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Yesterday on ITV’s Loose Women , I shared about a judge threatening a rape survivor. He said that if she continued with her allegations, her child would be taken into care. It was a chilling abuse of power—and a horrific example of how deeply broken our family court system...

29,844 views • 1 year ago •via X (Twitter)

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POLLY FRAZER's profile picture
POLLY FRAZER1 year ago

@loosewomen I think you are incredible. I used to be like you. Now I am broken. DA SA of my children by same perp, stalking death threats & family court suggesting he is a good dad. Weve been homeless, fled 4 homes. I was a headteacher and now I dont leave the house. Thank you brave person

Tessa's profile picture
Tessa1 year ago

@loosewomen The concept of fairness doesn't exist in the Family Couts. How many women have suffered complex PTSD as a direct result of the Judges treatment of them? This can only change if women are allowed to speak about their experiences.

Liberty 🪷💙's profile picture
Liberty 🪷💙1 year ago

@loosewomen Thank you Charlotte 🫶

1click boedicea's profile picture
1click boedicea1 year ago

@loosewomen I havent seen or heard from my child for 6 years. Fam court left her to do risk assessment of severe coercive control of me and her aged 12 whilst held hostage by father who was telling her what to say. Judges are the problem. They support male supremacy

Lisa Crooks's profile picture
Lisa Crooks1 year ago

@loosewomen Brilliant, I’m speechless 🙏

Sheumais1575's profile picture
Sheumais15751 year ago

@loosewomen The judiciary, generally, is long overdue fundamental reform. That judge should be accountable for that behaviour.

Sherlock's profile picture
Sherlock1 year ago

@loosewomen Know of a woman who had a rich husband. He was having an affair with the social worker. He ended up getting custody as he was rich. Made her out to be unstable. Turned out he kept the kids in a concrete garage and one lad had ocd. This came out when they reached 16+. Horrific

Sherlock's profile picture
Sherlock1 year ago

@loosewomen It’s only when a teenage girl next door spotted him getting upset about her asking about a clock in the bathroom that she took the clock and found a camera. So eventually the mother got the kids. Only because of this girl. He also was keeping the kids in a shed when naughty.

Sherlock's profile picture
Sherlock1 year ago

@loosewomen Guess what she wasn’t allowed the kids as they said she had been a victim of domestic abuse so hadn’t protected the kids so they gave the kids to the actual DV abuser. These court and social services type people are insane and a risk to children

Alone Ranger's profile picture
Alone Ranger1 year ago

@loosewomen I’m so proud of you Dr. Proudman ! Thank you for talking about this. The big boy’s club / male kinship groups have been abusing their power to crush women for far too long.

Related Videos

Today I had the opportunity to speak on ITV’s Loose Women about something incredibly close to my heart, my book He Said She Said and the heartbreaking failures of the family court system. I spoke not just as an author or advocate, but as someone who has lived through the traumas we too often minimise or dismiss in law and public discourse. During the segment, I shared one of the most harrowing stories I’ve come across as a barrister—a judge threatening to have a rape survivor’s child adopted if she continued with her allegations. It's one of the first stories recounted in my book because it truly exemplifies the brokenness of the system. Furthermore, in family court, there is no formal definition of rape, no standard definition of consent—yet these courts are making life-altering decisions for survivors, mothers, and children daily. There is an assumption baked into our legal system that contact with both parents is always in the best interest of the child, but I know from both my work experience and lived experience that no parent is far better than an abusive one. The presumption of contact has become a weapon, allowing abusers to maintain control under the guise of shared parenting. It must be repealed. As a child raised in a household shadowed by domestic abuse and alcoholism, I carry the passion to speak out. Survivors need to be believed, protected, and supported. The system needs radical reform, and it begins with listening to the voices of those who’ve been silenced too long. Thank you to Loose Women for their work on the Facing It Together Campaign to address domestic abuse, and for allowing me to speak on my book alongside this work in this space. My heartfelt thanks to Brenda Edwards, Denise Welch, Kelle Bryan, and Olivia Attwood-Dack, who have spoken out about their experiences of abuse in the past and are breaking ground on creating a world where abuse is unacceptable and survivors will not be silenced.

Dr Charlotte Proudman

37,020 views • 1 year ago

The system is broken, but people don’t realise it until it’s too late and they themselves are in it. Most of the public still believes the legal system operates with fairness, integrity, and justice. But those who enter the family courts—especially victim-survivors of abuse—discover something very different. They learn that the system is not designed to protect them or their children. They learn that speaking up is punished. They learn that “contact at all costs” is the default, even when it means placing children with abusers. In the recently released documentary, Kate Kniveton bravely shares how draining the process has been: financially, emotionally, and psychologically. But she’d do it all again to protect her child. Every survivor-parent I have represented has looked into the jaws of family court, steeled themselves, and continued fighting on, doing whatever it takes to protect their children. And I've seen the family court harm them in ways the abuse they escaped never could. These women's courage is extraordinary. They deserve safety and belief. For now, Kate and her child are safe. But the future is uncertain because the law still presumes contact is in a child’s best interests, even when there’s clear evidence of abuse. As I argue in He Said She Said, this presumption is not just outdated—it is dangerous. It protects perpetrators and punishes protective parents, especially mothers. Kate’s story is one of rare legal recognition. But the system she faced is routine. And while her bravery has helped expose the reality of the family courts, we should not expect survivors to carry this burden alone. We must change the law. End the presumption of contact. Protect children. Believe survivors.

