'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 prevalentin Brazil. There are growing concerns globally regarding theweaponisation of the pseudo-concept ‘Parental Alienation’ (PA) inthe family courts against women. Additionally, a lack of understandingof mothers’ family court and health-related experiencesindicated a need to explore this topic further. A qualitative studywas conducted with thirteen mothers who are victims of DomesticViolence and have been accused of PA. Mothers reported a range ofharmful health experiences, delineated here under the conceptualframework of Court and Perpetrator Induced Trauma (CPIT). Sixthemes are presented, which encapsulate a range of harmfulactions, behaviours and circumstances (ABCs) that surround thesemothers and their responses to these ABCs. Multiple physical healthconditions were reported as associated with family court proceedings.This included maternity problems, musculoskeletal, autoimmune,and respiratory conditions and a broad range of mentalhealth implications including suicide and other trauma responses.Human rights violations, the weaponisation of ‘Parental Alienation’and inherently misogynistic and oppressive justice systems in Brazilwere also reported. Urgent measures and further research are nowneeded to investigate causal links between harm to health and thefamily courts and to strengthen human rights protection forwomen and child victims in Brazil and beyond

‘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 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