ARTICLE - RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD ACT

THE RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD ACT, FINALLY VOTED
(Haiti Libre) -

Thursday, April 12, 2012, the Haitian Senate has unanimously voted the Responsible Fatherhood Act and the parentage of children. The bill, presented by the deceased deputy Gérandale Thélusma in 2010, and initiated at the time, by Marie Jocelyn Lassègue, then Minister for Women had been previously ratified by the Lower House, May 10, 2010...

This law aims to empower father offenders, and put an end to the unfortunate situation of single parent families [47% in Haiti] headed by women, who have on average six children, most often of two or three different fathers, who abandon them for not having to assume [or that are no longer able to assume] the economic needs of the family...

Taking action against these irresponsible fathers, is undoubtedly laudable and one can only welcome this law, but its application is likely to quickly reach its limits. It is necessary above all, that the woman victim of abandonment, start the legal process against her partner. What is not easy because of the threats of the latter;...It will be necessary then that justice finds the alleged father and proves by a genetic test, that he is the father of the children. Recall that in Haiti, no laboratory is able to do this expensive test and given the extent of the problem, hundreds of thousands of tests would have to be considered... Who will pay? If paternity is proven, the father should be ordered to pay child support... Finally, it will be necessary that he complies with the terms of his sentence, which is not evident, even in developed countries.

With its' substance, the law is good news in offering a legal framework against these delinquent fathers, but its application will prove to be difficult. Only education, could limit the irresponsible behavior of these men, but it may take several generations before these behaviors trivialized in our Haitian society will change... Meanwhile, women and children will unfortunately have to continue to endure all the negative consequences of these unconscious fathers ...