Media release 25.5.2011
Yesterday the Federal Council confirmed what Federal Councillor Sommaruga had already said after the round table: The two issues of custody and maintenance should again be dealt with separately.
In January 2011, Federal Councillor Sommaruga's decision to supplement the custody bill with additional elements from maintenance law triggered great discontent among various men's and fathers' organizations.
GeCoBi, the umbrella organization for shared parenting, reacted immediately and launched a clear and unmissable protest campaign called schickEnStei. At the same time, we initiated a vigil in front of the Federal Parliament Building together with maenner.ch.
These actions led to a discussion with Federal Councillor Sommaruga, which proposed a roundtable for all parties involved. It quickly became clear that the two issues were incompatible, as they were at very different stages of the political process.
With the Federal Council's decision to treat the two proposals separately again, it can now be assumed that the custody issue should be resolved relatively quickly. As a second step, the equally important question of child support payments must then be addressed. GeCoBi is also offering its assistance in finding constructive solutions in this area.
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