“The Family Court provides a legal entrapment from which there is no escape.”
-Prof Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson (@profayebkarlsson)
Friday 13.02.2026, Opening Keynote, Family Court Crisis Event in the UK by @fcmommabear
#UnbreakableSoul #MeTooFamilyCourt
#legalentrapment
Few films cover this difficult topic but this is one of them.
Movie: Sound of Freedom (2023)
Genre: Crime · Drama · Thriller
IMDb Rating: 7.6
Repost @cinecatalogue
#humantrafficking #childsexualexploitation #whattowatch #modernslavery #truestory
Earlier this year we published an article in which we raised concerns about human trafficking and exploitation in the United States, but also worldwide:
Ayeb-Karlsson, S. and Valiquette, T. (2026). The Lancet doi.org/10.1016/S014...
Once upon a time drugs were the main income of organized criminal activity, then the realization hit that drugs are sold once while a human being can be sold repeatedly. A child more so than an adult.
In later life that number becomes even more complex. Fifty years of shared life, financial dependency, health needs and generational silence compound every attempt. The barriers are decades deep. Which makes the question even more important to stop asking.
“Women Change The Law,
Women Change The World.”
@profayebkarlsson
#MeTooFamilyCourtSweden
#ToTheSisterhood
#ChangeFamilyCourt
#TheChildrenAreComing
#LegalEntrapment
Most domestic abuse associated homicides occur in this context, within a year of her leaving.
Leaving doesn’t always ensure safety as our systems currently cannot ensure it.
TV Series: Maid (2021) Netflix
#CoerciveControl #legalentrapment #metoofamilycourt #misinformation
Many mothers leave only to find themselves pulled into even greater danger as he turns to the family court. Legally entrapping her to the perpetrator and to his violence which is now extended to an entire legal system.
Let her make her own choices and follow through as she finds appropriate.
Many factors are involved such as financial control, trauma bonding, the weaponisation of children, and her pacing and ensuring that she stays alive.
“Why didn’t she just leave?” It takes most survivors seven attempts to finally leave a perpetrator of domestic abuse.
Many leave and thereafter return which can feel frustrating and disheartening to family members and friends.
Try to stay kind and patient.
…could be born into a more just world.
#silenceisviolence #misogynyisreal #changemaker #speakupforthosewhocant #shineyourlight
Speaking up is brutally difficult.
Questioning, criticizing and demanding change can be exhausting and draining but one day we will be remembered for not folding, for not giving up, and for the sacrifices we endured to ensure that those who came after us…
It is not even the attacks, harassment or abuse that gets to me anymore.
The patriarchy and misogyny surround us all and enablement of the system can take many forms including being enacted by those who claim to be fighting against it.
Remember that silence is never neutral.
…but recently I have felt that I may be closer to my limit.
It is never the nature of the work, nor is it its value or importance. We must continue forwards or where would we be today if we just stopped going.
The sun is out, spring is here, and summer is well on its way. Today was a nice day to remind myself of what makes me feel grounded and what I need to reset.
This work can take the best out of us. I most often go from one energy source to another (when I face challenges)…
Treat all women as if they were your daughter, sister or mother.
Repost @cinecatalogue
Movie: Promising Young Woman (2020)
#violenceagainstwomen #accountability #whattowatch #misogynyiseverywhere #womenempowerment
It can also be seen in how women refuse to believe and support other women in their fight for justice unless it is someone in their family.
Silence is NOT neutral.
As a silent bystander you are complicit in the abuse.
We need men as allies to combat VAWC but also women. The patriarchy is not resting on the shoulders of men alone but women all around us reproduce its values and norms.
This can look like calling women who speak up about having experienced violence ‘crazy’, ‘hysterical’, ‘dramatic’ or ‘liars’.
Friday 13.02.2026, Opening Keynote, Family Court Crisis Event in the UK by @fcmommabear
#UnbreakableSoul #EmpoweredWomenEmpowerWomen #MeTooFamilyCourt #changefamilycourt #legalentrapment
“The legal entrapment through the family court becomes ultimate, it is a legal entrapment that offers no escape, it is a violence that is unescapable.”
-Prof Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson (@profayebkarlsson)
Repost @girlhoodunscripted also shard and described by @femalevolution
#womenempowerment #victimblaming #falseallegationsarerare #sexualviolenceawareness #survivalresponse
How many of these men are told after that they cannot have been a victim of violence and robbery as they have no battle bruises?
People often talk about “fight or flight,” but the most common biological response to a surprise attack is freezing.
Video Source: Apple Tree Yard
The scene from Apple Tree Yard illustrates some of our societies more common narratives of victim blaming.
We choose to question, disbelieve, and seek flaws.
Bravo for capturing this so elegantly - how many men fight back when robbed with a deadly weapon?
“Why didn’t you just leave? Why didn’t you say no? Why didn’t you resist? Why didn’t you refuse? Why didn’t you fight back?”
Saying nothing, doing nothing is fighting back - it’s the human brain and body helping you survive.
Learn more: doi.org/10.1007/s108...
#legalentrapment
#reproductivecoercionandabuse
#deadlyviolence
#coercivecontrol
#familycourt
“Among adolescent victims of intimate partner homicide, one of the most commonly listed reasons among law enforcement narratives was pregnancy (e.g. the male partner did not want the adolescent woman to have the child and killed her).”
-Spearman et al. 2025
#legalentrapment
Silence is not neutral.
#MeTooFamilyCourt #PostSeparationAbuse #CoerciveControl #ShadowPandemic #UnitedNations
Repost @metoofamilycourt
Abusers are usually a family member or someone close to their target.
In family court, abuse gets minimized, survivors are disbelieved, and children become collateral damage.
This is a public health issue.
This is a human rights issue.
The Lancet article here:
doi.org/10.1016/S014...
To access the PDF: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
#HumanTraffickingandExploitation
#TheTrumpDoctrine
#aworldfreeofexploitation
#modernslavery
#venezuelastateintervention
“Worldwide approximately 38% of trafficking and exploitation victims are children, which is an area of empirical investigation that we explored in relation to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Home Office Hotels in the UK.”
-Ayeb-Karlsson and Valiquette 2026
