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Abstract: 

This piece emerges from the wisdom that comes out many long years of legal experience working with battered mothers and their children in the family court system. For many years, Lisa Fischel-Wolovick legally represented abused mothers as they endured the trials and tribulations of custody litigation. In her book, “Traumatic Divorce” (2018) and here, also, she describes what happens to survivors in these cases using a trauma-informed lens. The author wisely focuses on the risks posed to the most vulnerable parties in these cases—minor children—delineating the ways children are harmed by the system, and conversely, what ought to be done to protect them. She notes, as have many others, that the impacts of DV on children are profoundly detrimental throughout their development and linger in the form of physical and mental disorders throughout the person’s adulthood.

Keywords: Trauma and Child Custody Litigation; Children’s Safety vs. Fathers’ Rights; Coercive Control; Trauma Exposure Throughout the Lifespan

Affiliations:  1: City University of New York.