Father
Involvement Prevents Child Abuse,
Says Fatherhood Educational Institute
4/4/2006
10:30:00 AM
To: National and
City Desks
Contact: Joe Englert,
312-296-3668 (cell), for the Fatherhood
Educational Institute
CHICAGO, April
4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In recognition
of April as National Child Abuse
Prevention Month, the Fatherhood
Educational Institute (FEI) is conducting
a national public awareness campaign
to educate people on the role of
father involvement in curbing child
abuse. The Fatherhood Educational
Institute is a non-profit organization
dedicated to educating and empowering
fathers to learn their rights and
stay involved in the lives of their
children.
Contrary to the
popular misconception that biological
fathers pose the greatest threat
of child abuse, studies show that
most often it is not the presence
of a father, but the absence of
one that increases the risk of child
abuse.
Data suggests that
when children live absent their
biological fathers, they are often
at risk of being abused. According
to one study conducted by the U.S.
Department of Justice, 27 percent
of abused children lived with either
a stepfathers or the mother's boyfriend.
"Mainstream
media, especially television and
radio, reinforce this false stereotype
by frequently portraying fathers
as abusers," said Jeffery M.
Leving, attorney and president emeritus
of FEI. "So long as we as a
society continue to undervalue the
essential role fathers play in protecting
the health and safety of our children,
we will never be able to effectively
address the growing problem of child
abuse in this country."
To combat this
misinformation and to try to help
educate parents, educators and lawmakers
about the positive relationship
between father involvement and prevention
of child abuse, FEI has created
a special resource page on its Web
site --
http://www.fatherhood-edu.org
-- and will be distributing public
service announcements across the
country during the month of April.
"We must realize
that to protect our children from
child abuse, we must address the
growing problem of father absence
in our communities," said Leving.
"If we don't, we risk allowing
this cycle of violence and abuse
to continue for generations to come."
---
EDITOR'S NOTE:
To schedule an interview with Jeffery
M. Leving please contact Joe Englert
at 312-296-3668.
http://www.usnewswire.com/
-0-
/© 2006 U.S. Newswire
202-347-2770/
1.
Single
moms are twenty-four times more
likely to kill children than single
dads (third national Incidence Study
of Child Abuse 1997). Children are
88% more likely to be seriously
injured from child abuse or neglect
by their mothers than by their fathers
(ditto). Single mother households
account for 43% of all abused children.
2.
Ninety-four percent of those who
made false accusations were women
and 96% of those falsely accused
were men. (Hollida Wakefield and
Underwager) The
2.6 million reports of child abuse
& neglect, 66%, were unconfirmed,
but NOT RETURNED to the family.
3.
Eighty
percent of child sex-abuse accusations
are determined to be unfounded.
In Florida 92% of child abuse cases
(after and initial guilty verdict)
were found to be false or unsubstantiated.
All 1,200 people appealing had been
listed as confirmed child abusers.
There has been a 2,000% increase
in sex abuse allegations in the
past ten years. Why? Follow
the money.
4.
The New York University of
Law School, finds that the law is
written so broadly that virtually
every parent is guilty of child
abuse several times each week.
5.
Forty
percent of mothers reported they
had refused visitation to their
ex-husband to punish the father.
Less than 20% of men have done the
reverse.
When
shared parenting is implemented the
divorce rate drops within a few years.
The state has created such an incentive
for women to divorce with outlandish
child support and terms that it is
now actually creating the divorce
market.
Other results of
Fatherlessness caused by a greedy
and ignorant family court system that
separate fathers from their children
for financial gain and their convenience
and self-interest.
79.6% of custodial mothers receive
a support award
29.9% of custodial fathers receive
a support award.
46.9% of non-custodial mothers totally
default on support.
26.9% of non-custodial fathers totally
default on support.
20.0% of non-custodial mothers pay
support at some level
61.0% of non-custodial fathers pay
support at some level
66.2% of single custodial mothers
work less than full time.
10.2% of single custodial fathers
work less than full time.
7.0% of single custodial mothers
work more than 44 hours weekly.
24.5% of single custodial fathers
work more that 44 hours weekly.
46.2% of single custodial mothers
receive public assistance.
20.8% of single custodial fathers
receive public assistance.
[Technical Analysis Paper No. 42 -
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
- Office of Income Security Policy]
40% of mothers reported that they
had interfered with the fathers visitation
to punish their ex-spouse. ["Frequency
of Visitation" by Sanford Braver,
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry]
50% of mothers see no value in the
fathers continued contact with his
children. ["Surviving the Breakup"
by Joan Berlin Kelly]
90.2% of fathers with joint custody
pay the support due.
79.1% of fathers with visitation
privileges pay the support due.
44.5% of fathers with no visitation
pay the support due.
37.9% of fathers are denied any
visitation.
66% of all support not paid by non-custodial
fathers is due to the inability to
pay. [1988 Census "Child Support
and Alimony: 1989 Series" P-60,
No. 173 p.6-7, and "U.S. General
Accounting Office Report" GAO/HRD-92-39FS
January 1992]
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless
homes. [U. S. D.H.H.S. Bureau of the
Census]
90% of all homeless and runaway
children are from fatherless homes.
85% of all children that exhibit
behavioral disorders come from fatherless
homes. [Center for Disease Control]
80% of rapist motivated with displaced
anger come from fatherless homes.
[Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol.
14 p. 403-26]
71% of all high school dropouts
come from fatherless homes. [National
Principals Association Report on the
State of High Schools]
70% of juveniles in state operated
institutions come from fatherless
homes [U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special
Report, Sept., 1988]
85% of all youths sitting in prisons
grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton
County Georgia Jail Populations and
Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992]
Nearly 2 of every 5 children in
America do not live with their fathers.
[US News and World Report, February
27, 1995, p.39]
In 1991 there were 11,268,000 total
custodial mothers and 2,907,000 total
custodial fathers