Do you know about CRISP?

CRISP stands for "CHILDREN’S RIGHTS INITIATIVE FOR SHARED PARENTING." The concept was envisaged on account of the biased, one-sided laws in the society which treats a father as a CRIMINAL and a HOOLIGAN who is a misfit when it comes to parenting. The outdated laws are based on the belief that women alone can be good parents.
CRISP is an NGO, which recognizes the serious effects of parental alienation on children due to single parent families on account of divorce or separation. CRISP also focuses on furthering the rights of children to remain connected with both parents. While most NGOs pertaining to children deal with issues related to child labour, education etc., we deal with issues related to unquestionable right of children to be cared for by both biological parents. The aims and objectives are based on research findings worldwide which indicate that children do best when both parents are actively involved in their lives, even after separation or divorce. Conflict between parents will get reduced and the mental and emotional health of children will improve, when divorcing parents can be assured of equal and meaningful contact with their children with mutual co-operation. According to CRISP, Parents contemplating divorce should be given mandatory counselling on shared parenting and the benefits thereof by a panel of experts supervised by the family court. This will eliminate unnecessary child custody battles and stress to the parents and the child and also wasting of precious time of the courts. The dominant parent then brainwashes the child against the other parent, assuring the child that it is all right to ignore the other parent. This brings a lot mental distress and trauma to the child and the alienated parent. Indian legal system is still based on “patriarchal" mindset, which considers fathers as not capable of nurturing the children. However, today many fathers are competent of taking care of the needs of the children for normal upbringing. When women can multitask by going to work after domestic chores and also take care of children, it is baseless to say that men are not capable of taking care of children. With rise in number of working parents in nuclear family set-up, father’s involvement in raising the children is a must. Otherwise, the child is simply left at the mercy of servants and strangers in day-care centers and exposed to all sorts of child abuse. Shared parenting is recognised in many western countries. CRISP has demanded an Early Intervention Project where divorcing parents would have to meet with a panel of experts to clarify issues such as custody, finance, education and children’s upbringing before proceeding with the divorce decree. Studies have shown that children who go through their parents’ divorce have: •more conduct problems, •symptoms of psychological maladjustment, •lower academic achievement, •social difficulties and problematic relationships with both parents. To make matters worse, many parents often influence their children to choose one parent over the other and this is often traumatic for the child and this cruelty on children has to be stopped immediately. Strengthen Fatherhood and Families: Since 1960, the number of American children without fathers in their lives has quadrupled, from 6 million to more than 24 million. Children without fathers in their lives are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. As the proverb goes, “One father is better than 100 teachers.” In United States of America, Statistics reported tells that Children from fatherless homes are:•5 times more likely to commit suicide. •32 times more likely to run away from home. •20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders. •14 times more likely to commit rape. •9 times more likely to drop out of high school. •10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances (become drug addicts). •9 times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution. •20 times more likely to end up in prison. •3 million teenage girls have sexually transmitted diseases. •At least 1 out of 4 teenagers (between 14years to 19years) suffers from sexually transmitted diseases. It is important for all citizens of the nation to wake up to stop a future social catastrophe as it has happened in western countries. Today, billions of dollars are spent in those countries to tackle the behavioural problems. If a child is denied care of father as at present and if India becomes a fatherless society, then it will simply create more criminals, rapists and drug addicts in next 15 years. The entire social fabric and culture will be in ruins and the damage will be irreversible to our society. So, CRISP members want to stop this social catastrophe. CRISP is dedicated in putting efforts to the creation of a judicial system, legislative system, and public awareness, which promotes equal rights for ALL parties affected by divorce and the breakup of a family keeping in mind the best interests of the child. As custody battles between parents increase, counselling of separating or divorced parents can have a positive effect on the overall development of the child. CRISP wants to highlight: That, joint-custody is the best outcome for children whose parents are separated.That, “Inter-parental Child Abduction” is Child Abuse. Often, one parent takes the child to another country without the permission of the other parent or the courts. It is known as parental abduction and is a criminal act under international laws including The Hague Convention. That, the practice of alienating the child from the other parent is Child Abuse.
That, the grand-parents should have rights and access to their grandchildren. That gender bias should be eliminated from family law and from future legislation. That the parties should resist from using gender biased laws to wreak vengeance on the non-custodial parent. Demands by CRISP - •Ensuring meaningful and balanced participation of both parents in the lives of children in case of separation of the parents. •Single mothers should be given mandatory counselling to increase involvement of biological father in the child’s life. •Existing visitation schedules to increase and enhance the role of “non-custodial parents” in the best interest of the child. •Reforms in the existing child custody laws, practices for equal parenting sensitised to consider the child’s needs. •50% of the custody to be given to the fathers. •Govt. must allocate funds for conducting research on the adverse impact on fatherless children. •Creating a Ministry for children by separating the existing Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry. A separate union minister for children must be appointed.