Zoe Williams says fathers shouldn’t have a say

June 13, 2008

Zoe Williams wrote on the Guardian website about the proposed change in the law that says mothers can leave the name of the father off the birth certificate of their child in exceptional circumstances.

The idea is that if the father isn’t known, is absent or the child was the product of a rape then the mother need not answer any questions she doesn’t want to, she can just say no to the father’s name being on the birth certificate.

Zoe Williams says that this works in the father’s favour:

Any father who actively doesn’t want to be on the certificate need only pressure the mother into claiming an exemption.

She goes on to say in relation to the recent protest by the Fathers 4 Justice:

And who’s this all for? To appease the very small number of fathers who are desperate to be involved with their newborns, and yet the mother, for reasons not related to violence or harassment, won’t let them. This is what you get for putting your underpants on over your trousers and capering about on public buildings and Harriet Harman’s roof. It’s not bad, is it? We should all have a go.

She has completely missed the point. She’s of the opinion that this will empower women to make decisions for themselves amidst the terror of the father of their child wanting to be a part of the child’s life. The father, according to Miss Williams, is a monster that should be locked out of his child’s life, without any reason required from the mother.

Zoe Williams is the sort of woman who the Fathers 4 Justice are fighting against. The sort of woman who thinks fathers don’t have any rights. What do you think about all of this?

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