I fought my way across London on it's appalling public transport system crammed, with thousands of others like cattle into too few carriages on the underground system during the rush hour. A train derailment meant that I could only go part of the way by the underground railway and had to finish the rest of the journey by bus.

I arrived stressed and even more tired and managed to snatch a cup of coffee before going into the studio. When the live program began Matthew Wright, the presenter, introduced it as a program looking at racism in the police and "wife beating." So ingrained is this language into the consciousness of media presenters like Matthew that he had spoken the words "wife beaters" without considering the injustice and biased content of the language. To his credit he corrected himself later but it was obvious that he was struggling to maintain unfamiliar thinking on the subject. Such is the power of brainwashing.

The first person to be interviewed was an American woman who is high in the ranks of "Refuge." This is a British organisation that oversees the running of battered women refuges in this country. She talked about her work and gave misleading information on the amount of female victims etc. Then a film produced by Refuge and shown in British cinemas everywhere was broadcast. Naturally, this film depicts a man beating a women while all the people around them ignore what is going on. At no time did the film mention male victims or show a female being violent. As anyone who knows about these things will tell you, when the media or an organisation shows only one side of any argument it is known as propaganda. As I watched these events unfolding in the studio yet again, I became determined to point this out to the viewing public so that they could make their own minds up about what they had just seen.

When my turn came to speak I managed to say to the folks watching at home that the methods being employed by organisations like Refuge, and Women's Aid, are dangerous because they brainwash the public into thinking that all abusers are male and all victims are female. The show ended with the ubiquitous female victim talking about her tragic abuse and her work now with Women's Aid.

I chatted with Matthew Wright and Dominic Diamond after the show. I pleaded with them to help us get a program made detailing the male victims point of view. I also tackled the female editor of "The Sun" newspaper who was also a guest on the program, about her papers biased point of view on this issue and was forced to listen to her telling me that it was our (men's) fault the media is biased. No change there then!

Fearing that the show was yet another dead loss for male victims I left feeling very downhearted. However, I was cheered up in the lobby of the studio when a small group of people from the audience approached me to say that they thought male victims were being discriminated against and that they also thought the tactics of the press and Refuge are brainwashing. They encouraged me to continue the fight and promised their support for my efforts in the future. I left the studio feeling that the British people are far more intelligent than Refuge and the press give them credit for and headed off to join a huge demonstration about fathers rights.

The demonstration was scheduled to start from London's Trafalgar Square at 12 noon. I arrived at the venue at 11 am and walked around the crowd greeting old friends and making new ones. I was astonished to see many small children, couples and grandparents gathering to march through London in protest at the draconian and unfair law that is, The Family Law Act. The day was cold and overcast and at first glance it appeared that few people had actually turned up for the march. My heart sank and dark thoughts about peoples apathy began encroaching into my mind.

At midday we began to organise into ranks and the march began. Within minutes we were joined by hundreds more people of all ages. Banners and purple flags waved in the brisk cold breeze. Sticky labels were passed out to the onlooking public and thousands of leaflets were distributed explaining the reasons for the march. Sad but determined men marched with photographs of the children they can no longer see pinned to their coats or stuck to banners. Old people carried posters mourning the loss of contact with grand children. Music blared from an open topped bus and men and women with megaphones began chants that the crowd took up. The volume rose dramatically. At the head of this slow moving convoy a huge military tank thundered along followed by men dressed from the waist up in military uniforms complete with helmets and from the waist down in kilts. Just behind them marched a group of men dressed in all white chemical protection suits proclaiming they where here to clean up family law. As the crowd marching continued to grow, moral soared and the cold weather was ignored by the marchers. The atmosphere of the march was jovial and light hearted. Huge numbers of police marched alongside us or sat in police vans, cars and on motorbikes along the route. In the sky I saw a police helicopter hovering high above us.

As the march snaked it's way through the crowded London streets business people, shop keepers, passing motorists and pedestrians shouted and waved their support or blew the horns on the vehicles. The message was clear: The British people support the men's movements efforts to gain equal access to children by both parents.

In due course, the march reached the Royal Courts of Justice. Here the tank and bus paused and the marchers halted. Then came the huge surprise. Dressed as Batman and Robin two men stood in the cathedral like roof of the High Court above a huge banner demanding justice for fathers in family law. The huge crowd of marchers saluted the two brave protesters who had scaled the building the night before and a vast roar of support went up to them as they looked down upon a sea of uplifted arms. I had to fight back the tears that filled my eyes as the march slowly moved past that incredible scene. I realised then that determined men can achieve anything they want and no petty political system can ever usurp the will of the people and remain in power.

My tears were soon wrung from my tired heart however as a cute little boy pressed a leaflet into my hands. I looked down and thanked him and then began to read what he had given me. The tears flowed down my cheeks as I read this powerful plea from a child.

"My name is Dries,
I feel sad.
I love my sister Florence and I really want her to come back.
Because she is beautiful
and I miss her so much.
It's her birthday today
and I don't see her.
I love her and hope she has a happy birthday."

How can we ignore such a moving account of one little boys pain suffered because of the heartlessness of politicians driven by an ideological hatred of men and fathers?

The march moved on. We approached the offices of the CSA, CAFCASS and the home of the British legal establishment known as Lincoln's Inn Fields. Whistles blew, air horns split the air and chants of "Shame on you!" rose above a field of pointing fingers. Those who worked within these buildings looked out of windows upon the roaring and angry crowd. Their faces betraying their embarrassment at the accusing tide beneath them. All of these organisations have been responsible for destroying the lives of countless fathers and children in the UK. The accompanying police looked tense and uneasy but they need not have worried. This was controlled fury and not the actions of a mindless mob.

As the march approached Lincoln's Inn Fields the clouds burst their heavy burden of rain and we all got soaked. The march never faltered. Jackets and water proofs were donned, collars pulled up and voices raised in songs and chanting. "All we are say -- ing..... Is give dads a chance."

The long column began it's homeward journey to end where it symbolically began at the Royal Courts of Justice, the symbolic and actual home of so much official abuse of men and fathers. A place where judges refuse any appeal from a father if it goes against "policy" irrespective of the legal or moral merits of the case. A place where judges have threatened children that if they refuse to leave daddy they will be placed in children's homes. A place where senior judges have refused to discipline the excesses of their lower court colleagues and in so doing have given support to those extremes. A place of misery for children and fathers from all four corners of the nation. As the column came to a stop once more Matthew O'Connor, the brilliant organiser, campaigner and founder of fathers 4 Justice stood atop of the open bus and gave a short speech. As he spoke the crowd once again saluted the two brave men who had scaled the heights of The Royal Courts of Justice building. During his speech Matt explained why these two men were dressed as Batman and Robin... "because to a child, every father is a super hero." The accompanying roar must have been felt in the bottom of every single judges deep black heart as they hid themselves within that vast building. It is to be hoped they trembled in fear because the message from this rally is a simple and direct one:

FATHERS ARE FIGHTING BACK AND THEY WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!

No more silence!

George Rolph is webmaster of Man2Man