Question

The Judicial system is overly harsh against divorced men

Answer 1

Your claim has some backing and it may have some evidence but it needs to be better worded to not be claimed as such an objective statement. There are rights in court that protect men and women in court. This article by an attorney has good claims on the bias against men and what things can be done outside of court (https://www.adamdivorcelaw.com/are-divorce-courts-biased-against-men/). He claims 98% of divorce cases are settled outside of the court room. The main problem is that the law is just and fair for both parties but certain judges can bring some biases into the courtroom along with them,

Comments

I think you did great job of fact checking this claim and discussing the possible biases in the courtroom. However i think it would be worth looking into that specific claim that 98% of divorce cases are settled outside of the courtroom to see where he got the statistic and if it’s valid or not. Additionally, it would also be beneficial to see if there’s any data on certain biases in the courtroom relating to divorce cases.

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I like your answer to this claim, by laying out what you need in a post like this aka the claim needs to be fully written out with good sources to back it up. And good use of another source to back your answer!

Answer 2

There is little to no evidence to support this claim. There are various webpages out there that claim that there is bias, but most are from law firms trying to advertise their services (i.e. SmartDivorce and MensDivorceLaw). In fact, an article from the Guardian claims the opposite, that in fact women are ruled against more, however this article is more than four years old and some sources do not work anymore, or refer to items that aren't attached to this claim. Thus, this claim is misleading. (Guardian)

Comments

This is a good factcheck because not only did you use the Guardian as a reliable source for your argument against the original claim, but also shared and explained the biases behind less reliable articles that corroborate the original claim.

Answer 3

The use of the word “overly” shifts the tone of this claim ever-so-slightly to that of an opinion. Opinions cannot be truly falsified because of their subjective nature. However, if the word is taken out, it is easier to find more concrete data to analyze and fact check. 

In terms of custody battles, which is the primary issue that divorced men are often speaking out against, it appears that there is not legal conditioning for unfair rulings — as ADAM (American Divorce Association for Men) states, “There are certainly laws that protect both men and women, and laws that are intended to be gender neutral. However, […] laws certainly tend to favor the person that has custody if there’s an issue or dispute involving children, the law favors the parent with whom the child resides full-time. That person is going to be able to get child support from the other parent and it gives them the advantage all the way around, they have custody, the other person has parenting time. Quite often women have custody…” (ADAM) 

This is confirmed by Ashburn Psychiatry, which states that in the US, mothers win custody battles much more frequently (exact numbers cannot be gathered, as 98% of cases are settled outside of court).  (Ashburn) 

The reason for this is due, in part, to the belief that women are better parents overall, and the primary caregiving role should fall to whomever’s presence would benefit the child best. Of course, this is not the case in many instances, and non-female parents can be just as beneficial to children. (Weaver, Bennet, & Bland) 

Comments

Could this claim be more of an opinion?

Answer 4

I have found some that both supports and doesn't support evidence of the judicial system being overly harsh towards divorced men. This study shows that after most divorces, men experience a 10% increase in income while women experience a 27% decrease, citing many factors such as a more restricted earning capacity coupled with a disproportionate loss of income. However, it is also shown that women's satisfaction with household income is about the same level as a man's not long after a divorce. Many studies of European countries show that men are more likely to keep their home ownership than women after divorce. When it comes to well-being and health, it has been shown that men tend to suffer a higher mortality rate and a lower life satisfaction than women. it also indicates that women are more likely to file for divorce first. It is also shown that mothers are given custody over children more often, with many sources stating that they are seen as the "primary caregiver". However, many mothers who become single parents have to face the challenge of solo parenting and finding childcare.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5992251/

In the end, the evidence that I have found does not fully support the case that divorced men are treated more harshly by judicial systems, but rather there are many complex variables and many different ways in which both partners suffer during and after divorce.