The Rights Of Man

BRUCE HYMAN CONVICTION IS A SALUTARY TALE FOR FATHERS

The sad tale of Bruce Hyman's conviction, in 800 years he is the first ever barrister to have been jailed for perverting the course of justice , is a salutary tale for all UK fathers.

Firstly and already covered here (link) it shows that fathers are the whipping boys and that family law and family courts are so accustomed to ruling against fathers, it was probably seen as a formality that he could get away with his crime.

His crime was to send a father an e-mail purporting to be from Families Need Fathers with information that could have helped his custody battle. When the father used it , Hyman then in court claimed the e-mail was false. The father proved Hyman had set him up, however, if it was not for the father's resourcefulness, then he would have been the one facing jail.

The story is well covered in the Telegraph (link), Mail on Sunday (link), The Times (Link) and The Guardian (link).

The other salutary tale surrounds the all too common victimhood claimed by friends of those who break the law. There was an outpouring of sympathy for Bruce Hyman from the great and the good, including actress Maureen Lipman.

No outpouring though about the sympathy needed for the father (and his children) who would have gone to prison if he hadn't proved he had been framed, and no doubt, for far longer than a year in these anti-male, all-fathers-are-bad- especially-if-they-want-access-to-their-children times. That is where the sympathy needs to be.

Families Need Fathers in their excellent style produced a release (link) on this story and the view from John Baker, their Chairman is 

"FNF is pleased to have played a part in ensuring that this case was fully investigated and one hopes that sharp practice of this order is exceptional. However, the English family courts are secret and in the normal course their proceedings are subject only to the limited scrutiny of the Court of Appeal. Much goes on in family courts that would be unacceptable if more widely known.”

BRUCE HYMAN STORY SHOWS HOW FATHERS ARE THE WHIPPING BOYS

The story of barrister Bruce Hyman and how he is facing jail for perverting the course of justice after trying to effectively 'frame' a father fighting to get access to his children is a sad tale. 

He sent the father an e-mail using the Familes Need Fathers logo which the unwitting father then used to aid his case for custody. Buce Hyman was acting for the mother. The full story is here (link).

No-one quite knows what the motive was. However, what it does say is culturally in the UK, fathers are easy targets. I suspect Hyman set the father up because he thought that no-one would believe the father and therefore could get away it.

He was right except it was because of the father and his investigation that it transpired that it was Hyman who had sent him the e-mail.

It just confirms that fathers are whipping boys.

THE ILLEGALITY OF GIVING REDUCED OR FREE ENTRY FOR WOMEN BUT CHARGING MEN : NAME AND SHAME

Despite the fact that it is clearly illegal under the Sexual Discrimination Act (1975) to charge men entry fees to clubs, nightclubs still perists in this.

The Equal Opportunities Commission have a briefing available (link) and state clearly:-

If a nightclub tries to attract women with free entry or free or reduced price drinks but charges men fees and higher prices for drinks then this would be a breach of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 A man successfully challenged a wine bar's practice of charging men an entry fee but allowing women in free. A county court judge made a declaration that he had been discriminated against.

This site has received e-mails over the past six months complaining about this and trawling through the web, these places have been charging men but not women:-

Thai Square Nightclub, London SW1 : Women free entry on Fridays;

Julie's Nightclub, Newcastle : Ladies free on Tuesday and Wednesday, Men £3;

The Barracuda, Ealing : Ladies free before 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday;

The only remedy men have is to either complain directly to the club management or take a civil claim against the club. The EOC, whilst having advice, do not seem to want to take this up and support anyone through the courts, as they do on many other cases.

If any readers know of any clubs that operate such a policy, please could they send details (name of club, the club night, the detail on the entry policy and the town) to [email protected]. These places will then join those above in a hall of shame.

WHY THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT IS A VITAL TOOL FOR MALE RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS

The Freedom of Information Act combined with the Gender Equality Duty has opened the door for campaigners in their fight against male discrimination by the state.

The Men's Aid web-site has an excellent forum where campaigners publish their Freedom of Information requests and then publish their answers (link). The most interesting ones are:-

• A request to the BBC as to why they have no men's hour whilst they have a women's hour, especially as the Gender Equality Duty is in place;
• A request to the Equal Opportuinites Commission asking why they still ignore statistics on male domestic violence victims.

