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Nonviolent Resistance by British 'Dads Army' Rocks UK
Fathers
storm the conference of the misnamed "Children and
Family Court Advisory and Support Service." Protesters
dressed as
comic book superheroes scale bridges in major cities,
snarling traffic and bringing commerce to a halt.
Spiderman spends six days aloft atop a 150 foot high
crane near the Tower Bridge in London, making headlines
around the world and sending the
mayor of London into a fury. Militant Santas demonstrate
on cranes and occupy family courts
Through a series of spectacular acts of civil disobedience,
the British "Dads Army"
Fathers 4
Justice
has captured the imaginations of both the British public and
the fathers' rights movement worldwide. Over the past 14
months these superheroes have used nonviolent resistance to
fight the greatest single human rights violation in the
Anglo-American world--the way decent, loving fathers are
being driven out of the lives of the children who love them
and need them.
Sarah
Ashford, whose father was driven out of her life as a
girl, has been one of
Fathers 4
Justice's
key organizers.
Jolly Stanesby spent seven days on Tamar Bridge in
Plymouth, England, refusing to come down from his freezing
perch despite being told "you could die up there," and then
enraging British police by cleverly eluding capture.
Stanesby is a registered child care provider and is thus
allowed to care for any child in England except his own, who
he is barred from calling and is allowed to see only four
days a month.
Stanesby , who became a registered child minder in the
hope he could spend more time with his five year-old
daughter, made news last year as the "Ms. Doubtfire Dad" who
appeared in court dressed as a woman in the hope that
switching genders would bring him justice.
Sarah and Jolly joined
Glenn to discuss the fathers'
rights movement--the civil rights movement of our time.
To learn more about
Sarah,
Jolly, and Fathers for Justice, see:
Why 'dads army' is stepping up the fight (BBC,
2/11/04)
Fighting on rights path by Jayne Woodman, F4J protester
(South Wales Evening Post, 1/29/04)
Police raid 'superhero' fathers in protests (Reuters,
2/3/04)
In Defense of Spiderman by Glenn Sacks (Cybercast
News Service, 11/11/03)
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