Teri Stoddard

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. To help me clear up common misconceptions about domestic violence against men, Philip Cook, author of Abused Men-The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence (Praeger) and Policy Adviser for Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (S.A.V.E.) has generously agreed to answer a few questions.

Some parents use the legal system to eliminate the other parent. Parents who find themselves victims of this hidden crime are confused, outraged, overwhelmed and desperate.

Until Madison's mother illegally abducted her to Illinois, Tenn was her stay-at-home parent. "I've followed the law, been bounced back and forth between states, and been falsely accused of domestic violence. I finally won visitation in Illinois. The judge even reprimanded her mother. I had one visit. That's it. She's able to use services funded by the Violence Against Women Act to illegally keep me from my daughter."

I have bad news for the ladies out there looking for a husband. Today's men are afraid of marriage and having kids. This is most likely because their male friends and relatives have told them what usually happens in the event of a divorce with children. In fact, some men are calling for a marriage strike.

Devoted and loving father John Murtari received a feeding tube today, and says he's relieved. Murtari, founder of A Kids Right, is carrying through with his passive resistence of not eating or drinking to highlight the need for family law reform, the civil rights of noncustodial parents and equal parenting.

Most children want equal access to both parents after divorce. Studies show children adjust to divorce best when they maintain the same level of contact with their parents as before the divorce, and in some cases shared parenting can reduce conflict. Society supports shared parenting and equal custody, and there are advocates, men and women, working hard to establish it as the norm.