SOU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 256: Henvendelse af 23/5-18 fra Foreningen Far om deres åbne brev til Nordic Council of Ministers og Nordic Parliament Members om "Formal complaint about Human Rights Violations and Parliament Responsibilities"

Social-, Indenrigs- og Børneudvalget 2017-18
SOU Alm.del Bilag 256
Offentligt

OPEN LETTER

To:

Nordic Council

of Ministers

Nordic Parliament Members

United Nations

Human Rights Watch

Council of Europe

Media

May 23, 2018

Copy:

Subject: Formal complaint about Human Rights Violations and Parliament

Responsibilities

On behalf of the largest Nordic children and father organizations we hereby request

and urge in all respect that the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic

Parliaments address the issue of gender equality in family law and practice for

children and fathers.

It is a clear experience talking to many thousands of parents every year in the Nordic

region that children and parents for historical reasons are still living with single

parenting laws in a shared parenting world.

We no longer in

the Nordic region

can state, who is the best student, manager, prime

minister

or parent

based on gender and the reality and

children

research today

documents in the Nordic

region,

that shared parenting is in the best interest of the

child. This as well as creating equal opportunities for women and men, boys and girls.

We as organizations experience that children and fathers as well as shared parents in

general are clearly discriminated in the family law. For example, only one parent

often receive public and free digitalized information about the child, the child does

not have the same legal right for parental leave with both parents, children and

fathers has not always a legal right to respect of biological fatherhood in life. The use

of single residence and welfare benefits based on one parent instead of shared

parenting as the norm in the family law is also

in today’s

Nordic society a clear

violation of basic human rights.

We witness on a daily basis, clear violations of especially the United Nations Children

Convention article 2, 7 and the European Human Rights Convention articles 8, 14 and

17.

SOU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 256: Henvendelse af 23/5-18 fra Foreningen Far om deres åbne brev til Nordic Council of Ministers og Nordic Parliament Members om "Formal complaint about Human Rights Violations and Parliament Responsibilities"

UN Children Convention:

Article 2: States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present

Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind,

irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex,

language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property,

disability, birth or other status. 2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to

ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on

the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents,

legal guardians, or family members.

Article 7: The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right

from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the

right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

European Human Rights Convention

Article 8 Right to respect for private and family life:

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his

correspondence. 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the

exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a

democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic

well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of

health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Article 14 Prohibition of discrimination:

The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured

without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion,

political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national

minority, property, birth or other status.

Article 17 Prohibition of abuse of rights:

Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or

person any right to engage in any activity or perform any act aimed at the destruction

of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein or at their limitation to a greater

extent than is provided for in the Convention.

We therefore urge the Nordic Council of Ministers and the National Parliaments to

secure shared parenting family laws as the norm in line with the Nordic society today

and basic human rights for all citizens.

Please as inspiration find

attached

the first

Nordic

gender equality catalog for children

and fathers

with 348 items in 12 themes.

The catalogue was,

presented at the New Nordic Fathers conference in the Danish

Parliament on November 20, 2017

with all the Nordic children and father

organizations being present.

Please also find attached the UN Examination report 2015 submitted by the Danish

Fathers Association on the examination of human rights in Denmark for children and

fathers.

All the

Nordic

children

and

father organizations

is available for positive collaboration,

meetings and knowledge

required

to secure this important issue

for children’s health,

public health, gender equality and the protection of basic human rights for all Nordic

citizens.

UN Convention for Children (articles 2,

7):

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx

The European Human Rights Convention (article 8, 14 and 17)

https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

The Council of Europe Resolution

2079 (2015)

http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=22220&lang=en

VIDEO: The first gender equality catalog for children and fathers

(Danish only)

http://foreningenfar.dk/ligestillingskatalog-2017

The Nordic countries,

May

2018

___________________________

Guttorm Grundt, Chairman

Mannsforum

(Norway)

__________________________

Matts Hertzberg, Chairman

PappaBarn

(Sweden)

___________________________

Heimir Hilmarsson, Chairman

Foreldrajafnretti

(Iceland)

__________________________

Jesper Lohse, Chairman

Foreningen Far

(Denmark)