Leading Women for Shared Parenting
| Abbreviation | LW4SP |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 |
| Type | not-for-profit organization |
| Purpose | Advocacy for shared parenting |
| Website | lw4sp.org |
Leading Women for Shared Parenting (LWSP) is an international educational and advocacy organization that promotes shared parenting and the right of children to have both parents present in their daily life. The organization was founded to dispel the widespread myth that it is only - or even mainly - disgruntled fathers with limited access to their children who promote equal shared parenting as the default model for separating parents.[1]
Mission[edit]
The organization has only one mission, to promote shared parenting where children live equal or close to equal time with their divorced parents. They think that children benefit most from the active involvement of both parents regardless of their marital status and they recognize that absent issues of abuse, neglect or abandonment, government policy and laws must be structured in such a way as to maximize the opportunity of all parents to contribute to the social, emotional, intellectual, physical, moral and spiritual development of their children. The organization does not take a stand on other issues, as it considers shared parenting to be an issue that is neither the domain of conservatives or liberals, poor or wealthy, and pays no attention to ethnicity or gender.[2][3]
Advocacy and education[edit]
Leading Women for Shared Parenting have worked actively to dispel the attempt to brand shared parenting as a father's rights issue, emphasizing that shared parenting is in the best interest of children, including daughters. Among the members there are stories of the daughter who only got to “visit” her Father, the Grandmother who became an “every other weekend Grandma”, and the Step-Mother who watches her Step-Children struggle due to a “Custody Award”.[3][4][5][6][7]
In many places, the organization has been an active and vocal advocate for family court reform in order to establish a legal presumption for shared parenting.[8] For example, members have advocated for shared parenting laws in Michigan,[9] Minnesota,[10] North Dakota,[11] Florida[12][13] and Illinois.[14]
The organization think it is important to make exceptions to shared parenting when there is child abuse, neglect or abandonment, but it does not think that this should be used as an excuse against a legal presumption of shared parenting for the majority of children. In fact, the membership includes some of the world's leading domestic violence experts and activists, such as Erin Pizzey, Denise Hines, Elizabeth Celi, Barbara Mills, Emily Douglas, and Nicola Graham-Kevan.[3][15]
Family lawyers and bar associations have been identified by the organization as one of the leading obstacles to shared parenting reform. Citing Paul Bohannan's estimate that the size of the Divorce Industry rivals that of the Automobile Industry, the organization has lamented that the family law system is structured to make parents adversaries, entice Parents to fight over Custody of their Children and to prolong the process all for the sake of generating fees with billions of dollars going in to the pockets of attorneys, mediators, and the Court System, at the expense of the child’s future educational needs, medical needs or even basic lifestyle.[3][13][16][17]
History and Organization[edit]
As an organization, Leading Women for Shared Parenting was conceived in March 2013 and launched on Father's Day, June 16, 2013, when more than 150 influential women lent their names in support of the equal shared parenting principle. It was founded to dispel the myth that only father are in favor of shared parenting.[1][3][18]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Leading Women for Shared Parenting, About
- ↑ Leading Women for Shared Parenting, Home page
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Leading Women for Shared Parenting, FAQs
- ↑ Lauren Steele, How Do Child Support Payments with Joint Custody?, Fatherly, October 1, 2018.
- ↑ Belinda Luscombe, The Growing Case for Shared Parenting After Divorce, Time Magazine, September 29, 2016.
- ↑ Leslie Loftis, What ‘New’ Studies Say Is Best For Children Of Fractured Homes: Trading weekends is out. Children need open access to both parents., The Federalist, October 6, 2014.
- ↑ Suzanne Venker, GOP must act on the national epidemic of absent fathers, Washington Examiner, January 4, 2017.
- ↑ Leslie Loftis, Better Time, Better Parents: More states should follow Arizona's lead and implement child custody reform, U.S.News and World Report, September 1, 2016.
- ↑ Karl Dersch, Being with dad is best Father's Day gift, Lansing State Journal, June 17, 2018.
- ↑ Molly K. Olson, What’s the hold-up on repairs to Minnesota’s shared-parenting laws?, Twin Cities Pioneer Press, July 19, 2018.
- ↑ Rachel Alexander, Sexism Alive and Well in North Dakota Courts, The Christian Post, November 6, 2017.
- ↑ Leslie Loftis, Florida Gov. Rick Scott Ignores Families, Protects Disastrous Divorce Law, The Federalist, April 18, 2016.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Molly Olson and Terry Brennan, Shared parenting popular, but still faces roadblocks, South Florida Sun Sentinel, March 22, 2016.
- ↑ Richard Thomas, Equal parenting time best for children of divorce, Rockford Register Star, January 5, 2018.
- ↑ Leading Women for Shared Parenting, Leading Women as of March 15, 2017
- ↑ Terry Brennan, The Establishment Creates Fatherless Kids, The Daily Caller, March 23, 2018.
- ↑ Lauren Steele, How Long Does Divorce Take?, Fatherly, October 2, 2018.
- ↑ Rachel Alexander, New Organization of Leading Women for Shared Parenting May Finally End Courts Favoring Mothers, TownHall, June 3, 2013.
External links[edit]
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- Child custody
- Children's rights organizations in the United States
- Parents' organizations
- Paternity in the United States
- Maternity in the United States
- Family law in the United States
- Divorce in the United States
- Gender equality
- Social justice organizations
- Advocacy groups in the United States
- Organizations established in 2013
- 2013 establishments in the United States
