DADS WILL RALLY AGAINST "DEADBEAT MOMS"

SEPTEMBER 6, 1996

A group of men will use Mississauga as a launching pad to win back rights they feel have been lost to deadbeat moms.

Divorce And Defence Strategies (DADS) Canada, a group formed two years ago to battle what it sees as an unjust family law system, will hold a rally here to draw attention to their cause and push for changes to the Provincial Family Court system.

Stacy Robb, vice-president of the Toronto based organization, says the first Deadbeat Mom Demonstration will begin tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m., at the corner of Erin Mills Parkway and Battleford Dr.

He says the event is the first of several more demonstrations to come. Robb is expecting close to 60 demonstrators at the march, that will last about two hours, and end up at a home of what DADS members refer to as a "deadbeat mom".

Robb says the demonstration is a non-confrontational event, and the group will not step onto the woman's property to speak with her. Robb says the group was formed in response to the formation of Mothers Against Fathers In Arrears (MAFIA). We were getting sick and tired of the media and others picking on deadbeat dads," says Robb. "We want to bring about changes to the family court system that seems to, without exception, give custody of children to mother.

"We want to bring about a fair system that truly is fair to the fathers, mothers and children. We're well set up, and well connected." Among the groups activities, Robb says DADS helps people, including mothers, fight back against what they believe to be unfair decisions rendered by family court. The bottom line, Robb says, "..is that children have the opportunity to grow up in the best possible environment".

"We have all kinds of statistics, from credible sources, that describe what can happen to children who grow up in fatherless homes, or without contact with their fathers," says Robb.

Reinhold Knauss, a divorced father who will take part in tomorrow's demonstration, says it's time the courts took fathers into account when reaching their decisions. "On the surface, the system seems fair, but it's not. I've lost contact with my daughter now. I haven't seen her in two years," says Knauss. "In 95 per cent of cases, the mother gets custody of the children, the father pays support and access to the children by the father is dependent on the mother. We have to depend on the goodwill of the woman we're divorced from to see our children."

Knauss adds that while he considers women's issues to be very important, "men's issues are lying on the floor, invisible to the courts."

Robb says DADS is connected to various professionals in society, including social workers and lawyers, that serve people who come to DADS for help.

This story is posted for educational purposes only and is copyright protected by the Mississauga News.