In November 2023 formerly alienated children who were removed from an abusive parent in what is called residence transfer in the UK private law system, told their stories at an event for policy makers held in the Palace of Westminster. Now those adult children, are ready to tell their stories to a wider audience and to speak about what it is like to be isolated and abused in a world which has consistently tried to deny their reality.
Children of divorce and separation are caused grave harm when they are triangulated into parental feelings about the divorce and the alignment and rejection behaviour seen in some children, often hides other harms as well. For children who are removed from abusive parents and transferred to live with the other, once rejected safe parent, the fear and anxiety caused by the abusive parent is a repeated narrative which is heard when they feel safe enough to speak about what was done to them.
Josh is now 25 years old and is about to begin his training as a social worker. The story of his removal from his mother who caused him serious harm, to live with his father who helped him to heal, is told in the book Please Let me See My Son by Thomas Moore. Josh is now writing his own story to give the child’s perspective and to help others to understand the urgent need to recognise and respond to the needs of children suffering from this hidden form of abuse.
Josh will be speaking about his experience in events being held by the Family Separation Clinic in 2024 more news of which comes soon.