Table of ContentsWhat is Gender Bias in Custody Cases?Misconceptions About Gender Bias in Custody Cases custody casesWomen may not be biased in custody casesWhy courts cannot be the reason for gender bias in custody cases?Custody casesEffects and consequences of gender bias in custody casesConclusion“Born d 'a natural parent' – how do you decide who is a 'natural' parent and who is not? Many people immediately believe that women are "born of natural parents", but how do we know that this is not also the case for men? Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayWhat is Gender Bias in Custody Cases?Gender bias occurs when there is a preference toward one parent in relation to the other and that the goal is to win Custody cases are to provide the child with the best and most stable family life. Gender bias can occur in the justice system when laws, processes and decisions benefit one gender over the other. When making an order for custody and access under the Guardianship Act 1968, a judge must give priority to the welfare of the child. (Commission, 2018). Children are not materialistic objects to be traded or shared among hungry parents. They need stability, security and routine. Gender bias is a problem within the courts, as there can be a “pro-feminist and anti-male bias” in the courts (Commission, 2018). This may show that the courts may have already made up their minds about who will take custody before the cases are even heard. However, this could change when the cases are heard, as courts could hear new evidence they had not heard about before. Gender equality means viewing men and women as having equal status and value. It is about judging a person based on their worth, not considering them inferior or superior solely based on their gender (Alba, 2018). This is seen in many custody cases. Gender bias in custody cases typically occurs when conciliators and decision-makers inappropriately refer to gender during court proceedings and base their actions on stereotypes about the nature and roles of men and women (Commission, 2018). This demonstrates that gender bias in custody cases is more lenient toward women due to their stereotypical role in society. Most laws guaranteeing and regulating civil rights (including laws relating to sex discrimination) originate at the federal level, through federal statutes (such as the Equal Pay Act) (Find Law , 2019). This essay will be “a critical examination of whether women have a bias in custody cases compared to men.” This will be explored in subsections: the background of gender bias, what the effects and consequences are, the history behind gender bias, the primary effects and why there may not have been a solution, the limits of gender bias. Misconceptions about gender bias in detention A common misconception is that mothers are the primary caregivers for young children. However, in some cases, men are the sole caregivers for their children while women go out with their friends and do theparty. This can then be unfair to men, as these same women are still given custody of their children without having previously demonstrated any stability in the child's life. A case study from the perspective of single fathers indicates that ONS data from 2012 shows that of the four hundred thousand single-parent families in the UK, only thirteen and a half percent of them (fifty-four thousand ) are single fathers (Parfitt, 2017). This can show how judges are unfair and biased towards men because they might instantly believe that a woman is the best person who primarily takes care of the child. However, it may also show that few men seek custody, which may be the reason for the custody statistics. cases won by men are very rare. However, men may not seek custody because they themselves believe that men always lose and therefore do not care. To avoid feeling the disappointment of losing custody of their children, then they give up. A BBC report also suggests that in 2011, men made up just 8% of single parents in the UK. There is, however, mixed evidence. A 2015 study by the University of Warwick concluded that family courts do not discriminate against the father (Parfitt, 2017). It has also been shown that in family law, there are some studies on fathers who pay exorbitant child support and yet rarely see their children. Evidence of this is a case study where a father had lost custody of his children but was still allowed to spend time with them (Chapin, 2016). However, this came at a cost for a while. Jones anxiously told the judge that all he wanted was equal time with his children. The following month, he received a letter from the court informing him that he owed one thousand three hundred dollars a month in child support – a payment that would be a considerable sum compared to his twenty-six dollar salary. hour. He had already emptied his savings to pay off his and his wife's combined debts, so to meet his payments, Jones sold his truck, four thousand dollars worth of tools and stopped eating out or having a life social. This shows how many men give up almost everything for their children and yet spend little time with them. Jones was allowed to see his children eight days out of the entire month. The most common problem, he says, is that men rarely have equal access to their children and are often victims of false allegations of abuse. Eighty-two percent of mothers have primary custody of their children (Chapin, 2016). Could this be a coincidence or due to gender bias against women? Throughout history, gender stereotypes have played a key role in child custody decisions. There used to be a presumption that children should always stay with their mother after divorce (Guérin, 2018). This could mean that some judges and lawyers could still believe this presumption, and that could be the reason why there is gender bias, due to outdated and outmoded beliefs. Women's bias in custody cases is a major problem worldwide, particularly in the United Kingdom and North America. Men have long been denied equal rights to child custody under English common law. Under English common law, women had a natural right to custody of children they bore outside of marriage. Unlike married fathers, a fatherunmarried and single people do not have the right to custody of their child. The single father only had a legal obligation to make periodic payments to the mother (Galbi, 2019). Poor mothers could retain custody of their children and receive financial