On November 19, International Men’s Day, some statues in the city center of Ghent underwent a small transformation. William I, the Van Eyck brothers and other historical figures received a sling with a baby strapped on it to draw attention to full-fledged fatherhood.
Men have the right to ‘father’, but in practice they encounter all kinds of obstacles: their maternity leave is shorter, they are often excluded from maternity and family guidance and encounter prejudices when they start working part-time.
To tackle this, members of ZIJkant, ABVV East Flanders and Linx tied a baby sling around five statues in the city center of Ghent on International Men’s Day. These included statues of William I on the Reep, the Van Eyck brothers on the Maaseikplein, the Fountain of the Kneeling on the Emile Braunplein, Romain De Coninck in front of the Minard Theater and François Laurent on the square of the same name. (Read more below the photos)
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The activists advocate, among other things, maternity leave that lasts the same length as that of mothers, flexible working hours in the workplace and the involvement of fathers in childcare and school.
“Not only in legislation, but also in hospitals, maternity care, in parenting issues and in childcare, fathers are still too often seen as a second parent,” it says. “Fathers are perceived as Homer Simpson: a parent who is not involved with the children, knows nothing and, above all, bungles a lot. When problems arise, care providers or professionals go to the mother. That can be done differently.”
Research from the University of Leeds shows that when fathers are involved, their children achieve better results in maths, are more linguistically and emotionally sound, have fewer behavioral problems and have better social competence. Involved parenting also ensures a good relationship between partners, which again benefits the child.
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