Partnered with a Survivor: David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel
Partnered with a Survivor is a professional-focused podcast created and produced by Ruth Reymundo and hosted by the Safe & Together Institute. What began as intimate conversations between Ruth and David Mandel—founder of the Institute and creator of the Safe & Together Model—about violence, relationships, abuse, and the systems that respond to them has grown into a global conversation about systems and culture change.
Hosted by Ruth and co-hosted by David, the podcast features in-depth, professionally grounded discussions about how institutions respond to domestic abuse, gender-based violence, and child maltreatment. Many episodes also feature global leaders working across fields such as child safety, men and masculinity, perpetrator accountability, fatherhood, and partnering with survivors.
Together, these conversations examine how systems often fail adult and child survivors, how societal narratives about masculinity and violence shape professional practice, and how intersectional realities—including cultural and religious beliefs, racialised identities, LGBTQ+ experiences, immigration status, disability, and other structural vulnerabilities—shape responses to abuse and violence.
The podcast offers an insider lens into how professionals navigate systems not only as practitioners, but also as parents and partners. Through candid dialogue and critical reflection, Ruth and David challenge the assumptions and structures that limit meaningful accountability, safety, and healing. The goal is collective movement across systems, cultures, and families toward greater safety, nurturance, and sustained change.
Disclaimer: Episodes contain sensitive topics and occasional mature language that may be difficult for some listeners. The views and opinions expressed by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Safe & Together Institute or its staff.
Partnered with a Survivor: David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel
Season 4 Episode 12: Research That Puts Survivors at the Center
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Historically, research hasn’t always involved or benefited the population being studied. Dr. Elizabeth Dalgarno, the director and founder of the SHERA Research Group, is a staunch advocate of research that is undertaken by and with the people it concerns rather than “on” them.
In this far-ranging interview, Ruth, David, and Dr. Dalgarno discuss:
- SHERA’s research into health effects on survivors of their family court involvement in Brazil and England (spoiler alert: The negative health effects of family court involvement for domestic abuse survivors is significant!)
- What practitioners can do differently within the current context of family law environment to improve outcomes for child and adult survivors
- How to use research to help improve the social care and family court response to domestic abuse
- The need for greater accountability and transparency as it relates to systems that impact survivors
- The need for appropriate credentialing, training, and experience for evaluators in the family court context
- The need for adequate data on the impacts of family law policies and practices on victim-survivors
- The global need for domestic abuse-informed training for lawyers, children’s representatives, and judges around family violence, custody, and access
The SHERA Research Group is a collective of multidisciplinary professionals with over 100 years of cumulative experience working in health inequalities, law, finance, social care and domestic abuse research and support organizations.
Dr. Elizabeth Dalgarno is the director and founder of SHERA Research Group and a lecturer at the University of Manchester, England. Dr. Dalgarno has worked in public and private health and social care for over 20 years and specializes in challenging inequalities and systemic challenges in health and social care. Her work with women who have been through family court focuses on their health-related experiences and the harmful pseudoscience of so-called “parental alienation” and has been featured in the documentary Mums On The Run: Failed By The Family Court.
Now available! Mapping the Perpetrator’s Pattern: A Practitioner’s Tool for Improving Assessment, Intervention, and Outcomes The web-based Perpetrator Pattern Mapping Tool is a virtual practice tool for improving assessment, intervention, and outcomes through a perpetrator pattern-based approach. The tool allows practitioners to apply the Model’s critical concepts and principles to their current case load in real
Check out David Mandel's new book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence.
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