Happily Never After: Understanding and Responding to Post-Separation Abuse
Private Team Training
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. 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.
What you need to know
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.
Who should attend?
This course is designed for professionals, frontline workers, volunteers, and service providers who may come into contact with women, girls, and young people affected by or at risk of experiencing female genital mutilation/cutting, including those working in:
How do I book a training session for my team?
Our 'Off-The-Shelf' Sessions are closed sessions, delivered to your team only. If you'd like to book this training for your team, contact us at training@hersana.org.