Fathers demand sharing equal parental rights with the mothers
(Telma - April 29, 2016)
After the divorce between Naum Ribarovski and his wife, their two underage children were assigned to the mother. He, as a father, was given a legal opportunity to be with them two weekends during the month, and two and a half hours between the meetings. He failed to change the situation, although he made an appeal to the relevant authorities several times that the assigned shared time of 5 days a month is too short.
-In total, the shared time that I spend with my two children is much less than the time when I was married, the normal relationship between me and the children has been disrupted, I cannot have an influence over their lives, said Naum Ribarovski.
There are worse examples than this, reacts Ribarovski, especially in situations where children are younger, because then the time of seeing the father is limited by the authorities to once per month. This practice initiated by the centers, where in most cases only the mother gets all parental rights after the divorce, is based on outdated and barbaric system, according to him. Therefore, he and a group of fathers who are in a similar situation like him have launched an initiative together, in order to change the Law on family, which should enable mutual access to the children.
-When children have two normal parents, there is no reason to make a distinction between whom they will be more or less with. This concept according to all indicators is the best for children.
The initiative is supported by a majority of psychologists who highlight the need for presence of both parents in the child's life.
-When a parent sees the child very rarely, he/she cannot maintain closeness with him/her, so anger often occurs in the child, says Maria Stefanova, a psychotherapist.
Zmijanac form the Children's Embassy Megjashi also emphasizes the need for common parenting. He stresses that the number of spouses who manage to agree on how and when to see the children after the divorce is much lower than those who reach any kind of agreement.
-Parents do not know how to make an arrangement or communicate with each other in the children's best interest. Then the social services step and make the final decision, the court confirms it, which means that both sides are already at war. One or the other side loses contact, where one of them becomes the primary parent with full capacity; the second one gets the right to see the children, and in such situation everybody loses, says Dragi Zmijanac from the First Children's Embassy Megjashi.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy has been familiarized with the initiative to amend the Law on Family. They say that some solutions can be a basis for consideration.
-They, along with several draft laws in the social sphere will be reviewed when the Government and the Assembly can validly decide, state representatives from the ministry.
Sanja Jovanovich Damjanovska
