BELGOROD, Russia, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Sergei Chernukha, a 43-year-old Russian businessman, has just lost yet
another court hearing. For nearly a decade, he has been fighting his former wife for rights to visit his son.
Knowing that he has little chance of success, Chernukha, a native of Belgorod, says he is not the type of person
to give up easily.
"The judges, mostly women themselves, sincerely are unable to understand what I am seeking for," Chernukha said
on Friday.
"The last time the judge, after hearing my case, peered at me in a clear surprise and asked: 'You are a man,
a successful businessman - so what on earth do you want to take care of a child if you can spend your time and money for entertainment,
lovers and other pleasures?'" he said.
"All men will be happy to get rid of such a burden as a family!" he quoted the judge as saying.
Traditionally, Russian men are loath to defend their gender rights even in their private lives, let alone publicly.
It is much more common for a Russian man to succumb to in alcoholic self-delusion when he faces some difficulties in life,
he said.
That's also why local judges have been rejecting his claims repeatedly, Chernukha said.
In Russia, many laws and policies are enacted for the benefits and protection of women.
In every Russian railway station, for example, there is a so-called Chamber for Mother and Child; in every
town there are asylums for women suffering from domestic violence by their husbands; and even in the State Duma, Russia's
lower house of parliament, there is a Committee for Protection of Women and Family.
Recently parliament passed a law creating the so-called "Mother's capital" -- a sort of social insurance for
women having two or more children.
To better protect men, Chernukha has decided to start a grassroots movement, "Fathers' Committee for the Right
of Children to be Raised in a Full Family," to unite all the fathers who have experienced the same suffering.
There are already similar grassroots movements in many regions of Russia, though nearly all of these "Fathers'
Committees" including that in Moscow exist mostly in Web space and have been playing the role of psychological therapy.
Thus, Chernukha's project is currently the only fathers' organization that aims to unite fathers in real life
and provide them with practical assistance.
Meanwhile, Chernukha has been drafting a new claim of his 10-year-long case, this time to the Supreme Court
of Russia.
He hopes the country's highest court would finally rule in his favor so that he could meet his son after 10
years of enforced separation.
