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sheraresearch.bsky.social
SHERA Research Group International Collective researchers MVAWC
@sheraresearch.bsky.social
1.6K followers 3K following 370 posts
#Health #Social #Rights #Familycourt #violenceagainstwomen #Children #CSA
Insta:@sherafamily_
X: @sherafamily WARNING: SHERAFAMILLE IS A FAKE ACCOUNT
https://www.shera-research.com
Some LTs:
https://linktr.ee/elizabethdalgarno1
https://linktr.ee/dremmakatz
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sheraresearch.bsky.social
Justice Committee to examine reform of the Family Court.

They will question the President of the Family Division and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner during an evidence session in Parliament on Tuesday, October 28 examining reform of the Family Court. committees.parliament.uk/event/25375
October 27, 2025 at 5:37 PM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Globally, an estimated 736 million women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner, a non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their lifetime.
October 27, 2025 at 5:12 PM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Save the date! October 7th 2025:

#Familycourt #HealthJustice #Global #postseparationabuse

Join us for a free online ground-breaking Health Justice Conference focussing on global insights into the family courts and health/human rights impacts for victim survivor women and children
August 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 7:46 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 7:46 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 7:46 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 7:46 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 7:46 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
We must take urgent steps to address the ongoing and ever-present harm our #familycourts are causing. Our justice systems should protect victim-survivors and not be a tool for further #postseparationabuse of women and children drelizabethdalgarno.substack.com/p/whats-love...
https://drelizabethdalgarno.substack.com/p/whats-love-got-to-do-with-it-post
August 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
@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
June 2, 2025 at 7:58 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Key recommendations for #familycourt #familylaw to be presented again to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2025
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.
May 30, 2025 at 7:28 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
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
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.
May 30, 2025 at 7:28 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
May 27, 2025 at 7:26 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
@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
May 13, 2025 at 6:55 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
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...
May 10, 2025 at 9:33 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
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/...
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.
May 10, 2025 at 6:07 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
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.
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.
May 7, 2025 at 7:56 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
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.
May 6, 2025 at 8:24 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
#Familycourts should consider and take into account whether and the extent to which fathers support and contribute to primary carer mothers' care of the children after parental separation... @dradriennebarnett.bsky.social
Family courts should consider and take into account whether and the extent to which fathers support and contribute to primary carer mothers' care of the children after parental separation and her relationship with the children, bearing in mind the close nexus between children's welfare and primary care-giving. Yet the pro-contact culture means that children's primary care is sidelined, ignored or taken for granted, and all the focus is on what mothers are expected to do to promote children's relationships with non-resident fathers. However, it doesn't work the other way around; in fact just the opposite. If children are removed from their mothers to the care of their fathers, e.g., after mothers have been found to be 'alienating', all the focus is then on what mothers must do to support the father's care of the children, which usually means minimal contact between the mother and children. Mothers may even be castigated for telling their children they love them, in these circumstances. Family courts and professionals seem unconcerned about mothers being airbrushed out of their children's lives. We can see how society's efforts, since the 1970s (with the increase in divorce and single mother families) to find a place for fathers in families, has led to the devaluing and erasure of motherhood, at the expense of children's welfare. Dr Adrienne Barnett, Reader in Law, Brunel University Core founder SHERA member, SHERA Research Group Co-Director, Right to Equality
May 4, 2025 at 7:24 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Bravo Jaimi Shrive - #adolescence #adolescencenetflix while a powerful film, should not be shown in schools - listen to Jaimi and see more here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
April 2, 2025 at 8:30 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
We led a petition for this which gained almost 20,000 signatures with Cpi Voz Materna
-we urge the president to listen to the voice of the people and revoke the PA Law. Paola Motosi,
our head of policy & impact has been pivotal in the fight for Brazilian women & children to be protected
April 2, 2025 at 8:10 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
UK CALL TO ACTION:

The consultation on unregulated experts is a positive step but we MUST go further and address:
regulation itself
the complaints and appeals processes in family courts
remove the loophole which allows bogus experts to be instructed

Reply by 6th June
www.gov.uk/government/c...
UK CALL TO ACTION: We have campaigned for years to ensure all experts who work with families are regulated and accountable for their actions within and beyond the family courts. However, we have also campaigned and submitted many policy briefings making clear we MUST also fix the current regulation and complaints systems to address experts who are already regulated and causing harm. Regulation means nothing if that regulation is not working. The consultation on unregulated experts is a positive step but we MUST go further and address: regulation itself the complaints and appeals processes in family courts remove the loophole which allows bogus experts to be instructed we must still campaign to prohibit these experts in law, to prohibit use of pseudoscience such as ‘alienating behaviours’ and for an independent regulator of the family courts who can hold all professionals accountable If the loophole remains allowing for unregulated experts to be instructed ‘where the issue to which the expert evidence relates to may only be resolved with the expertise of an expert who is not regulated’ the entire guidance will be futile because all courts who wish to instruct an unregulated expert will use this loophole to do that. HAVE YOUR SAY HERE BY 6th JUNE 2025 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/family-procedure-rules-new-draft-255a-changes-to-252-and-practice-directions-25b-and-25c/consultation-on-the-standards-required-for-expert-witnesses-proposed-practice-direction-changes Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno, Founder and Director, SHERA Research Group, Lecturer, University of Manchester
March 25, 2025 at 8:39 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Bravo claire Throssell MBE

Dr Marie Tidball MP

@alexdaviesjones.bsky.social
Claire stated: "I was filled with renewed hope that this government will do the right thing - not the easy thing and repeal presumption from the Children’s Act altogether." barnsleychronicle.com/article/31303/
March 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit! Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!
March 17, 2025 at 8:49 AM
sheraresearch.bsky.social
Exciting news! @drproudman.bsky.social Dr Charlotte Proudman’s new book launch event for He Said She Said, on 1 May 2025, 6:00–8:30 PM, at Carmelite House (6th Floor, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DZ). This book is a deeply necessary exposé of the injustices women face in our legal system
March 12, 2025 at 9:19 AM