support from the father or others. This could show that men were seen as figures who only provided money and were not involved in the child's life. Poor fathers were much less likely to receive financial assistance and much more likely to be deprived of custody of their children. Historically, men have been treated as socially disposable (Galbi, 2019). Many men, most of the time, seem to view caring for young children as boring, thankless, and low status, and they don't want to do it (Phillimore, 2017). It could also show how men are seen as uncaring and unloving. Men have long been denied equal rights to child custody under English common law. Under English common law, women had a natural right to custody of children they bore outside of marriage (Galbi, 2019). This may suggest that women have always been the ones to turn to for everything and could be one of the reasons why women are subject to prejudice, as children may not feel comfortable asking for help and feel emotional in the presence of men. Previously, if the maternal grandfather was wealthier than the father, the latter could legally be reduced to a visitor in his child's life (Galbi, 2019). This can show how fathers were seen as only providing money and not really caring or nurturing the child. However, this can be a good idea because some fathers do not have a good influence on their child, especially if it involves crimes, drugs or negative factors that can affect the child. Women should not be biased in custody matters. The Children's Commissioner reported that 41% of family court clients surveyed believed fathers were discriminated against in the process, while 34% were unsure and 25% were not sure. agreement (Commission, 2018). However, women, on the other hand, claim that they are disadvantaged by gender stereotypes. Indeed, there is a perception that the behavior of women is evaluated differently from that of men (Commission, 2018). Some women may believe that they have to act high class and behave very well to gain custody of their children, and they may also believe that men do not need to behave this way and nevertheless have a chance of obtaining custody. this could be a reason why women are so furious and passionate about getting custody and could be the reason why most women get custody cases. A common view is that judges sometimes apply double standards when assessing the behavior and contribution of men and women to child care (Commission, 2018). According to the report "We must stop turning children against divorced fathers", in ninety-six percent of cases in the UK, the parents who ask the court for "access" to their children are men (Poole , 2015). This may show that men are indeed seeking custody, but are not getting a favorable opinion. Could this be due to gender bias? This may also show that men should not be seen as less caring or less invested than women when raising their children, as they aregenerally they who request custody to offer them a better and more stable life. The fact is that we live in a society where the accepted norm is for women to demand equality in the public sphere while retaining special privileges in the private sphere (Poole, 2015). An example of where women might have been subject to bias would be This is California, where a group of women filed suit in federal court accusing state courts of discriminating against pending mothers on call (Schafran, 1995). Women fought for custody of their children against their apparently physically abusive husbands. However, courts awarded custody to the men and the women say they failed to protect their children. This may be a clear case where women were able to gain custody while their husbands were portrayed as violent and aggressive. Nevertheless, the courts may have other evidence demonstrating that these husbands were not aggressive or violent and could therefore demonstrate that the wives can lie to obtain custody of the children. If the women had lied about their husbands, it could have given the courts even more reason to award custody to the fathers because they were not trustworthy enough. One limitation might be that many judges are unable to take personal beliefs into account when considering legal actions, even when they have the best possible intentions. In the divorce case, the father and mother were both seeking primary custody of their two children. Both spouses worked full time and sometimes had conflicts caring for their children. Judges and laypeople who supported traditional gender roles awarded more custody time to the mother than to the equally qualified father, but the judges were even more biased than they were in favor of the mother (Miller , 2018). Only three percent of judges in the sample gave the father more custody time than the mother - a limitation believed to be due to judge bias. This could be due to old, outdated beliefs that the mother would be better suited to care for the child. It can also be said that another factor that courts use in making custody decisions is the relationship between the parent and child. The younger the child, the more likely it is that the bond between mother and child is greater than the bond between father and child (Guérin, 2018). This can show that the bond between mother and child or between father and child can be taken into account in custody cases. Judges and lawyers can then analyze and deduce which parent is best placed and capable of caring for the child. One could argue that the reason fathers so rarely get custody or meaningful time with their children is that they don't deserve it because they have only earned enough money to house, feed and clothe the child. family (Franklin, 2015). This can also be seen as stereotypical in that judges are led to believe that the men are not really interacting with the child, but are only providing him with money. Sixty-nine percent of male attorneys concluded that judges always or often assume upfront (i.e., before receiving evidence) that children belong to their mothers (Franklin, 2015 ). This may show clear bias and favoritism against women, as lawyers have already agreed on the assumption that the child is better suited to the mother. Forty percent of the lawyers agreed with this assessment and almost all the lawyers (ninety-fourpercent of male lawyers and eighty-four percent of female lawyers) said that all judges display bias against fathers at least some of the time (Franklin, 2015). Judges and lawyers may