SHERA Research Group International Collective researchers MVAWC

Can secret recordings be used as evidence in court? If you record a meeting or conversation about your children, without people being aware you’re recording them, can you then produce and rely on that recording

see transparencyproject.org.uk/can-secret-r...

@seethrujustice.transparencyproject.org.uk is it saying litigants are bound by professional rules or the home setting is or both? in law, it seems this is not right in either case

What is your take on this? Still digesting but something striking is the fact that a professional being in a litigant's home turns the litigant's home into a 'professional setting'. Is anyone else struck by this? In what other role does this occur? www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and...

Key recommendations for family courts: 93. Accelerate the conclusion of the inquiry into the mother and Baby Homes in Northern Ireland ensuring effective access to truth, justice and reparations and taking into consideration lessons learned from similar inquiries. 94 Urgently and swiftly prohibit the use of parental alienation and related pseudo-science concepts, appoint only experts who are fully qualified psychologists or psychiatrists; that are regulated by the HCPC and that have regular accredited domestic abuse training. Ensure an end to the of parental involvement between abusive parents and their children at all costs. Prohibit the removal of children from the parent they live with for the purpose of restarting, repairing or improving the child’s relationship with the other parent.

Key recommendations for #familycourt #familylaw to be presented again to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2025

2. Beyond legal barriers, family courts have been criticized for prioritizing parental contact and involvement over the safety of children, sometimes granting access to fathers despite serious allegations and even findings of abuse. Courts repeatedly disregarded domestic violence evidence, instead framing protective mothers as engaging in "parental alienation" With mothers being advised not to raise allegations of domestic violence or child sexual abuse in case they are accused of “parental alienation.” Mothers are also threatened with the removal of their children if they seek to protect their children by limiting contact with abusive fathers. In many cases, children’s voices are not heard or listened to. Such cases expose deep flaws in the system, where the presumption of parental involvement can override safeguarding concerns - links to our paper in bio open access

81. Mothers who have lost the care of their children as a result of custody cases are struggling to come to terms with the loss. They face systematic challenges in accessing justice, exacerbated by legal aid cuts, court biases, and a failure to prioritize child safety in cases involving domestic abuse. The 2013 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act removed legal aid from most private family law cases, forcing many parents, especially mothers, to represent themselves. By 2024 over half of mothers in custody disputes appeared in court without a lawyer[1], and by 2017, 21,852 parents applied for private law child arrangement cases without legal representation—a 134% increase from 2011[2]. This lack of legal support disproportionately affects lower-income mothers. The result is often prolonged cases, psychological distress, denial of justice and a growing family court backlog, which stood at over100,000 children as of 2013[3]. The lack of justice has forced many mothers to escape the UK to jurisdictions not covered by the Hague Convention on Child Abductions.

44. The UK government’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy emphasizes prevention, previously allocating £6.6 million over three years (2022-2025) to this end. However, a significant challenge persists including: Framing violence against women and girls predominantly as a criminal justice issue, focusing on punishing offenders rather than investing adequately in the systemic and societal changes required to address root causes. Prevention efforts remain underfunded, while the implementation of protective measures, victim compensation, and rehabilitation is weak. This punitive approach, coupled with poor enforcement of court judgments and protection orders fosters a sense of impunity for perpetrators, undermining progress. 45. Specialist services for girls and young women under 25, who face disproportionate rates of domestic abuse, are critical yet insufficient. Statutory agencies are positioned to identify and intervene early, but without robust investment, many women at risk are left without support, leading to trauma, school exclusion, or entanglement in the criminal justice system. Efforts to shift harmful social norms, particularly among boys and men, such as Scotland’s Equally Safe strategy, which aims to ensure that young people develop mutually respectful, responsible and confident relationships[1] are to be commended. However, the £6.6 million investment in such policies pales against the scale of need (3.5 million boys) and the scale of sexual and gender-based violence. [35 NSPCC, Child sexual abuse: statistics briefing. [36] Adrienne Barnett, Domestic abuse and private law cases: A literature Review, Ministry of Justice, 2020. [37] https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/breaking-point/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. [38] https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/articles/truth-recovery-design-panel. [39] https://ombudsman.ie/en/publi…

57. Women and girls with disabilities in the UK are particularly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, discrimination, and abuse, yet the response from authorities is often inadequate. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities raised concerns in 2017, stating that the rights of women and girls with disabilities have not been systematically integrated into gender equality and disability agendas, with a lack of data and measures addressing the compounded effects of multiple and intersectional discrimination[1]. Women and girls with psychosocial disabilities face significant obstacles when attempting to access justice. The prevalent practice of restricting legal capacity makes it difficult for these women to initiate or participate in legal proceedings, and their testimonies are often met with skepticism/ Service providers also tend to be slow in responding to financial abuse, further exacerbating their vulnerability.[2] [1] Ibid. [2] https://www.wbg.org.uk/article/cuts-to-social-security-for-disabled-women/. r stereotypes.

