Who we Help
Children
Children
Children
During divorce proceedings, children are sometimes entrusted to their abusers by the courts. Data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada, along with research from the Canadian Children's Rights Council, reveals that 78% of child maltreatment cases involve a natural parent as the perpetrator. While fathers are more likely to be the perpetrators from age 13 and above, mothers tend to abuse victims under the age of 13.
In 2021, mothers accounted for 210,746 cases of child maltreatment, comprising 75% of all reported cases. These cases vary in severity, with mothers more likely to inflict serious (81% vs. 43%) and moderate (72% vs. 48%) abuse on children compared to natural fathers.
Despite this data, the Department of Justice in Canada states that 79.3% of children under 12 are placed under the exclusive custody of the mother during separation or divorce, while only 6.6% of fathers receive sole custody. However, a recent Canadian study indicates that shared custody is included in about one-fifth of parenting orders. According to the NLSCY (National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth), 86.8% of children live solely with their mothers, 7% with their fathers, and 2.9% share living arrangements, predominantly with their mothers.
The Protecting Fathers and Children Alliance aims to alter these statistics, advocating for fathers' rights to ensure the safety of their children and protect them from further abuse.
Men
Children
Children
In Canada 1 in 5 men are subject to abuse by their spouse constituting 20.600 men out of 100,000 that were survied (Conroy, Burczycka & Savage, 2019). only 30 % of domestic violence cases against men are reported and Surveys show that 97.2 percent of male victims would not report abuse. 64% of male survivors of abuse who called the police for help reported being treated as the abuser (Dutton, 2012) Because of this treatment, men find that being abused in a personal matter, can be delt with outside of police intervention, the abuse is not important enough, and beliving that the police would not help.
The stigma surrounding abuse against men has discurraged the research and support that men need to stand up and find support. As of 2024, there are no shelters for men experiencing domestic abuse. With the lack of research and community awareness of male abuse victims, PFCA is working towards more research along with supoort programs and housing to protect and give rights to victims.