be biased against fathers because they may believe that fathers are not willing and able to provide what a mother could provide: love and care. Judges and lawyers may believe that fathers are caring for the child simply because they have to, and that they are not actually caring for the child. This could influence the decisions of judges and lawyers, making them believe that women are better caregivers for the child. rather than men. Why courts may not be the reason for gender bias in custody cases? However, it can be said that courts are not the reason mothers win custody in the majority of divorces . A married father spends an average of six and a half hours per week participating in primary child care activities with his children. The married mother spends on average nearly thirteen hours, almost double what the father does. Since dual-earner households are now the norm, not the exception, the above information indicates that not only are mothers working, but they are also caring for children twice as much as fathers (Meyer, 2017 ). So it makes sense that mothers who have a closer bond due to time spent caring for a child are most likely to win custody in a divorce. Still according to the Pew Research study, when fathers and children live apart, twenty-two percent of fathers see their children more than once a week. However, what would be most shocking would be that twenty-seven of the fathers had no contact with their children (Meyer, 2017). This could be a reason why people may believe that there is no bias in custody cases, as many men do not make the effort to see or have contact with their children, but there may be unknown circumstances such as the father not being allowed to see his children, this may show that twenty-seven percent of fathers have no contact. However, in eighty-three percent of custody cases, the mother ultimately won the case because the father chose to give her custody (Meyer, 2017). This could be another reason why some believe there is no gender bias, as men voluntarily give custody to the woman. kindness. Fathers can be shown as not caring and not as loving as mothers and they can be shown as not having enough time for the child, which could be another reason why the judge awards custody to the mothers. Fathers go to court with the idea that their cases will be handled fairly, but often find that a legal system they believe does not want them to be too involved in handling their children. As a result, they too often find themselves with limited access rights (Courtney, 2016). This could mean fathers mistakenly think they have already lost and can give up immediately because they think they won't get custody. However, some men may want to try to prove this source wrong and fight harder to try to gain custody to show that men can also gain custody of their children without bias. sexist. There should be no gender bias in these custody cases, however there should be equality between the sexes. Many people think that gender equality is a people issue, but it isalso of equal value to men over women – in this case, for custody matters (Kimmel, 2018). Gender equality is valuable for everyone. Gender equality aims to break the stereotypes of patriarchal/matrilineal society. An example of a patriarchal/matrilineal society would be that men are only good for finances and work, while women are only good for taking care of children and staying at home. These rules need to be broken so that men can also show that they love and care for the child, and women should not be seen as the sole caregivers of the child. Men and women should be shown at the same level in caring for their child, but this may not be shown as there may be some bias in the courts. Sole custody is where one parent bears the majority of responsibility for the children (Anzilotti, 2017). This is the norm in the United States, and women obtain sole custody in eighty percent of cases. Despite current gender-neutral laws, men's rights groups say custody decisions continue to discriminate against fathers. Women's rights groups and the media claim that custody decisions discriminate against mothers (Warshak, 1996). The law is clear in almost every state in North America, and ongoing efforts to enforce gender bias are underway in several states: the gender of the female parent should not matter when s It is about determining the best interests of the child. Unfortunately, there are very few guidelines for judges on what "best interests" actually means, which opens the courtroom to the opinions of a wide variety of expert witnesses who may or may not have their own objectives (The Gucciardo Law Firm, PLLC). , 2016). This highlights how judges infer that the mother is always the best option for custody without hearing any evidence about how the father might be better or the mother might be the worse option. Custody Cases One custody case that may seem familiar will be the Blac Chyna and Robert Kardashian case. Rob Kardashian pays Chyna $20,000 per month in child support (Erikson, 2018). This is an exorbitant monthly amount of money to pay – it can show how men are only used for money and spending. Although Rob Kardashian has no qualms about paying this amount of money, it may show that there is bias against women and it may be unfair to men. Women often don't pay this amount of money each month for their child, so what makes it right for a man to pay this exorbitant amount of money? Even in high-profile cases, women are subject to bias and receive a scandalous amount of money, regardless of their net worth. Chyna also has a lot of money but asks for $20,000 more per month from Rob Kardashian. Tokyo (Chyna's mother) said she thought Chyna's personal life was currently in "a mess" and that Dream Kardashian [the daughter] should stay with Rob until things are sorted out (Lawrence, 2019 ). Chyna's own mother believes that Blac Chyna is not fit to care for the two-year-old, but judges still awarded custody to Blac Chyna instead of Rob Kardashian. This too may show bias towards the mother since Blac Chyna's own mother believes that Chyna is not fit to care for her two-year-old daughter, Dream Kardashian. However, Rob Kardashian was also seen doing actions to upsetBlac Chyna like showing her nudes so this could be a reason why Blac Chyna got custody and it may not be due to gender bias at all.Another custody case would be the custody case of Marcia Clark. Marcia Clark is an American prosecutor, her most