By Carmen Gloria Arroyo (The Counter)
HAVANA TIMES – With withholdings on the 10% payout from the AFP (Pension Fund Administrator) to meet child support meal payments, we are embarrassed to discover that 84% of fathers are failing in that obligation – that obligation to their sons and daughters . I say fathers because the majority of breadwinners in Chile are men.
For this reason, and from my role as a lawyer, it seems to me that we should be clear that when compliance with child support is required, the parent who is required to pay is not doing so as a courtesy, but as something that required by law to respect a right our children have. That’s the least you can ask of them.
We need to focus on the above and invite people to put aside the shame and prejudice that exists about child support payments. Perhaps a mother has enough to survive without alimony, but she could save it for her children’s future or use it to improve her children’s current living situation. Conversely, I’ve often heard parents say that child support only helps the mother, and why do they have to pay her that… But I tell them: it’s not for them; it is for their children.
If the mother has also decided in court that she can provide for her family, she is quite capable of managing the economic assets necessary for her livelihood. It is important to understand that it is impossible to ask for the AFP payout amount funds to be withheld if the alimony payments have not been pre-determined. It is therefore not possible to contest maintenance claims or take other enforcement measures.
Then what should be done to fix this? First, an application for conciliation must be made in order to reach an agreement between the parents. If mediation is unsuccessful, legal action will continue. This is a maintenance claim that requires the assistance of a lawyer, with the court determining the amount or approving the agreement. Only under these given conditions can future enforcement measures be applied for in the event of non-compliance. The most well-known include night detention, restraining orders or driver’s license suspension, but the possibility of withholding pension funds is also a possible enforcement measure.
One of the biggest difficulties women face – and the reason why a Catholic University study explains that poverty in Chile has a female face – is the difficulty many of them face when they are left without help raising their children be left alone.
At Grupo Defensa we work every day to ensure that more and more women have the opportunity to access legal advice and support during this complex and, why not say painful, process of claiming the rights of their children.
Although there have been some beneficial advances for women recently, the panorama is very difficult as these advances have been slow and not very efficient so far. With payments from pension funds, we are all aware of how many people, women and children in our country are affected by this violation. However, it is not enough that we become aware, it is not enough that we are afraid. Today we must take actions that will allow us to solve the problem.
There is much to do. So we’re calling on government and lawmakers to expedite approval of legislation like the National Registry of Alimony Debtors. We need help for women to become a reality now and not just an expectation to be fulfilled in some vague future.
Read more from Chile here on Havana Times.
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