NZ Single Parents Trust

I found this article while trolling (gosh I like that word) some men sites which had me questioning how NZ works. BTW, Glenn Sacks is a wonderful advocate for men’s rights. The article was written to describe a DV conference and this is part of the article.

One morning during the conference I had breakfast with two remarkable ladies, Erin Pizzey and Patricia Overberg. Pizzey founded the first battered women’s shelter in the world in 1971, and Overberg was the first battered women’s shelter director in California to admit male victims of domestic violence to a shelter. As bad as things are, both of them told me things which were amazing and horrifying. Pizzey told the following story:

A woman was being abused by her violent husband and sought shelter. She had three children, two young ones and a 12-year-old boy. She wanted to go to a battered women’s shelter and, of course, take her children with her. However, the feminists who run the battered women’s shelters in England have a policy that no boys aged 12 or older are allowed into the shelters.

The woman was presented with the equivalent of Sophie’s Choice. Either she could return to her violent husband, and risk both herself and her children, or she could submit to the feminist policy. She chose the latter. Rather than allow the boy to stay with his mother and his siblings in the battered women’s shelter, the boy instead had to wait in the police station, while his mother and siblings went off to the shelter. The English equivalent of child protective services was called, and the boy was picked up and placed in foster care!

Overberg told me the same thing happens in California and in much of the United States.

I don’t doubt what Pizzey and Overberg say, but I still find it a little hard to get my head around. For one, one could make the feminist argument that this policy keeps abused women in violent relationships because they will not want to leave their abusers if they cannot take all of their children with them. Secondly, I find it a little hard to believe that even the feminist true believers who run the shelters could be so bigoted and uncaring.

Sooooooo,
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A quarter of newly divorced dads are becoming the main carers of their children, with new registrations with the Child Support Agency showing fathers are increasingly receiving child support payments from their former partners.

CSA figures show that in 2002 there were 65,393 or 10.2 per cent of women paying their ex-male partners child support. But the latest 2008 figures show that has increased to 93,432, or 12.6 per cent. About 23.4per cent of cases registered with the agency in the first six months of this year had a male receiving child support.

Increasingly, parents paying child support also have more contact with their children, according to the data.

In 2002, 93 per cent of parents had sole custody of their children but that has decreased to 89.3 per cent, the lowest ever.
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Newborns Who Suffer are “Better off Dead” - “World’s Most Prestigious” Bioethics Journal “Baby is judged to be better off dead than forced to endure the only kind of life it can ever have,” say authors
By John Jalsevac

GARRISON, NY, February 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In 2005 the world was horrified when it was revealed that in the Netherlands doctors were not only openly admitting that they had killed disabled newborn infants, but that the medical institution was actively promoting child euthanasia through the so-called Groningen Protocol. The protocol - the full name of which is The Groningen Protocol for Euthanasia in Newborns - lays out a set of guidelines that must be followed in making and executing the decision to kill a newborn infant.

The revelation that newborn euthanasia was both common and acceptable in the Netherlands was greeted with harsh criticisms from around the world, with one Italian Minister going to far as to accuse the Netherlands of Nazism. Others expressed their disgust that many of the children who were being euthanized by Dutch doctors were children with Spina Bifida, a condition with which many people have lived well into adulthood and had fulfilling lives.
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By Tim Waggoner

WASHINGTON, September 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an article focusing on newly appointed vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, prominent feminist Camille Paglia admits that, much like Gov. Palin, she also believes abortion involves the murder of an innocent life - but unlike Palin, Paglia says she is a “firm supporter” of abortion.

Paglia’s piece, which appears on Salon.com, is the latest indication that “utilitarian” philosophies that no longer recognize the “right to life” as being the most foundational human right are gaining ground in some liberal circles. Under these philosophies even murder can be advocated as long as it protects what is deemed to be an even more important “right” - in Paglia’s case the sacrosanct “right to abortion.”

Paglia, the University Professor of Humanities and Media Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, is well-known for her non-conformist approach as a lesbian social critic and as a popular journalist and author. Her latest article, “Fresh blood for the vampire”, largely addresses the Republican’s surge in the polls after choosing Palin as VP-nominee, but also touches on abortion.

