Denying a Child Their Father is Child Abuse

Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. When they do dads are being made increasingly irrelevant in the life of their kids, often as a result of spite or malice, with tragic consequences on children, families and communities.

A new Toronto billboard campaign will spotlight a form of child abuse psychologists call parental alienation, which has been associated with anxiety, depression, criminality and even suicide in child victims. The billboard image shows a child being pulled out of the loving arms of her father while declaring: "I am not parental prey. Help me keep mommy AND daddy." 

It is the location of the recently launched first of its kind "Fathering After Separation or Divorce" program for fathers in the community, some of whom have been kept from their kids for years.

These billboard ads are the second in a three part campaign sponsored by the educational charity Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE) that is challenging social attitudes towards men's issues. Earlier this year a head-turning billboard called attention to male survivors of domestic violence and sparked a nationwide campaign to fund resources for male victims of violence.

"Our goal with this new ad is to highlight the negative impact of parental alienation on children and the family as a whole," said Justin Trottier, CAFE Spokesperson. "Maliciously impeding a healthy parent-child relationship is damaging to a child's emotional and psychological development." 

Since the alienated parent is most often the father, the effects of parental alienation combine with a biased family court system to result in the forced absence of dads from the lives of their children. Research shows fatherless children are more likely to drop out of school, engage in substance abuse, become incarcerated or pregnant as teenagers.

"Shared parenting arrangements should be developed which allow for as much involvement as possible by both parents," said Trottier.