Gillingham dad's DADS protest at Medway County Court in fight for contact with his son

A dad who has not seen his son for three years says he took part in a protest to show he will never stop fighting for contact.

The man, who only wants to be called Paul due to a custody battle, mounted a one-man protest for Dad’s Against Double Standards (Dads) outside Medway County Court.

The group held other demos across the country to campaign against parental alienation.

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This is when one of the parents stops or limits a child from seeing the other parent and other family members.

Dads argue if a parent, usually a father, isn’t allowed to see their child, then it will lead to them becoming fearful of the parent. Gillingham resident Paul, 33, has not seen his son since he was four after splitting up with his ex-girlfriend.

He claims court orders allowing him to see the youngster have not been upheld.

“This is not just affecting me,” he said.

“This is affecting my son. When a child doesn’t see both parents they end up resenting the one they don’t see.

“They just don’t understand as children why one parent has left.

“It’s very worrying because it does have an impact on their lives and that is shown very clearly in behavioural patterns.

“It’s hard for them to understand why things happen and it’s hard for the parents because we want to see our children and just get told ‘no’.

'We do things like this, protest outside the courts, to show our children – my son – that I didn’t just give up. I did fight for him.'

“It’s not really parenting. There’s no contact. It’s not meaningful. We do things like this, protest outside the courts, to show our children – my son – that I didn’t just give up. I did fight for him.”

Dads group founder Andrew Teague said parental alienation is a growing problem.

He said: “It’s a phenomenon that’s sweeping the country. We want to raise awareness of it, and have it recognised for the abuse that it is.

“All of these children throughout the UK have no voice and someone needs to do it.

“I made a vow I would stand up and campaign to give them a voice.

“It’s not a case of just changing the law, its re-educating the whole system to incorporate parental alienation.”

For more information search, Dad’s Against Double Standards on Facebook.