“Let’s take the issue of abortion rights, of which I am a firm supporter. As an atheist and libertarian, I believe that government must stay completely out of the sphere of personal choice. Every individual has an absolute right to control his or her body,” said Paglia, voicing the commonest argument put forward by feminist supporters of abortion.
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MADRID, September 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Following years of pro-abortion and anti-family policies accompanied by a plummeting birth rate, Spanish society has reached a new milestone: for every four marriages contracted, there are now three “ruptures” - most of them divorces.

“Family rupture is growing at an alarming rate,” said Eduardo Hertfelder of the Family Policy Institute, which presented the information to the public.

“Family rupture has now reached very worrisome levels at the national level with a rate of .69, that is, for every four marriages celebrated, three are broken.”

The statistics have emerged in the wake of Spain’s “express divorce” law, which has facilitated the dissolution of marriages.

Today, according to the statistics offered by the Family Policy Institute, Spain is only equaled by Belgium in its rate of family rupture.

Spanish families are not only falling apart, they are also shrinking dramatically. As of 2006, families were having an average of 1.28 children per family, well below the replacement rate of 2.1.

life site news

Hon Tau Henare
Member of Parliament and Candidate for Te Atatu

Invites you to a public meeting with guest speaker, Hon Bill English

Date Monday 8 September
Time 7.00pm
Venue Croation Hall, 161 McLeod Road, Te Atatu South
Price Free

All welcome

………….

Invitation to Public Meeting - Comparing the Political Parties Policies:

Organised by Men’s Centre Auckland phone for these meetings: 638 7275 cell 021 537 196

Tuesday 9th September - Focus on Supporting Separated Families

These will be held at Mount Eden Normal School Hall, corner of Valley and Sherbourne Roads, Mount Eden, starting at 7.30 pm and ending at 9.30 pm. Attendees will be requested to make a gold coin donation.

Focus on Supporting Separated Families Tuesday 9th September

1. How will your party better support separated families?

2. How will your party assist separated families to compete in the job market, to support their children and to give them the best retirement options?

3. What improvements does your party propose to Education, Health, Courts, Benefits/Taxes, to support separated families?

All welcome.

“Miss HIV is, quite simply, the best documentary I’ve ever seen, and the one with the most potential to change a horrible reality for the better.”

A review by John Jalsevac

September 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Miss HIV, a documentary from Ethnographic Media, is a film of an unexpected beauty on a subject that is anything but beautiful - HIV/AIDS and the international struggle of competing HIV/AIDS policies. (http://www.egm.tv)

At the core of the film is the burning question: “Why, after countless billions of dollars have been spent on HIV/AIDS prevention and cures, is there still no end in sight? Why are millions still dying of a preventable disease?” Implied is the much more volatile query: “Who is to blame?”

By the time the credits roll, the film leaves no doubt where it stands: those who promote an ideology of casual sex at all costs, under the guise of a mistaken interpretation of unfettered “human rights”, are the foes of the effort to end AIDS. They are those who are so radical in their beliefs that they can claim, with a straight face, as one speaker did at the 2006 International AIDS Conference, that the same program that promotes abstinence and fidelity and that reduced HIV rates in Uganda from 30% to 6%, “has become a nightmare, a devil, a tool of murder in Africa.”
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1. Labour Agenda of Recognising Polygamy ‘Disturbing’
Family First Media Release 11 August 2008.

Family First NZ is labeling suggestions that Labour will recognise polygamy and polyamory, if it is re-elected, as ‘disturbing’. Family First were made aware of the speech delivered in May to Victoria University social policy students by the Minister of Social Development Ruth Dyson.
“The speech refers to the social development of not just traditional family groups but also relationships including triples, obviously alluding to polyamorous relationships,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “We were always concerned that the Civil Unions legislation would signal a move away from recognising and promoting marriage as the preferable and best environment for children to be raised. However, this speech would suggest that we are on a slippery slope to recognising any form of relationship including polygamy and polyamory.”
“Labour is redefining parenthood in a way nobody ever considered, and based on a ‘rights’ and anti-discrimination culture, we may soon be legalising incestuous relationships.” READ MORE
READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE AND SPEECH

Family First Comment: If Ruth Dyson didn’t use the speech (as claimed by her office - although it begs the question, why was it posted on the website in the first place?) she should state categorically that Labour will not promote polygamy as a family form to be promoted.

