Happily Never After...: Understanding & Responding to Post-Separation Abuse

Separation is often viewed as the end of abuse but for many survivors, it’s only the beginning of a new phase of control, harassment and harm.

Outline:

Happily Never After… is a powerful training session that centres the lived experiences of survivors - particularly Black femme survivors - navigating ongoing abuse after leaving an abusive partner. This training explores the forms, impacts and systems that enable post-separation abuse (PSA), from family courts and shared parenting arrangements to economic control and stalking.

Grounded in trauma-informed, culturally responsive and survivor-led practice, this session equips participants with the knowledge, confidence and tools to identify PSA and intervene in ways that are safe, empowering and justice-oriented.

Who is it for?

This is a level 2 training course with specific investigation into post-separation abuse. Attendees will ideally have an entry-level understanding of domestic abuse as a foundtion of which to build on and from.

What will I learn?

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Define post-separation abuse and understand its various forms (e.g. legal abuse, financial abuse, stalking, reputational harm, child contact manipulation, third-party abuse).
• Recognise the ways post-separation abuse is minimised or missed by services, including how race, gender and class affect visibility and responses.
• Explore how family courts, housing systems and shared parenting arrangements can be used as tools of continued control.
• Understand the specific experiences of Black femme survivors, including the intersections of misogynoir, state violence and cultural silence.
• Implement trauma-informed, culturally competent strategies to support survivors and mitigate harm.
• Challenge the “safe once separated” myth within your service, workplace or professional practice.
• Develop survivor-led safety planning and advocacy approaches that centre long-term safety and autonomy.