SCOTTISH men face suspicion and discrimination in relation to parenting after separation, with the role of fathers often viewed as dispensable, according to a charity.
Families Need Fathers (FNF), which offers a helpline and support for non-resident men experiencing difficulty with contact, is calling for more recognition of the contribution that fathers can make in looking after children after separation.
In a submission this week to an inquiry being held by the Scottish Parliament's Equal Opportunities committee, it calls on MSPs to acknowledge unfairness in the court system against fathers and the failings of some schools, GP practices and other agencies to relate to separated fathers on an equal footing with mothers.
FNF Scotland is calling for a presumption by the courts that parenting will be shared when parents separate, which it says is the attitude taken in Sweden and other countries. Such a policy might not lead to a strict division of care, but would pre-empt many costly adversarial court battles, the charity argues.
The Holyrood committee is investigating the experiences of single fathers and those with shared custody of children to look at the quality of support available and the challenges they face. Committee members will begin hearing spoken evidence on Thursday.
John Forsyth, of FNF Scotland, welcomed the investigation and said public narratives too often characterise men as "somewhat suspect", with the contribution fathers across Scotland make to parenting seen as under-valued and dispensable.
He said: "We still hear too many opinion formers and professionals in relevant areas referring to absent fathers.
"They should know how undermining it is for non-resident fathers who work very hard to remain involved with their children to be lumped in with parents who appear to have no wish for contact with their children."
Attitudes from some schools, social work departments, the courts and other agencies can become discriminatory, partly as a result of an understandable policy push to support single parents and tackle issues such as domestic violence and child protection, FNF says.
However the unintended consequence is that separated fathers can face unnecessary barriers to helping care for their children, Mr Forsyth said.
He added: "In attitudes and practice, non-resident fathers are subjected to questions about their motivation and worth as parents that are discriminatory.
Satwat Rehman, director of One Parent Families Scotland, said fathers often said they were faced with discrimination and that services had little understanding of their needs.
However she said OPFS did not support putting in place a presumption of shared parenting or care. She said: "OPFS works with single mothers and fathers and both can sometimes have issues around contact arrangements with the child's other parent.
"While there are positive steps the government could take towards enabling shared care, a legal presumption of shared care would focus on parental entitlement rather than what is in the best interests of children, undermining the crucial legal principle that a child's welfare is paramount."
Children In Scotland, the agency for voluntary, statutory and professional bodies and individuals working with children and their families, said schools and health boards could do more to involve non-resident fathers and said separate parents evenings for non-resident parents might help.
It said: "Children in Scotland believes the evidence for the positive involvement of fathers in children's healthy learning and development is indisputable. This is of particular importance for children at risk of inequitable outcomes, where incidence of separated families is higher than average."
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