IMPLACABLY HOSTILE A true story of survival, the law, and the long road to freedom
In 1990, a woman crouched behind a gravestone on Christmas Eve with her two small daughters, whispering that they were playing hide and seek. They were hiding from their father.
What followed were years of violence, a house fire, homelessness — and a family court system that had a word for mothers who tried to protect their children from dangerous men. They called it implacably hostile.
Four voices tell this story — and each one is for you.
The narrator tells what happened, chapter by chapter. Honest, human, real.
The legal voice explains the family court system in plain English — your rights, what the law says, what has changed. No jargon.
The author speaks in her own words — where she was emotionally at every stage, what she understood, what she didn't, and what she wishes someone had told her at the time.
The fourth voice carries the wisdom — the stages of leaving, the questions women ask, and the answers that only come from having been through it and come out the other side.
Because there is a way out. And there is life after.
This podcast is published in the name of Dawn Austin, a mother imprisoned in 1996 for protecting her child. Her courage protected women she never met. This is one of their stories.
If any part of this is your story — step forwards, not back.
National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247 — free, 24 hours
Send us Fan Mail Episode Eleven: Release Less than one per cent of cases end this way. This was one of them. The final hearing. The judge. The report. Two years of fighting distilled into a single room and a decision that will define the rest of their lives. Episode Eleven is the end of the legal battle — and the beginning of everything else. Four voices this episode: The story of the verdict, the tears, and the solicitor who said: do you know how rare this is? The law on no con...
6 Aug 2026
Dr Rob
Send us Fan Mail Episode Ten: Dr Rob She handed her daughters to a stranger and waited. The hardest thing she had ever done. The court has appointed a child psychologist. His name is Dr Robert Radcliffe. He is kind, patient, and experienced. He is also about to hear things from two small girls that no child should have to say. Episode Ten follows the assessment process — the box exercises, the waiting rooms, the fear of being accused of coaching, and the moment Molly ran out of the hou...
30 Jul 2026
In Court- Chapter nine
Send us Fan Mail Episode Nine: In Court Her friend suggested she hire a male escort to take to court. She did it. Episode Nine is the court hearing everything has been building toward. Vanessa faces the judge, faces Clive across the table, and argues her case with research from three countries. But first — the escort. Because sometimes survival requires performance, and the whole system is theatre anyway. Four voices this episode: The story of the courthouse, the research, and t...
23 Jul 2026
The Push Chapter 8
Send us Fan Mail Episode Eight: The Push She stood up in front of a judge and told him what was best for her children. She wasn't a lawyer. This was her life. Clive has been released from prison. He is riding his bike along Kings Lane. Vanessa is documenting every sighting, every date, every time. Episode Eight follows Vanessa to a legal conference where she speaks in front of judges and academics — and a welfare officer who has already made up her mind. Four voices...
16 Jul 2026
Fighting Fire
Send us Fan Mail Episode Seven: Fighting Fire She had been fighting for herself. Now she was fighting for all of them. Episode Seven takes Vanessa to London, to a park, and to a woman called Dawn Austin— an activist whose story has already changed the way Vanessa moves through the world. This episode is where personal survival becomes collective action. Vanessa joins AMICA — a grassroots movement fighting to change the family court system from the inside. Four voices this episod...
9 Jul 2026
Locked Up and Set Free
Send us Fan Mail Episode Six: Locked Up and Set Free He went to prison. She was still not free. Clive is in prison. The welfare officer arrives with letters from him for the children. Charlotte tears hers into pieces without reading it. Episode Six follows Vanessa as she changes her solicitor, begins divorce proceedings, and finds a new home and a new job — all while the system continues to reach in. Four voices this episode: The story of a house on Kings Lane, a job worth havin...
2 Jul 2026
Gayle
Send us Fan Mail Episode Five: Gayle She had been fighting alone. Then she met the women who had mapped the system before her. Episode Five is where the story widens. Vanessa meets Gayle — a woman who has been through the same battles, who knows the same dangers, and who carries knowledge that the official system never offered. This episode introduces the underground network of women sharing intelligence, warning, and survival strategies. It also introduces the case of Dawn Austin — th...
25 Jun 2026
The Phoenix
Send us Fan Mail Episode Four: The Phoenix A cat woke her up. A cat saved their lives. In the middle of the night, something woke Vanessa. By the time she understood what was happening, the house was on fire. Episode Four covers the night everything was lost — and the morning something new began. It also contains the moment Vanessa sat across a kitchen table and heard the truth about the fire from the man who started it. Four voices this episode: The story of the fire, the escap...
18 Jun 2026
Roses Are Red
Send us Fan Mail She needed to keep the electricity on so the panic alarm would work. So she sold roses. Episode Three is where survival gets practical — and sometimes almost comic. With Clive gone, Vanessa faces homelessness, empty meters, and a legal system that has a word for mothers who protect their children. That word is implacably hostile. This episode introduces the family court presumption of contact — the legal principle that would shape everything that followed — and the mom...
11 Jun 2026
Chapter Two - The Sorries
Send us Fan Mail Episode Two: The Sorries Every abusive relationship has a cycle. Vanessa knew it so well she had given it a name. The Sorries. The remorse, the promises, the performance of a man who wants you to believe this time is different. This episode goes inside that cycle — the hope it creates, the trap it becomes, and the night everything finally changed. We also hear from the police officer who told Vanessa she would end up dead, handed her a leaflet, and then shook her abuser's han...
4 Jun 2026
Hide and Seek- Chapter One
Send us Fan Mail This is a true story. A true story, thirty years in the making. Chapter 1 begins on Christmas Eve, in a churchyard, where a mother hides with her two children and pretends they are playing hide and seek. This podcast combines storytelling, personal reflection and lived experience of domestic abuse, family court and survival after leaving. It is not perfect. It is not polished. But it is true. Christmas Eve. A churchyard. Two small girls who think they are playing a game. This...
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