Thank you UN Special Rapporteur #VAWG Reem Alsalem #familycourt

Again the Special Rapporteur recommends #parentalalienation frameworks be prohibited from use in FC, calls for abuse and trauma informed regulated experts in #familycourt & an end to the #presumptionofinvolvement for abusive parents

US Cuts to UN Midwife Projects Will Mean More Infant Deaths US Cuts to UN Midwife Projects Will Mean More Infant Deaths - PassBlue

“In #Sudan, women are giving birth in unimaginable conditions. #Midwives are often the only point of care, not just for childbirth but for detecting and responding to sexual violence. Many have lost everything, yet they keep working.” Shoko Arakaki

www.passblue.com/2025/05/28/u...

New research reveals the children with ‘no voice’ in the family courts - Lancaster University Important decisions are made about a child’s life during private law proceedings – but a strikingly large proportion of children are not seen by the professionals involved, and have no voice, new rese...

Lancaster and Nuffield FJO 2024 findings:
Half of all children did not have an opportunity to formally voice their wishes and feelings in #familycourt
Two fifths of children aged 10 to 13 in England & a greater proportion of older teenagers were unheard www.lancaster.ac.uk/law/news/new...

Arachnid: Hunting the web’s darkest secrets True Crime Podcast · Weekly Series · What if the worst thing that ever happened to you plays out every day, countless times, on anonymous computer screens all over the world.  Everyday tens of millio...

The podcast series Arachnid is now live, highlighting the human costs of decades of inaction over child sexual abuse material, with a focus on the pioneering work of @cdnchildprotect.bsky.social. Listen to the first two episodes here: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/a...

Disabled celebrities urge Keir Starmer to scrap ‘inhumane’ benefit cuts Exclusive: More than 100 people including Liz Carr and Rosie Jones sign letter criticising Pip and universal credit changes

'If these plans go ahead, 700,000 families already living in #poverty will face further devastation,” they write. “This is not reform; it is cruelty by policy.'

More than 100 disabled celebrities urge Keir Starmer to scrap ‘inhumane’ benefit cuts

#TakingThePIP

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Family law experts push legal framework to guide guardian ad litem reform in Washington A ‘model code’ would have only licensed mental health professionals making parenting plan recommendations to the court

Guardian Ad Litem #USA with no credentials for diagnosing said a mother 'had a personality disorder - contradicting her medical records & contributed to the court’s decision that she posed a greater danger to her children than an alleged rapist father' www.investigatewest.org/investigatew...

A flyer showing the University of Manchester logo, and a photograph of a man moving his arms, dancing. The text reads as follows: Research opportunity! The Ada study Access to Dance for Autistic adults. Researchers at The University of Manchester seek autistic volunteers for an online survey about dance. Are you: 1. Autistic (diagnosed or self identifying)? 2. Aged 18 or over? 3. Living in the UK? We are exploring autistic people’s experience of dancing - or choosing not to dance. Dance can mean anything from having a boogie in the kitchen, dancing in clubs and other social settings, to attending a dance class. The online survey takes about 30-60 minutes depending on how much you’d like to share. It includes questions about your background (e.g. age and gender) and your experiences of dancing and watching dance, or choosing not to dance. Some members of the research team are neurodivergent and the survey was developed with autistic project advisors. To find out more and take part visit: https://tinyurl.com/Aut-dance Or contact: Claire.Planner@manchester.ac.ukResearch This project has been reviewed and approved by the University of Manchester Research Ethics Committee. Ref.: 2025-22235-41162

Love dancing? Hate dancing? If you're #autistic, age 18+, in the UK, please take part in our survey (designed with autistic project advisors). We want to hear about why people don't dance, dancing at home (kitchen disco anyone?), socially, or at dance classes. For more info: tinyurl.com/Aut-dance

When parasitic people are exposed either in a professional or personal relationships, they’ll use terms like crazy or “driven mad by activism” as deflection tactics. It’s convenient to do so, & this maintains an illusion that they are beyond reproach & not harmed, manipulated or abused their power.

NAO gives damning verdict of family courts as 4000 children still in proceedings 2 years on - Today's Family Lawyer The National Audit Office has published a damning report into the state of the family courts system in England with extensive delays

'no single body accountable for overall performance, nor a shared understanding of what good looks like from the perspective of families and children...that costs the taxpayer more than £1.8bn in 2023-24' #familycourt todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/nao-gives-da...

‘Swim, swim and die at the beach’: family court and perpetrator induced trauma (CPIT) experiences of mothers in Brazil Gender-based violence (GBV) and Domestic Violence (DV) are prevalent in Brazil. There are growing concerns globally regarding the weaponisation of the pseudo-concept ‘Parental Alienation’ (PA) in t...

