I feel, under these men's admiring gaze, as if I am being deliberately disingenuous. And maybe I am.
The truth of my experience reflects a mix of all these reactions. I do get more time to spend on my friends and career (and, technically, at the hairdresser's, though you wouldn't know it from looking at me). I do sometimes resent that extra time, badly miss my son, and cry so hard I swallow my own snot. And though our custody arrangement is - logically - fair, it is not the most common outcome when parents separate. Sometimes I wish I had never been so ''reasonable'', and suspect myself of having been so depressed when I left my son's father that I accepted shared custody out of exhaustion rather than fairness.
But, when all my guilt-tinged analysis has been exhausted, one fact remains. Shared custody, despite its effects on me or my former partner, is the best thing for my son. He has two parents who want him, who care about him, and who are intimately involved in his everyday life.
Plus, he gets to listen to songs with swear words in them at my house (so long as he doesn't sing them aloud). He has Garage Band on his computer at dad's. My partner takes him to footy games. His dad teaches him to play soccer.
"What's good about having two houses?" I asked him recently.
"Well, I have four parents instead of two," he said, surprising me. Then he thought about it, and his smile curved into a frown. "Actually, that means I have four parents to tell me what to do."
"But four people who really care about you, too," I said. "Right?"
"Yeah," he agreed, reverting to being happy about it.
He has the best of both worlds. And, yes, the worst of both worlds, too.
Jo Case is associate editor of the journal Kill Your Darlings and books editor of The Big Issue.
High Court rejects shared parenting plan
Another blow for fatherhood.
http://news. theage.com. au/breaking- news-national/ high-court- rejects-shared- parenting- plan-20100303- pir2.html
High Court rejects shared parenting plan
A court order requiring a Sydney mother and Mount Isa father to share parenting of their seven-year-old might have been in the child's best interests, but it just wasn't feasible, the High Court has ruled.
High Court judges said the Federal Court magistrate who made the original order should have considered whether it was actually practicable for the daughter to spend equal time or even substantial time with each parent.
The High Court initially handed down its decision in December but only released its reasons on Wednesday.
The court heard the couple lived together in Sydney from 1993 until 2007, and their daughter had been born in August 2002.
In January 2007 the family moved to Mount Isa to allow the husband to gain work experience.
The parents separated in August 2007, with the mother and daughter returning to Sydney. But three months later they returned to Mount Isa in accordance with interim orders sought by the father and made by the Federal Magistrates Court.
Final orders, made in April 2008, gave the parents equal shared responsibility for their daughter and directed that she spend equal time with each parent on the basis that both would live in Mount Isa.
The Full Court of the Family Court dismissed the mother's appeal, but the High Court took a different view.
Judges noted that the legislation stipulated that a child's best interests were to be the paramount consideration in parenting orders, with a presumption that this could be best achieved by parents sharing responsibility.
However, that presumption could be rebutted, with the legislation also requiring consideration of the parents' circumstances, particularly the mother.
In this case, the mother was living in a caravan park and relying on welfare payments and income from casual work, with her daughter staying with her every second week.
The mother was also suffering depression from her poor living conditions, lack of employment opportunities and isolation from her family in Sydney.
The High Court judges said the federal magistrate addressed only the question of whether it was in the child's best interests for her to spend equal time with each parent.
He made no assessment of whether spending equal time with each parent was actually feasible, they said.
"Had consideration been given to the question, only one conclusion could have been reached, one which did not permit the making of the order," they said.
The case was sent back to the Federal Magistrates Court to be reheard.
Failure to Protect: The Crisis in America’s Family Courts
The same can be said of the New Zealand Family Court. The corruption and destruction of broken children and the heartbroken paternal family is on par with how the Nazis' dealt with people in the second world war. Sad but true. What else would you expect from a Court built on lies and gender discrimination!!Lying lawyers cause so much misery. They enjoy inflicting pain on the innocent. Often the lies run for a life time and the falsely accused must take it on the chin because the system cannot rectify its mistake. What a scumbag Court of deceit!!
Failure to Protect: The Crisis in America’s Family Courts
USA = Appeals Court allows lawsuit
If the Courts were interested in the best interests of the child then why do the many so called professionals that fester in the Court promote parental alienation through false allegations and meandering litigation? Year after year goes the heartbreak. The damage to my children after eight years being forced Family Court clients is both disgusting and tragic. The Family Court is gender bias and has its gravy train hands dripping in blood.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.
The Prague Post - News - Fathers fight for custody
If only the New Zealand Family Court was fair for fathers.
A ruling by the Czech Constitutional Court promises to make it easier for fathers to gain custody of their children, with the court saying cases should be decided according to a child's best interests.
The Prague Post - News - Fathers fight for custody






