Fathers' rights: 'We're dads, not visitors'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Joseph Fernandez, 47, of Warwick, along with a growing number of men, feel like they are at a disadvantage as fathers when it comes to custody over their child. Together, they are the Rhode Island Fathers’ Rights Movement and advocating for family court reform as well as for equal parenting to be the standard in custody cases.

“Sometimes I feel there is this assumption within the court that as a dad I don’t want to be in the picture,” Fernandez said. “We love our children, we want to be in their lives, we shouldn’t have to beg to be parents.”

Fernandez has been fighting for more time with his 4-year-old daughter since 2012 and, finding he wasn’t the only one struggling with custody issues, began the Rhode Island Fathers’ Rights Movement, which has connected with likeminded groups from across the country, a movement that is now “38 states strong.”

The group acts as a supportive community for fathers to discuss their own experiences as well as sharing best practices and advice. The group has helped to reunite some fathers with their children

The initiative is not trying to “bash women” or take children away from mothers – they even have female members. Rather, the group wants their fair share of parenthood, with equal custody being the norm without “extraneous circumstances” and reform in family court, Fernandez said.'