TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 26, 2012) - Canada's "Men's Issues" organization is calling on governments to follow the lead of the UK where the family law system is being amended to ensure both mothers and fathers maintain relationships with their children following divorce.

"The move to a presumption of equal shared parenting has been the primary goal of fathers' rights groups in Canada for decades," said Bradley Corbett, Canadian Association for Equality Spokesperson. Intensifying the issue is the increase in violent crime and the strong correlation between fatherlessness and violent communities.

The UK and Australia have made moves to shared parenting based on studies that the absence of a father in a child's life is correlated with delinquency, drug and substance abuse, and teen pregnancy.

According to the 2006 census, there were about one million Canadian children who live without their father.