“Thomas” was relieved when the court gave him custody of the children. Mother was considered unfit by experts, but must have contact. Then a new nightmare started; Repeatedly, the mother has contacted child protection with allegations about him. Child welfare checks. There will be meetings and conversations, and then the cases will be put away. It has happened 12 times in just a couple of years. – When will it end, asks the father of the family in despair. Troubled family life It peaked in 2022 when the police were at the door. New debts from the mother had prompted the child protection agency to notify the police. It was heard by both the children and him. – I got sick from it, says the father of the family. After a short time, that case was also dropped. There will be many reports and a lot of paper to keep order. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news We have chosen to call him “Thomas” to protect him and the children. It costs to be in this situation. news has been given access to both the judgment and other documents. Thomas understands that the child protection service must investigate when there are serious debtors, but at the same time he believes that they should also see that there is a pattern here. He thinks it’s about gender. – In child care, at the health centre, the family welfare office, everywhere there are only women. – My experience is that they take the mother’s side. She cried, they console, he says. Department director Kjetil Andreas Ostling in Bufdir believes that few men experience discrimination when they meet with child protection. – We are also an equality directorate, he says. Read more of his answer below. Shares experience Attorney Ann-Iren Skjelbred at Thomassen Advokatfellesskap. Photo: André Askeland Lawyer Ann-Iren Skjelbred has extensive experience in handling cases against child protection and in difficult child custody cases. She first has cases all the way to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Her experience is that fathers are treated differently than mothers. – I see it in many cases. Fathers are sometimes completely forgotten by child protection. She thinks the situation for Thomas would have been completely different if he had been the mother and not the father. According to sources news has been in contact with, there is little research in this field. The closest news found is a doctoral thesis from NTNU in 2015. In it, Anita Skårstad Storhaug writes, among other things, this: The fathers convey experiences of not being heard in relation to their opinions about what is best for the child, and that they are met with what they refers to as old-fashioned attitudes that it is mothers who are the most important caregivers. Since then, she has not worked on the problem, nor does she know of anyone else who has. But Bufdir has carried out its own investigation in 2018 among those employed in child protection. Have investigated the child protection service Bufdir (The Directorate for Children, Youth and Families) is responsible for the child protection service. More than half of the employees answered that there is some or great need for concrete measures to increase fathers’ participation in child welfare matters. 26 per cent thought the need was low. Some employees point out that the dominance of women in the support system can be a challenge in connection with the involvement of fathers. Department director Kjetil Andreas Ostling in Bufdir Photo: Håvard Greger Hagen / news Department director in Bufdir, Kjetil Andreas Ostling, says child protection and the employees mirror the society as a whole. – Sometimes society has different expectations of men and women, he says. He believes that only a few men experience discrimination. – The task of child protection is to investigate. It is perceived as invasive regardless of gender, he believes. Ostling says they are trying to get more men and people with different ethnic backgrounds to work in child welfare. So far, they have not succeeded in doing so, says Ostling. Is the course about fathers Reform resource center for men holding a course for students and staff in child protection on the topic of fathers. Bufdir has ordered this course. Senior adviser Mali Storbækken in Reform – Resource center for men. Photo: Reform – It’s about gender roles. We still see the mother as the primary and most natural caregiver. Despite many equality policy measures in recent decades, most of us have different expectations linked to the role of mother and father, writes senior advisor Mali Storbækken in Reform. All Thomas hopes for is that he and the children will find peace and avoid constant investigations and interrogations. After many years of layoffs, it should end soon, he believes.
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Fathers know child protection, they treat them differently than mothers – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