2. Minister of Police Asked Opinion of Boobs of Bikes Parade
Family First Media Release 12 August 2008

Family First NZ has written to the Minister of Police Annette King (left) asking whether she supports the refusal by the police to take action against the Boobs on Bikes parade. “We know that almost 1,000 emails labeling the parade as offensive have been sent to both the Mayor of Auckland and the head of the Auckland police,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “Yet despite this strong opposition from families and the City Council themselves, the police are refusing to act.”
In the letter, Family First NZ has asked for confirmation that as Minister of Police, Annette King supports the interpretation of the Police that “..given the standards of decency observed in this day and age, a female being topless in a parade on a weekday in Queen Street will not in itself constitute an indecent act.” READ MORE

TAKE ACTION:
Even if you have already written previously, please email brett.england@police.govt.nz and simply say:
WE OPPOSE THE BOOBS ON BIKES PARADE. IT IS OFFENSIVE AND THE POLICE SHOULD STOP IT HAPPENING.

3. EIGHT Smacking Prosecutions in Six Month Period
Family First Media Release 12 August 2008

Family First NZ says that claims that there have been no smacking prosecutions are false and misleading. Official police papers obtained by Family First NZ under the Official Information Act show that prosecutions against parents who use minor physical discipline or light smacking are being masked under a category that has no statutory definition. According to the Police Executive Meeting 6 Month Review papers, there have been no prosecutions for ‘smacking’, but the paper says that “eight ‘minor acts of physical discipline’ events against children were prosecuted with six yet to be resolved.”
“The problem is that there is no statutory definition for either ‘smacking’ or ‘minor acts of physical discipline’,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “So rather than call them smacking and draw attention, they are simply being classified under this undefined category.” READ MORE

4. Flexibility urged for sole parents
NZ Herald August 12, 2008
Conservative groups are warning the National Party to be “flexible” about making sole parents go back to work, allowing for sick children and school holidays. Family First director Bob McCoskrie, an invited guest at the policy launch, said making parents work part-time made sense, but only if implemented with discretion. “We’d want to make sure that the work requirements are within school hours and not within the school holidays. Otherwise we are going to have a lot of unsupervised kids.”
Another guest, Mercy Mission founder Barbara Stone, said she agreed with the work requirement “as long as it’s in school time and there is someone at home for the children for the rest of the time”. She said it was hard to get jobs for sole parents, who often had low self-esteem.

Family First Comment: That was a short comment considering the reporter spoke to us for almost 10 minutes!!! We also said…
* welfare is an important safety net
* welfare should not reward dysfunction or be a motivation for dysfunctional behaviour
* long-term welfare dependency can be demoralising and is linked with poverty. Work can bring dignity and a level of independence
* the expectation to work should not be at the expense of the important role of parents (especially sole parents) to meet the needs of their children. Part time work (with flexibility) may be a win-win situation
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THAN THIS POLICY, WE SHOULD ALSO BE ASKING:
* why are so many women having children outside of marriage?
* why do we have the 2nd highest rate of solo parent homes in the OECD?
* why is our teenage pregnancy rate so high (up to half of current DPB recipients started on welfare as teenagers)

5. Two into one won’t go: Cambridge survey shows new doubts over working mothers
The Guardian August 6 2008
Support for gender equality appears to be declining across Britain and America amid concern that women who play a full role in the workforce do so at the expense of family life, research from Cambridge University suggests today. READ MORE

6. Brothel bylaws may be wiped
The Press 11 August 2008

Bylaws controlling brothels may be dropped by the Christchurch City Council. READ MORE

Family First Comment: Yet further evidence of problems with the decriminalisation of prostitution. With an absence of bylaws, brothels will pop up all over the city including residential areas. Prostitution is harmful to workers and communities and the association of prostitution with gang and criminal behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, and sexual abuse and violence means that we are sentencing more and more vulnerable people to an unacceptable situation.

