What is Court and Perpetrator Induced Trauma? (CPIT)

For some mothers, the proceedings, ‘parental alienation’ allegations and CPIT harms to health had restricted their freedom, psychologically and physically, to the point that it had effectively made them prisoners within their own bodies; arguably, an ultimate act of control and violence:

With the alienation claims and the threatening of losing custody … for I started to have anxiety crises, depression, panic attacks … I have fibromyalgia, and it has psychosomatic characteristics, so, nowadays, my quality of life has decreased 50%, comparing to what it was at the beginning of that proceeding. I am selling my car now because I can no longer drive. Marcia* (pseudonym)

Source: Dalgarno, E.,et al., (2023). ‘Swim, swim and die at the beach’: family court and perpetrator induced trauma (CPIT) experiences of mothers in Brazil. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 46(1), 11–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2023.2285136