Changing Perceptions about Men’s Roles & Contributions

Arthur Usher

One of the presenters at the session today was Director of the Family Court, Dale Cayetano. He spoke about the legal challenges when men seek custody of children as well as child maintenance commitments.  But the men present also discussed the cultural shift needed and rethinking the way men are socially perceived.  This is especially important for those successfully raising children as single fathers, and men facing gender-based violence.

Arthur Usher, Member, National Parenting Task Force

“We are also hoping to deal generally with what constitutes some of our behaviours, what constitutes some of our long term planning; why are we hindered by some of these issues – if we are hindered any at all – and how do we see ourselves in the role of fatherhood and uncle-hood and brotherhood within the society. Because we do not report, we do not speak sometimes, there are a lot of men who are victim of gender-based violence. And gender-based violence is not just physical; there’s psychological, there’s emotional violence, there’s all these things. And so you have a lot of men, who are in these situations, who might not feel that they have any recourse, who might not feel that they have any place to go for service. So this is some of the things that society has to build into its structure.”