1. Police Ignore Concerns of Families Over Offensive Behaviour
Media Release 5 August 2008
Family First NZ says that the police’s liberal interpretation of what is deemed ‘indecent’ means they are failing to acknowledge the concerns and failing to act in the best interests of the welfare and protection of families.
In response to an official complaint by Family First NZ to the police about the upcoming Erotica Expo advertising stunt known as “Boobs on Bikes”, the police have said “In the opinion of the Police, given the standards of decency observed in this day and age, a female being topless in a parade on a weekday in Queen Street will not in itself constitute an indecent act.”
Based on the police interpretation of what is indecent, Family First then asked for clarification, putting forward four scenarios:

Family First Comment: Thank you to the hundreds of people who have emailed the police and the Auckland City Council on this matter.
TAKE ACTION: Please tell the police to act to stop the offensive parade CLICK HERE for further information

2. Report veils junior school violence
The Press 06 August 2008
A Ministry of Education report trumpeting a fall in school suspensions has overlooked a 37 per cent surge in primary school disciplinary actions. …the number of primary school children stood down and suspended has grown from 4800 in 2000 to 6595 last year. In 2007, 945 primary school students were suspended and 5650 stood down …Educators say those numbers reflect an ongoing trend for increasingly violent misbehaviour by children as young as five.

Minister of Education Chris Carter released the ministry report heralding a “concerted effort by schools supported by the ministry”. Family First national director Bob McCoskrie, who pursued the ministry over the data, said he could not believe the report did not even touch on a nationwide problem. “We need to be asking ourselves some pretty tough questions about why almost 1000 kids are being chucked out of primary schools for behaviour that is just so bad that schools have got to the point where they won’t even work with it,” McCoskrie said. READ MORE
Also: Troubled pupils kept on at school - to make government look good!
READ MORE

3. 87% Of Parents of Young Children Reject Anti-Smacking Bill
Media Release 1 August 08
Family First NZ says that the Littlies website poll which found that 87% of parents of young children don’t think the anti-smacking law is effective is confirmation that NZ’ers have soundly rejected the law change and its time the politicians listened and changed it. The www.littlies.co.nz poll asked “One year on, do you think the anti-smacking Bill has proved to be effective?” 87% said No, and a further 7% were unsure. Only 7% said it was effective. According to their website, Littlies Magazine is the country’s fastest growing and only monthly parenting magazine. They reach more families with children 0-5 years than any other parenting magazine in New Zealand (81,000 families).

4. Police ‘Taxi Service’ for Truant Sets Dangerous Precedent
Media Release 4 August 08
Family First NZ says that a dangerous precedent is being set by the police by taxiing a truanting 14 year old to school every morning, and fails to deal with the underlying problems. “The causes of truancy are predominantly a lack of parental supervision or a breakdown in the functioning of the family to the point that the parent has no control over the actions of the child,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.
“The problem, which is becoming more common, is that a student is being left to fend for themselves – in this case from 6.15 in the morning. Schools are already expressing concerns that children are being dropped off at schools earlier and earlier.” 30,000 students are absent without leave every week in NZ, and the truancy rate has increased 41% since 2002. READ MORE

Other News

5. Parents to receive letters if children are obese (UK)
Guardian (UK) August 04 2008
Parents will receive official letters telling them if their children are too fat under a government initiative to tackle childhood obesity. The heaviest children will be described as “very overweight”, as ministers believe parents will not accept being told that their child is obese. …Ministers want the results to raise parent’s awareness of their children’s weight and the need to live a healthy lifestyle. READ MORE
Also: Lack of veggies can lead girls to a life of obesity READ MORE

6. Why ‘cotton wool’ children face risk of mental problems
Evening Standard (UK) 2 August 08

Children do not learn how to cope with life’s setbacks because a ‘cotton wool’ culture stops them experiencing hardships, an education expert claimed yesterday. Sandy MacLean says there is a link between a rise in mental health problems and a culture of entitlement which promotes the belief that success and celebrity do not need effort and hard work. She said youngsters must experience adversity so they develop resilience, but are increasingly protected from life’s hard knocks. READ MORE

7. ‘De facto drinking age’ plummeting
The Press 02 August 2008
Want to stop your 12-year-old drinking? Move away from the bottle store. Massey University research, to be published in the Addiction international journal, has found that teenagers who live within a 10-minute drive of a liquor outlet are significantly more likely to drink. READ MORE

Family First newsletter

In February this year, the Canadian federal government announced its plan to vaccinate women and girls across the country and has pledged $300 million for the project.

