In July 2018 the first State of South Africa’s Fathers report was released by civil society group Sonke Gender Justice and its MenCare initiative. The report, which takes a critical look at the overemphasis in social research on the absence or presence of biological fathers in households, was discussed in Parliament this week.

“We need to unpack the term of ‘absent father’ a bit more, because what StatsSA looks at is who is in the home and who is not in the home. We know a number of factors impact on how fathers behave,” said Suleiman Henry, a child rights and positive parenting regional trainer for Sonke, while briefing the parliamentary multi-party women’s caucus about the State of South Africa’s Fathers report.

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