Original Tagesanzeiger article: 
At the anti-feminism conference, it was criticized that only in 0.05 percent of all divorces is custody granted to the father. Is this figure accurate?
It is true that sole custody is only granted to a father in very specific situations. In which situations? For example, if the mother moves abroad and the children cannot be expected to cope with the move. Or if the mother is addicted or suffers from a serious mental disorder.
Does it often happen in practice that the father wants sole custody?
No, that is rare. However, custody can certainly be awarded to the father if the child chooses him. But then it must be clarified whether the father meets the requirements for parental responsibility, how and when he has cared for the child, and what his motives
are for continuing to do so.
Is this clarified just as thoroughly in the case of the mother?
Yes, absolutely. The father can also file a request for clarification.
For ten years now, it has been possible to obtain joint custody. Is this a common request?
Joint custody is much more widespread today than it was three or four years ago. Between 30 and 50 percent of younger parents want it.
But does it actually work?
Generally, it seems to. However, there are instances where the rift between the parents is so deep that every conversation about visitation rights or the children's leisure time escalates into a conflict. Joint custody doesn't work without trust that the other parent might handle things differently, but also well.
But if the mothers don't agree, the father has no chance. Don't women have the upper hand in divorces?
That's not entirely accurate; it always depends on the individual situation. In the vast majority of cases, the woman has primarily cared for the children according to the established roles. In that case, women naturally have the upper hand, because why should this division of labor change after a divorce?
In cases where couples already share custody of their children, the court, in my experience, does not favor one parent over the other, but
rather bases its decisions solely on the child's best interests. I have never personally encountered a case where I felt the court had placed the child in the wrong custody arrangement.
And what role does money play? One often hears that the man has to pay so much that he barely has enough to live on – let alone be able to start a new relationship.
Here, too, one shouldn't generalize. What is true is that the court is very careful to ensure that the woman does not fall into financial hardship. However, the Federal Supreme Court has ruled that the man never falls below the subsistence level. Therefore, unlike the woman, he is not at risk of becoming dependent on welfare. However, it is certainly true that things can get financially tight if he wants to start a new family.
* Attorney Heidi Frick works at the Central Office for Marriage and Family Counseling in Zurich.

Comment by VeV Switzerland: 
Ms. Frick, a lawyer, has probably not represented men for a long time. Or perhaps she doesn't do so on principle. In any case, her theories are so far-fetched and out of touch with reality that one has to wonder where she gets her knowledge from.

Fathers who apply for sole custody are regularly penalized by our courts, accused of a lack of cooperation and worse. Furthermore, most men don't want sole custody, but rather joint custody, because they are accustomed to working together and have long understood that this is the best approach. However, mothers regularly refuse to cooperate, which almost invariably leads to the mother ultimately being granted sole custody, just as her lawyer predicted. Our system is currently structured in such a way that it doesn't matter whether the father wants to be involved or not – what matters is what the mother wants. This can be proven countless times.

It is almost an outrage to demand that a father undergo a detailed assessment before being granted custody of the children. This amounts to nothing less than implying that men are fundamentally considered incapable of caring for children. While Ms. Frick claims that mothers are also assessed, she surely knows that this is rejected by the court in the vast majority of cases.

Unfortunately, it is still the case that lawyers often fuel the conflict instead of helping the parents find a workable solution together. Provocative statements like Ms. Frick's belong in my opinion to the category of war cries and have no place in a serious discussion.

Antifeminism is not the right way, just as feminism is not the right way. Only when we learn and understand that we have to tackle things together will we take a step forward.

Presumably, not everyone will be capable of taking this step.

Oliver Hunziker,
President of VeV Switzerland

I believe it is our primary duty to support estranged parents and strengthen their parenting skills so that they can once again recognize their children's needs and work together to ensure their optimal development. Experience shows that this is possible even where disagreements between partners persist.The willingness of estranged parents to cooperate is strongly influenced by prevailing societal norms and values. If it is eventually considered perfectly normal for children to be jointly cared for after a divorce, this will also become the norm and therefore the norm for most separating parents.  We should advocate for divorced parents and their children to be able to experience this normalcy as soon as possible. This is for the well-being of the children, mothers, and fathers, and to relieve the burden on courts, authorities, government offices, and legal professionals. Max PeterFamily mediator SVM/SDM