Who We Are
The Protective Mother Project is a survivor-led movement dedicated to protecting children and supporting the mothers who fight for them. Born from lived experience, our organization exists because too many women discover that escaping an abusive partner does not end the abuse—family court often becomes the next battleground.
We are mothers, advocates, professionals, and survivors who came together with a shared purpose: to expose the systemic failures that put children in harm’s way and to demand accountability from the institutions responsible for safeguarding their well-being.
Our focus extends especially to children with chronic medical needs—such as Type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, severe allergies, or disabilities—whose health and safety are often minimized or misunderstood in custody determinations. When courts and Guardians ad Litem disregard legitimate concerns, children suffer preventable harm. We exist to change that.
What We Do
The Protective Mother Project works to reform family court through education, advocacy, and legislative action. Our initiatives include:
Advocacy & Awareness
We amplify the stories of protective mothers whose voices have been dismissed or silenced. We bring public attention to how post-separation abuse continues through custody litigation, and how systemic biases put children at risk.
Training Reform for GALs and Court Professionals
We advocate for mandatory, evidence-based training on coercive control, domestic violence, childhood trauma, and chronic pediatric medical conditions—all critical areas that many court-appointed professionals lack. Children’s lives depend on this knowledge.
Policy & Legislative Action
We collaborate with lawmakers, medical experts, trauma specialists, and legal reform advocates to drive policy change that centers child safety and medical stability. Our goal is simple: a family court system that understands modern research and follows it.
Support for Protective Mothers
We provide education, resources, and empowerment for mothers navigating the family court system. We help them understand their rights, document concerns, and advocate clearly and confidently for their children’s safety.
Community Building
We connect mothers across the country who share similar experiences. Through community engagement, storytelling, and survivor-led leadership, we create a powerful network of support and change.
Why We Exist
We exist because too many mothers face:
courts that minimize abuse
GALs who lack medical or trauma-informed training
accusations of being “overprotective”
threats to custody for raising legitimate safety concerns
abusers who use the legal system to continue control
children placed into unsafe or medically dangerous environments
The system wasn’t built to recognize coercive control, trauma responses, or pediatric medical fragility. As a result, the very mothers trying to protect their children are often punished for it.
We exist to speak the truth that the courtroom ignores.
We exist to restore safety where it has been stripped away.
We exist to reform a system that has been failing families for decades.
Our Vision
A world where:
Child safety—not parental convenience—is the foundation of every custody decision.
GALs and judges are fully trained in domestic violence, coercive control, trauma, and pediatric medical needs.
Protective mothers are heard, believed, and supported.
Post-separation abuse is recognized, addressed, and never rewarded.
Family court becomes a place of justice, not another avenue for harm.
Our Promise
We will never stop advocating for children’s safety.
We will never stop fighting for justice for protective mothers.
We will never accept a system that enables abuse under the guise of neutrality.
The Protective Mother Project is more than an organization—
it is a movement, a lifeline, and a force for systemic change.