famous case being the OJ Simpson murder case. Marcia Clark (the prosecutor) and her second husband Gordon were waging a bitter custody battle over their two sons, and she was trying to balance prosecuting the nation's biggest case at the time while raising the two young boys ( Spargo, 2016). . The father worked full time and still had to juggle caring for his children. Marcia Clark often had to rush to work, leaving Gordon Tolls Clark to care for the children. Marcia Clark always put her work before her own children, while Gordon Clark put his children before his work. Although it seemed that the father cared more about the child, it was Marcia Clark who had custody of his children. Marcia, however, was usually never home to feed or care for her children, which might give this judge overtones, and the lawyers awarded her custody for another reason. Judges and lawyers may have felt that because the mother should be the primary caregiver, she should automatically be better prepared to care for the children and therefore may have been subject to bias. This specific custody case shows a clear sign of bias because both parents had full-time jobs and were caring for the children. Neither parent had a bad situation in life, like being an alcoholic or drug addict, so both parents were on the same playing field, except it seemed like the father took care of the kids more, but that was not taken into account in full custody. to Marcia Clark. There are still very few solutions to gender bias because deciding who will have full custody of children is a subjective statement. A subjective statement is a statement of opinion, so it depends on judges and attorneys' own opinions to award custody to a parent. Using a subjective statement can be a negative decision because the decision is up to someone who doesn't necessarily know you personally to give full custody of a child to a parent who can fake their attitudes and beliefs in court. This can affect the child in a negative way, as it can affect them later in life if they are placed with the wrong parent. One solution to gender bias may be to grant joint custody to both parents instead of full custody to one parent. This would allow the mother and father to be equally involved in the child's life. This would then also prove that there would be no bias towards the mother since both the mother and father have a say in the child's life. However, a downside would be that one parent would deserve to have full custody of the other because they are fitter and more stable while the other parent is unstable. Another solution might be to listen to the child's point of view to find out who would be the best parent for them. and who should therefore have full custody of it. The child should be able to determine who would be a better parent, for several different reasons. One reason would be that the child would be the one who would have to live with the parent who has full custody and would therefore affect them the most. Another reason would be that the child is probably the one person who knows each parent best, to know who would give him or her the most caring and loving life. The child knowing each parent best would then allow judges and lawyersto have a better idea of ​​how the character of each parent is built. However, there are also some disadvantages. A disadvantage would be that the child might be prejudiced and favor one parent over another, which could therefore give a better insight into a parent who might not be able to give the child a good enough life and stable. Another disadvantage would be that parents could be involved in the child's opinion. This would mean that the parents could talk to the child and influence what the child might say in order to gain full custody, thus making this solution unreliable and dangerous. This can be presented as unreliable and dangerous because extraneous variables such as the parents will influence the child and they may do so in a threatening way which would show that the parent is not fit and stable enough to cope. take care of a child. Effects and Consequences of Gender Bias in Custody MattersOne of the effects of gender bias in custody matters is that it could increase conflicts and tensions within families (Quain, 2019). Indeed, when one family obtains custody, the other may feel hatred towards the family that obtained custody, because they may believe that they should have obtained custody of the child. However, this may not happen, as families may in some cases come together to try to provide the child with an easy life and stability, which would be the goal of child custody. A consequence of gender bias in custody cases would be that other men may feel that there is no point in seeking custody due to repeated denial of custody of their child. In New York, a group of fathers filed a report accusing state courts of male discrimination against fathers in custody suits (Schafran, 1995). Fathers claimed that courts awarded custody to mothers because of their habits and the myth that mothers are natural parents (Schafran, 1995). It can be discouraging for men to pursue custody because they are regularly and repeatedly shown to be losing the custody battle to the mother because they were “born natural parents.” However, it may also inspire some fathers to prove that the previous statistics will not bother them and therefore they will fight for custody to try to prove that men too are as good as women as parents. Another effect or consequence of gender bias in custody cases would be that the child may be placed with the wrong parent/guardian due to lies. Some mothers or fathers may lie to judges and lawyers to gain custody of their children. This will later affect the child in their future if they are placed with someone who is less able to provide for them due to lies or stereotypes that mothers are the better sex to care for their children. children. However, in most cases, the child is placed with a parent who can give the child a stable and happy life, as judges hear both cases and conduct in-depth examinations. There is therefore very little chance that the child will be placed with the wrong parent. Many men also feel like they will never be able to trust women again, as some women may lie during the trial. So they cannot trust women because they believe that other women will also perform the same acts. Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion Overall, it has been shown to.