Italy: 'Shelter' for Divorced Dads

'Shelter' for Divorced Dads
Fri Dec 3, 9:21 AM

By Shasta Darlington

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's first "shelter" for divorced dads will open
in the northern city of Bolzano on Saturday as fathers step up the fight for
their rights in a country long dominated by the Italian "mamma."



Divorced and separated men who have been forced to give up their
houses and empty their pockets for child support can apply for one of the
five rooms with private bath in the communal home which could soon be copied
across Italy.


"We've been working with couples for 20 years and we realized there
was a real need for the party who has left the family home and can't afford
their own house," said Elio Cirimbelli, president of ASDI, an association
that counsels couples in crisis and created the Bolzano pilot project.


"And in the vast number of cases that party is the father."


The "shelter," which has been partly funded by the provincial
government, will be open to fathers who take home less than 650 euros ($867)
every month after payments to their estranged families. They will pay 200
euros rent.


It is just the latest initiative aimed at recognizing divorced
fathers' rights and the challenges they face in Italy.


Fathers may have a unique challenge in mamma-loving Italy but they are
not alone.


In Great Britain, activists from a group called Fathers 4 Justice have
staged several headline-grabbing stunts.


One campaigner dressed as Santa Claus last month and chained himself
to the top of a gate pillar at Buckingham Palace, the London home of Queen
Elizabeth. Another activist clambered on to the building's main balcony
dressed as Batman and staged a five-hour protest.


In Italy, mothers get custody of children -- which automatically gives
them rights over the house -- in 90 percent of all divorces and separations.


"When it comes to separation and custody there is always this
preconception that the fathers are the villains and the mothers the
heroines," said Ernesto Emanuele, president of the group Separated Dads.


Separated Dads was started 15 years ago, but its long-running drive
for a joint-custody bill is only expected to make it to parliament next
year.


"In Europe, we're at the bottom of the list in terms of fathers'
rights, but things are changing and people are beginning to talk about the
issues," he said. "Women's magazines are doing the best job."


In a sign of the changing times, four fathers' rights groups staged
the first protest in November to demand more rights. Some 500 dads turned
out.


"It's a long process, but fathers are slowly winning equal
opportunities when it comes to their kids," Cirimbelli said.



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