Blog

For years, I've heard the same story, told a hundred different ways. A man calls the helpline, or messages me after a talk, or emails me at 2am because he can't sleep. He's in the middle of family court - fighting to see his kids, defending himself against an allegation, trying to sort out finances after a relationship has ended. And underneath all of it, there's a second fight happening at the same time: the one against his own bank account. Solicitors charging hundreds of p

Ross Simpson isn't his real name, but everything else in his story is exactly as he told it. Last year, Ross sat in his kitchen in Rotherham staring at a bill for £15,000 from his solicitor. He'd spent the previous year fighting for custody of his two children. By the time the bill arrived, he'd drained his savings and maxed out his credit cards. He described having to choose between fighting for his kids and paying his mortgage. Eventually, the money ran out before the case

A Guest Blog by Benjamin Bailey, PhD When the victim doesn’t fit the picture What happens when the victim of domestic abuse is a man and the abusive partner is a woman? For more than 25 years, through my work as a psychotherapist, researcher, court-appointed expert, and advocate, I have encountered men living in relationships characterized by humiliation, control, intimidation, aggression, and, at times, physical violence. Again and again, I encountered another problem alongs

On 7 September 2026, Khloe Simmonds was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison at Harrow Crown Court. Eight counts of perverting the course of justice, covering false allegations made against multiple men over more than seven years, between July 2018 and January 2026. At the height of the offending, Simmonds was responsible for 2.5% of every rape and serious sexual assault allegation reported in the entire Harrow area. Not 2.5% of the false ones. 2.5% of all of them, r

In February this year, the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, handed down one of the most significant family law rulings in years. It's called Re Y, and it's worth understanding properly, because it shows exactly how badly a family court process can go wrong, and how long it can take to put right. The case began in 2019. Two parents, both making serious allegations against each other, including allegations of domestic abuse. The court initially planned to

The CPS calls him Adam. That's not his real name, but everything else in this case is exactly as they published it. Adam was in a relationship with his wife for sixteen years. For more than seven of those years, following her dependency on alcohol, he was subjected to a sustained campaign of abuse. He described watching her whole mood change. She called him names, swore at him, and degraded him constantly. Photographic and video evidence shown in court documented injuries fro