Your husband’s behaviour is entirely his own fault – but before you take any action, ring a helpline for advice This article appeared recently in an advice column in a UK newspaper. It is heart-rending, and a sad real-life illustration of the challenges women face leaving an abusive marriage or relationship. We wrote a series […]
Dark empath vs. narcissist We’ve written a lot about narcissism on this blog, because as family lawyers we see a lot of survivors of narcissistic relationships. Narcissism as a trait is unfortunately not uncommon, and can cause a lot of damage to the individual in a relationship with a narcissist. There’s another type of person […]
Recognising and coping with a narcissistic partner As we embark on 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, I want to reflect on a type of abuse that is often hidden or not recognised as abuse: narcissistic abuse. Narcissistic abuse may involve physical violence but is predominantly a form of emotional […]
I think my friend’s husband is emotionally abusing her. Should I talk to her about it? We’ve written a lot about narcissistic abuse, coercive control, and emotional abuse by partners. This letter to an advice column highlights a real-life example of emotional abuse by partners, raised by someone with deep concerns about her friend’s situation. […]
Can spouses evict one another from the marital home? Can one spouse evict the other from the matrimonial home? No. A spouse is not a tenant, even if the marriage is out of community of property and one spouse owns the home outright. Spouses have a duty of support to each other which includes the […]
Reprinted from the Guardian, by Anna Moore – 2022-05-09 Can men who assault or intimidate their partners be taught to respect women? We talk to campaigners and perpetrators – and sit in on one of their classes In this Zoom call, four men are looking at a list of family duties and marking which they […]
If you haven’t watched The Tinder Swindler on Netflix yet, you are in the minority. It is the runaway streaming sensation of the year so far, reaching no. 1 in 92 countries, including South Africa. While it’s easy to say, “how could those women be so stupid?”, the reality is that women…and men…are defrauded emotionally […]
What the law says Sadly, one of the causes of divorce or relationship breakdown is domestic abuse, whether physical or emotional. The situation is traumatic enough on its own, but when there are children of the marriage or partnership, it can become very complicated. Numerous competing rights need to be balanced. How do you go […]
