A FARNHAM woman has launched a petition calling for the government to review legislation regarding fathers’ rights and make it illegal for mothers to refuse an innocent father access to his children.

Maureen Marriage has witnessed at first hand the heartbreak of a dad being denied access to his daughter and is campaigning for stronger fathers’ rights when there are no safeguarding issues involved.

Her petition has amassed more than 1,200 signatures since its launch on August 12 and Maureen hopes to reach the 10,000 threshold demanding an official response from Number 10 before the February 12, 2016 deadline.

The petition states: “A lot of fathers can’t afford to go to court to fight for their children as well as pay for every day living and child support, so more and more children are growing up without their fathers.

“Fathers are supposed to be equal but in reality if a mother says no, and you are not well off then that’s it. There needs to be much more support put in place to help keep fathers in children’s lives as and where it is safe.

“A mother should have to prove by means of professionals (ie children’s services, police reports or court order) that a father is a direct threat or risk to the children before she is allowed to stop contact.

“If a mother tries to stop father contact with no good reason then she should face a sanction of some kind, a fine and for continued offences a small custodial sentence.”

Mrs Marriage has a personal motive for her campaign, having watched a “truly wonderful” father being suddenly denied access to his daughter by an ex-partner after three years of stop-start contact.

She has solicited the support of Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, who in June said the Government is seeking to address the points she has raised, particularly by encouraging parents to resolve disputes outside of the courts.

According to campaign group Father’s 4 Justice, nearly one in three children now lives without a father in the UK and every day 200 children lose contact with their father and other family members in ‘secret’ family courts.

Mrs Marriage’s petition can be signed online at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/105992. At 10,000 signatures, the government will respond to the petition and if it reaches 100,000 it will be considered for a debate in Parliament.