Abusers don't lose control they stay fully in control hence abusers often where a mask of 'nice' & 'calm'. Victims become so traumatised/unwell, but abusers induce this in their victims then weaponise their trauma against them 'she's crazy'. In #familycourt & beyond tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#Familycourts are the only courts that can force survivors to stay in contact with their abusers, often through custody or visitation orders. (Meier, 2018) rutgerslawreview.com/wp-content/u...

A Rhumba today for South American & Mediterranean sisters working to bring equity
for Mothers & children
Making a stand for Healthy Love
No it isn't alienation
All singing Birds in their cages
globally
Tomorrow is on its way

🙏Paola Motosi
@sheraresearch.bsky.social

youtube.com/watch?v=nJeJ...

Enjoy the journey.
Transform those bitter lemons into change.
A piece of cake for the coming week?
@drproudman.bsky.social
@dradriennebarnett.bsky.social
@sheraresearch.bsky.social
@drjesstaylor.bsky.social

And many more
Thousands more

Recommended tea & reading with your cake

@drproudman.bsky.social a barrister with extensive experience of #familycourt reports she's NEVER witnessed a judge in FC find that a child has been s@xually abused. CSA false reports are extremely rare so something is going deeply wrong #ReformFamilyCourt #ProtectChildrenNotAbusers
#SafeNotSilenced

Very emotional to have our work cited in this @drproudman.bsky.social book, which is a tour de force #familycourt #HeSaidSheSaid. Honoured to be thanked in the acknowledgements alongside such wonderful women too, thank you Charlotte 💜. www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/charl...

From his home in suburban Chicago, John Prevost, Pope Leo XIV's brother, reflected on his brother’s ascent to the papacy, his values and his American roots. “The best way I could describe him right now is that he will be following in Francis’ footsteps,” Prevost said. nyti.ms/43wrALh

100% -rising misogynistic behaviour among children/boys, including sexual harassment and threats towards teachers and peers, is absolutely linked to the normalisation of aggressive sexual content in media and violent🌽. #MediaInfluence

Gender-based violence (GBV) and Domestic Violence (DV) are prevalent in Brazil. There are growing concerns globally regarding the weaponisation of the pseudo-concept ‘Parental Alienation’ (PA) in the family courts against women. Additionally, a lack of understanding of mothers’ family court and health-related experiences indicated a need to explore this topic further. A qualitative study was conducted with thirteen mothers who are victims of Domestic Violence and have been accused of PA. Mothers reported a range of harmful health experiences, delineated here under the conceptual framework of Court and Perpetrator Induced Trauma (CPIT). Six themes are presented, which encapsulate a range of harmful actions, behaviours and circumstances (ABCs) that surround these mothers and their responses to these ABCs. Multiple physical health conditions were reported as associated with family court proceedings. This included maternity problems, musculoskeletal, autoimmune, and respiratory conditions and a broad range of mental health implications including suicide and other trauma responses. Human rights violations, the weaponisation of ‘Parental Alienation’ and inherently misogynistic and oppressive justice systems in Brazil were also reported. Urgent measures and further research are now needed to investigate causal links between harm to health and the family courts and to strengthen human rights protection for women and child victims in Brazil and beyond.

Thank you changefamilycourt for amazing graphics of our study - free to read here
Brazil www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
England
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.shera-research.com/latest-news/...

School kids asking for advice on strangulation during sex - as abuse victim issues warning Kerry Allan says her ex-partner, Michael Cosgrove, threatened to kill her before repeatedly strangling her in August 2024.

Thank you @institutefas.bsky.social "Our message is there is no safe way to strangle - the anatomy is the anatomy. Reduction in oxygen to the brain or blood flow will result in the same medical consequences, regardless of context." news.sky.com/story/school...

Establishing safety in your own body is incredibly challenging if you have been through or are still engaged in family court or exposed to ongoing abuse. Even letting yourself cry can be overwhelming when you have been used to maintaining the ‘fight’, governed by adrenalin to protect your child and hypervigilant through necessity. Many survivors tell us that even yoga attempts make them burst into tears. There is no right or wrong way to heal and no pressure to do so. If all you can manage is to say to yourself ‘I am worthy’, that’s a tiny step worth taking. Seek what you need, validation, a friend, a trauma-informed therapist. You matter, you are worthy.

The #trauma journey is long and hard. It's not as easy as many people think it will be, it's a cliché but be kind to yourself, take it easy on yourself.

📌 thank you

Super interesting! Thank you for sharing

*In Plato's symposium, the stuff they should really be teaching us at school!

Must also clarify I'm not a classicist, just a lover of philosophy and there is debate as to whether Diotima was Aspasia, I believe (and some other 'proper' shcolars on this) that she was - a fictional character (Diotima) created to describe Aspasia cuz the blokes didnt want to acknowledge Aspasia

Many don't know this, but Socrates also noted that Aspasia taught him about the MOST important aspects of life (his words) of Love and higher being/transcendence. She was mistress in the sense of wise-woman and teacher and not amoral as some claim.