Dr Charlotte Proudman

11,131 views • 1 year ago

Tonight on Channel 4 News , I spoke about the abuse of power by male barristers and the widespread sexual harassment women face at the Bar. For over a decade, I’ve called out the misogyny deeply embedded in our profession—and the cost for doing so has been high. The segment exposed the double standard: survivors of harassment are disbelieved, discredited, and pushed out, while male perpetrators are protected. Survivors of Jo Sidhu KC’s misconduct told Cathy Newman how terrified they were to speak out—his behaviour was an “open secret” in chambers. Yet even after reporting him, they were met with silence and delay from the Bar Standards Board . The Bar Standards Board even attempted to impose a gagging order—an NDA—on survivors. In my view, this is unlawful and morally indefensible. The truth is, the Bar Standards Board is not just complicit—they are perpetrators too. They prosecuted me for criticising a judgment in a domestic abuse case, threatening disbarment and a £100,000 fine. Meanwhile, they did nothing about male barristers who launched misogynistic abuse at me—calling me a cunt, wanker, calling for me to be sectioned, denigrating my intelligence, and sexist comments about my appearance. According to the Bar Standards Board , that was “free speech.” When women speak up, we’re punished. When men abuse, they’re protected. This is a broken system. I share my story—and the stories of many others—in my book He Said, She Said, exposing how the legal system upholds gendered power and punishes those who challenge it. We need urgent reform. We need real accountability. And we need a profession that protects survivors—not silences them. I would like to thank the incredibly brave and courageous survivors who have spoken out, with special thanks to my friend Anneka. You cannot underestimate the cost of survivors speaking out publicly in the hopes of changing the future for the better, both to prevent harm and encourage other survivors.

Dr Charlotte Proudman

18,073 views • 1 year ago

Erin Friday says that in states like California, parents risk losing their children if they refuse to transition them. She broke down to me how Child Protective Services can take children and strip parents of their rights once a child enters the system. “I have evidence of school counselors telling children how to use Child Protective Services to get away from their parents who refuse to capitulate and call them another gender.” “Once that child then gets into the crosshairs of Child Protective Services, the child can be taken and placed in a temporary foster care family.” “During that interim, the parents are being investigated.” “They can be investigated just from not calling their child a male or female name, whichever the child wants.” “There are foster care bill of rights in many of the blue states.” “Those bill of rights require that the child be housed based on gender identity… not their sex.” “So we take a child and put them in a very vulnerable position.” “The Bill of Rights also allows the child to get sex-rejecting interventions.” “You don’t need consent from the parents anymore.” “You get child and government consent to cross sex hormones, puberty blockers, name change.” “Parents essentially lose their parental rights to the government as long as those parents refuse to transition their children.” “These children are taught also to make false claims of abuse, not just emotional abuse, but physical abuse.” “The parents can’t even go to the press about what is happening to their child.” Erin Friday, Esq.

Jan Jekielek

13,429 views • 5 months ago

⛔️This is the type of gatekeeping ritual abuse, mind control, and organized abuse survivors have to face everyday: Podcast hosts and podcasts like with massive platforms who invite ‘experts’ to speak on behalf of survivors who have clearly never even once spoken to a single survivor or witness of the topic they are ‘expertly’ lecturing on (MK ULTRA) and who call the abuse survivors they are speaking for ‘goons’, and further gaslight them by saying their very real (and proven) experiences and memories of abuse are ‘fake’ and made up. It’s disgusting that so many large platforms and ‘experts’ are profiting off the backs of survivors, whistleblowers and children while actual survivors and whistleblowers who are speaking out are being silenced, targeted, ignored, losing their livelihoods, and taking their own lives. Julian - I’ve interviewed more survivors of these heinous abuses and crimes (that you openly mocked) than anyone else in the world. HUNDREDS of them. You’re telling me that hundreds and thousands of people (strangers) from all over the world with the exact same memories, abusers, abuse locations, types of abuse / torture, and testimonies are all lying? All of them? But your one ‘expert’ guest who has never talked to a survivor is the only one telling the truth? How and why do you think you and this guest get to speak on behalf of victims and survivors? Why don’t you invite real experts on - like survivors of MK ULTRA or people who work directly with survivors who can educate you and your audience? Maybe you should listen to my podcast and listen to real survivors before opening your mouth. By ignoring actual survivors and using your show to gaslight, discredit and profit off them with ignorant guests, you are willingly making yourself complicit in the systemic coverup of the worst crimes against humanity ever committed in history and revealing yourself and this ‘expert’ as limited hangout gatekeepers. It’s you who is muddying the waters, Julian.

E M M A ✨ K A T H E R I N E

53,990 views • 1 year ago