Episode Details

Description

In this episode of Perfect Prey, I’m joined by Dr. Elizabeth Dalgarno, founder and director of the SHERA Research Group and lecturer in public health at the University of Manchester. Dr. Dalgarno’s work focuses on the global harms caused by family court systems and the institutional abuse experienced by women and children navigating these legal processes.

Through SHERA’s groundbreaking research, Dr. Dalgarno and her international team have documented how family court engagement can produce profound health consequences for protective parents and children. Their studies reveal a disturbing pattern: when abuse is reported, mothers are frequently accused of “parental alienation,” their credibility is questioned, and the legal system often becomes an extension of the abuse rather than a source of protection.

Together, we explore how coercive control continues after separation, how courts can become tools of post-separation abuse, and why the health impacts of family court trauma are still largely ignored by institutions responsible for protecting families.

What we cover

• The mission and global research of the SHERA Research Group

• How family court systems create institutional betrayal for survivors

• The health consequences of family court trauma for women and children

• The “blueprint” pattern many protective parents experience after reporting abuse

• Why parental alienation frameworks often silence abuse disclosures

• The concept of malicious fracturing of attachment

• How coercive control continues through legal systems after separation

• Why systemic reform is necessary to protect children and survivors

  
  

Why listen

If you are a survivor, protective parent, clinician, researcher, attorney, or advocate, this episode offers crucial insight into how family court systems can perpetuate harm rather than stop it. Dr. Dalgarno’s research provides evidence-based documentation of what protective parents have been saying for decades—and highlights why systemic reform is urgently needed.

Guest bio (short)

Dr. Elizabeth Dalgarno is the founder and director of the SHERA Research Group, a global collective studying the health impacts of institutional abuse within family court systems. She is a lecturer in public health at the University of Manchester, where she teaches global women’s public health and health system challenges. Her research focuses on the intersection of coercive control, institutional harm, and the health consequences experienced by women and children navigating family courts worldwide.

Learn more about SHERA Research

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherafamily_
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sherafamily
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sherafamily
Substack: Still Not Safe – Dr. Dalgarno

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