A march from Victoria Park to Parliament planned by men fighting for equal rights in child custody matters failed to get moving this week.

The march was proposed by Alvin Goulbourne of the Fathers Resource Centre, but due to busy schedules, it was postponed to a later date.

The march was planned in conjunction with events organised in several countries around the world in support of an initiative known as, "Bridges for Children" which aims to highlight the plight and difficulty fathers are having with seeing their children.

Mr. Goulbourne said: "Men are realising more and more the value of children and how we are getting the short end of the stick."

He said that children's mental health was suffering as a result of broken families and infrequent interaction between parent and child.

It appeared several of the local marchers had not got the message on Tuesday and one man arrived for the 12 p.m. start with a placard which read: "Court Notice; Every child needs a father in their life."

A handful of other men arrived and nearly as many Police officers were on the scene to determine the marchers intentions and ensure the march would proceed peacefully and without disrupting traffic.

A man who arrived at the park ready to march, but did not wish to be named, said the aim of the march was to raise awareness of fathers' rights.

He criticised Government for being run "like a women's organisation", and said men were always blamed in cases of abuse.

He said for the last two years, women had been using child abuse to get more money for centres and organisations dealing with such matters, but claimed that the majority of abuse was done by women.

Eddie Fisher of Childwatch said events had been planned in several countries around the world including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Puerto Rico and several others.

The idea was to have supporters stand on bridges displaying placards to passing traffic to highlight their plight.

Mr. Fisher said he was in agreement with the principle of the movement which believes that children need to be raised by both parents, and that custody needs to be more inclusive.

He said many women supported the movement. In particular he noted that many grandmothers are affected in custody battles and are often denied access to their grandchildren.