Episode 144: The Truth About Family Court with Tina Swithin
The Divorce Survival Guide Podcast
Kate Anthony
4.4 • 574 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2021
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tina Swithin returns to the show this week! You know her as the leader of One Moms Battle, whose mission is to raise awareness and educate family court professionals on post-separation abuse as it relates to co-parenting and the family court system. She is also a fierce advocate for survivors and change in the family court systems. In fact, through her work, she has been able to get the month of November to be declared Family Court Awareness Month in eight states to date.
If you're eventually going to be entering the family court system, you must listen to this episode. It will help you to understand what the family court is designed to do, and enable you to prepare yourself to do battle within the court system—which is not designed to protect you. Join us for this incredible conversation about family court awareness.
Show Highlights
- Family Court Awareness Month is an opportunity for survivors to raise awareness at a community level. (2:20)
- The family court system is abusive. (5:24)
- How we can come together to increase awareness. (7:43)
- The disconnect between family court and other judicial systems. There is no regulation or checks and balances. (11:09)
- Very few states have required trauma-informed or domestic violence training for family court judges. (14:54)
- We examine how judges become appointed family law judges. (17:05)
- Tina's family court system reform wish-list, including why we need judicial accountability and focus on prioritizing child safety. (21:00)
- Even with the reality of our present-day court system, children have a better chance of being healthy members of society if you are able to leave a toxic marriage. (35:07)
- What you can expect when advocating for yourself in the family court system. (43:24)
Learn more about Tina Swithin
Tina Swithin survived a "Category Five Divorce Hurricane" while acting as her own attorney in a high-conflict custody battle that turned her family's life upside down for over a decade. Known for her internationally recognized blog, "One Mom's Battle" and her book series, "Divorcing a Narcissist," Tina helps survivors to navigate the family court system against narcissists and other toxic individuals. In 2020, Tina launched two major projects: The High Conflict Divorce Coach Certification Program and a nationwide campaign, Family Court Awareness Month.
The mission at Family Court Awareness Month is to raise awareness and shine a spotlight on one of the most important branches of our judicial system; the family court system. The very system that was established to govern family law cases and make decisions that are "in the best interest" of children, has some undeniable shortcomings that warrant conversations, solutions and ultimately, change.
The mission at Family Court Awareness Month is fueled by the desire for a family court system that is trauma-informed and educated on domestic violence, coercive control and post separation abuse. To truly act in the best interest of children, our family court system needs to incorporate empirical data and research into their decisions and rulings.
Resources & Links:
Family Court Awareness
One Mom's Battle
Tina on Facebook
Tina on Instagram
Tina on LinkedIn
TODAY'S EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY:
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Divorce Survival Guide podcast, where we have open and honest conversations about co-parenting, separation, divorce, and the hardest question of all, should you stay or should you go. |
| 0:17.7 | I'm Kate Anthony, your divorce survival guide, and I'm here to help you navigate |
| 0:22.8 | some of the roughest waters you've ever swum in and answer some of your toughest questions. |
| 0:28.5 | I've been to hell and back, and now it's my mission in life to help you get to the other side |
| 0:34.2 | of this process with your sanity and your heart intact. |
| 0:42.5 | Hey everyone, happy Thanksgiving. I am coming to you this week with my friend and colleague Tina Swithin. You know Tina as the leader, |
| 1:01.2 | the fearless leader of one mom's battle. She is a fierce advocate for survivors and in particular |
| 1:10.5 | for change in the family court systems that, you know, |
| 1:16.1 | perpetuate our abuse or can perpetuate abuse. And so Tina has been instrumental in dubbing |
| 1:24.5 | November, having it declared family court awareness month. |
| 1:32.3 | And so I asked Tina if she would take an hour out of her really busy, insanely busy |
| 1:39.3 | November schedule as she has been traveling around the country, advocating for change and sitting in the city |
| 1:47.0 | council meetings and meeting with mayors and senators and congresspeople to talk about this |
| 1:54.4 | here on the podcast to gain greater awareness. |
| 1:57.2 | And she thankfully agreed. |
| 1:59.6 | And we had an incredible conversation about family court awareness and she thankfully agreed and we had an incredible conversation about family court |
| 2:03.8 | awareness and really what it is. And listen, you all need to listen to this. If you are planning on |
| 2:09.7 | entering into the family court system or not planning on it, but if that's sort of the eventuality |
| 2:14.8 | for you, you need to listen to this. You need to understand what the family court is designed to do and how you need to prepare yourself to do battle within the |
| 2:30.9 | court system that is not designed to protect you necessarily. So this is really important |
| 2:36.3 | awareness and there's more information that Tina has in her website, which is family court awareness |
| 2:44.1 | month.com. And without further ado, here is my conversation with Tina Swithin. |
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