The government has no adequate mechanism to ensure parents continue to feed and care for their children after they separate, according to women’s advocacy group Rede Feto.
According to penal code article 225 both parents are responsible for the welfare of their children, including providing food, a place to live, clothes, education and medical treatment, but Director of Rede Feto Dinorah Granadeiro said that in practice this is not occurring.
“After the decision is finalized (to separate), they (husbands) do not comply with their responsibilities to take care of their children and wife,” she said.
She therefore called on the government through the Justice Ministry to establish another strong mechanism to ensure that men fulfilled their responsibilities according to the law.
She said children who were abandoned by a parent after a marriage breakdown faced an uncertain future and often did not get an adequate education.
Under article 225 those who don’t comply with their responsibilities can be sanctioned with a three-year prison term or fined.
However, Director of Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) Luis Sampaio said only a small number of cases went to court.
He encouraged women whose husbands were not complying with their obligations to report it so that the case could proceed to court.
The complainant would be represented by the prosecution who can then identify if the accused is not properly fulfilling his obligations, so that the court can take action, he said.
However, he acknowledged that controls were still weak as the courts lacked a proper system and did not have adequate human resources to force husbands to meet their obligations, which meant the victim must continue to report her complaints to the court.
He said that previous cases also showed that men were able to avoid a prison sentence by promising to fulfill their obligations in court.
National MP Josefa Alvares Soares said article 225 had not been well implemented as many husbands continued to ignore their responsibilities.
“I think there are many things that need to be fixed and women should also be brave to report their complaints,” she said.
She said many women were abandoned by their husbands, but did not take any action to ensure their children were provided for because they were unaware about their rights in this situation.
She therefore called on the government to work with village chiefs to ensure that people fulfilled their obligations according to the law.
