Implacably Hostile

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