Whern the answers provide fruitful information, links will be placed on the site.

If anyone wants to see how the Freedom of Information Act works, please link here (link) and for the Gender Equality Duty see here (link).

LATEST NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILY CONTACT

As ever, a thought provoking article from the NSCFC (link) on parental responsibility and the denial of fathers' ability to receive adequate advice and support from the state.

Read it here  (link)

BRIEFING ON MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE / MALE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS (UPDATE)

The briefing on male domestic violence victims has been updated with the 2006/07 British Crime Survey figures here Download dv_brief_august_2007.pdf .

CSA DROP NAME AND SHAME

On 26th June 2007, the CSA published its first list of people (all men) who they had taken to court for information offences (link) and was covered here (link).

A story in The Metro this week said that "The controversial plan...has been shelved after just four weeks - because of a lack of interest. Visits to the web-site...waned after quickly after an initial peak. James Plaskitt MP said 'in light of this we will not publish further names'."

There is no link to the story on the web but Familes Need Fathers (link) issued a press release:-

The Child Support Agency (CSA) acknowledges the ineffectiveness of the proposed naming and shaming policy. Families Need Fathers (FNF) are relieved that this draconian measure has been recognized as unsuitable.

Controversial government plans to ‘name and shame’ fathers who have failed to pay maintenance have been suspended after it’s lack of success. The website detailing ‘deadbeat dads’ has met with significant criticism as an ineffectual scheme which would have little benefit for anyone involved, least of all the child.

John Baker, FNF Chair, said of the decision, “We welcome this move, and hope that it indicates a more pragmatic approach to the issue of CSA maintenance and new leadership. We feel that less confrontational means are likely to produce better results.”

“For a body whose purpose is essentially to protect the child, it is hard to see how public humiliation of one of its parents could possibly be appropriate,” he added.

This is another defeat for the feminist fundamentalists who wanted to conduct a witch hunt in their quest to turn society into men-haters. The British public are not into state 'naming and shaming' especially when the state organisation is as incompetent as the CSA.

MICHAEL COX FREED ON BAIL : ROUND-UP

Michael Cox, the lawyer who was jailed for 42 days for refusing to pay maintenance when he looked after his children 50% of the time (link), was freed from prison on 6th July on unconditional bail pending a judicial review hearing (link),(link) and (link). 

After Mr Justice Gray granted him bail at Bristol Crown Court, Michael said that it was “a victory for common sense and equality”. 

  Michael (left) believes the case will have to go to the European Courts to turn over the unjust and discriminatory laws that govern the CSA.

The lengths that feminist fundamentalists will go to persecute men was shown up in all its 'glory' by the decision. The CSA have said they will not give up their fight so it looks a 'battle to the death' for the fundamentalists who are not used to being challenged.

There was a superb piece in the Telegraph featuring his children whilst he was in prison (link).

Fathers4Justice launched a Free Michael Cox campaign (link). Also see Michael Cox's excellent GMTV interview and others via YouTube here:- (link) 

STONING A WOMAN IS WORSE THAN STONING A MAN - ACCORDING TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

In an Amnesty International Report, it was revealed that a man and a woman were found guilty of adultery in Iran. Whilst stoning has been banned in Iran, the man still suffered this fate and it has not yet been decided what will happen to the women. The story is covered here (link).

The reason for the post is that the quote from Amnesty International (see below) seems to suggest that stoning is a greater punishment for a woman than a man. That's equality for you!

Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "To execute anyone by stoning is barbaric and disgraceful. To execute a woman for adultery in this cruel way simply beggars belief.

"Iran should abolish the sentence of stoning once and for all."

MEN'S RIGHTS PETITIONS - UPDATE

There are currently three government e-petitions being circulated at the moment. Please sign them, if you have not done so already.

MInister for Men Petition - (link) : 266 signatories so far.

Male Victims of Domestic Violence - (link) : 196 signatories so far.

Family Equality - (link) : 116 signatories so far.

If you know of anymore, please let me know at [email protected]