The vaccination of children as young as nine was recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). According to NACI, the primary age group recommended for vaccination is females aged 9 to 13.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections and is now known to be the cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancer in women. It is also linked to anal, penile and throat cancer in homosexual men.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says there are over 100 types of HPV and that there is “no treatment which can cure HPV infection.” The recommendation therefore is for prevention, for which the Health Agency says the best way is a vaccine or a condom. However, no mention is made on the Health Agency website of abstinence from sexual activity or monogamy within marriage as a means of prevention.

The Agency says only, “Other ways to reduce your risk of infection are to delay sexual activity (waiting until you are older), limit your number of sexual partners and to consider your partners’ sexual history as this can create a risk to yourself.”

The HPV vaccine, called Gardasil, has only been approved by Health Canada for use in women to prevent cervical cancer. Gardasil is as yet only approved for use on women.

The push for a mandatory vaccination of young women and girls was backed by the drug company Merck and Co. that developed Gardasil. The company has admitted channelling funds to change state-level laws in the US for similar mass vaccination programs.

In February of this year, however, Merck and Co. cancelled lobbying efforts to push for mandatory vaccination in the United States after it was revealed that Gardasil had numerous adverse side effects, including possible death.

Legislation has been introduced in at least five states that would make vaccination for HPV mandatory for young girls, including Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07072411.html

New Zealand has a similar program…

New Zealand girls aged 12 to 18 years will be offered a free vaccine to prevent the most common infections that can lead to cervical cancer.

New Zealand’s HPV (human papillomavirus) Immunisation Programme will start in September 2008, and will be initially offered to:

* Young women born in 1990 and 1991
* Younger girls who have left school

This group can get HPV vaccine from their family doctor or practice nurse.

In 2009 and 2010 the programme will be available through schools for girls in years 8-13. The vaccine will be offered each year to year 8 girls (aged 12 to 13 years) through nurses in schools.

The HPV programme aims to reduce cervical cancer in New Zealand by protecting girls against HPV infection. Currently, each year around 160 New Zealand women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 60 women die from cervical cancer.

http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/immunisation-diseasesandvaccines-hpv-programme

HPV Vaccine Causes 21 Deaths and Counting - CDC Study Launched
New England Journal of Medicine claims that only about 10% of drug induced side effects are reported

OTTAWA, August 14, 2008 (http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081405.html) - Critics say that the reasons to avoid using the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, continue to pile up in the form of thousands of instances of severe side effects, including numerous deaths. In response to the mounting evidence that the vaccine may not be safe for widespread use, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is slated to release a study in October that will attempt to determine the validity of these reports.

Judicial Watch, a public interest group, has closely monitored Gardasil since it was released by creator Merck in 2006, periodically detailing statistics on the numerous side effects users have experienced. The most recent report alleges that the drug has been responsible for 21 deaths and 9,749 adverse reactions, including 78 outbreaks of genital warts and 10 miscarriages.

As daunting as these current statistics are, it seems that even they may be gravely underestimating the health risks associated with using Gardasil. A study by the New England Journal of Medicine claims that only about 10% of drug induced side effects are reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Furthermore, FiercePharma.com claims that experts have criticized the actual effectiveness of the cervical cancer vaccine, saying Merck has exaggerated the drug’s usefulness.

Despite the alleged dangers of using Garasil and concerns about its actual medical success, Merck is continuing to push the drug into state mandatory vaccine lists and schools.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Gardasil - 18 Dead, Thousands Suffer Complications
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070809.html

Why Medical Authorities Cannot be Trusted on Gardasil HPV Vaccine By Gwen Landolt
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121905.html

Ontario Catholic School Board Rejects HPV Vaccine on School Premises
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07101806.html

Controversial HPV Vaccine Causing One Death Per Month: FDA Report
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08070316.html