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A uniform, a cigarette break, and a teenager who just wanted to feel seen—what starts as attention quickly reveals the blueprint of grooming and coercive control. We follow Sarah as a 16-year-old pulled into an adult’s orbit, pressured into marriage through a pregnancy ultimatum, and cut off from school, work, and friends. The twist that lands like a gut punch: the person who should have protected her becomes part of the harm, pushing “practical” choices that deepen dependency and, later, crossing a boundary that shatters trust at its core.

Across the conversation, we map the mechanics of abuse in plain language: how image and authority hide predatory behavior, why gaslighting targets your sense of reality, and how economic abuse traps survivors even when the truth is in their hands. Sarah’s story makes visible the quiet tactics—smear narratives, isolation, financial leverage—that turn a normal request for a break into “proof” of unfitness. When emails expose an affair denied to her face, the denial continues, under the guise of “counseling for the kids.” We talk frankly about why leaving isn’t simple when you have no GED, no savings, and a baby in your arms, and we point to what real support should look like: safe housing, childcare, documentation, and people who believe you before the receipts show up.

You’ll leave with a clearer lens for red flags—age secrecy, ultimatums, control of money and movement, triangulation inside a family—and a renewed respect for survivor instincts. If this story hits close to home, know you’re not alone and that help exists. Share this episode with someone who needs a reality check about coercive control, and if you have thoughts or a story to add, call 1-844-TELL-DTS. Subscribe, leave a review, and help us reach more listeners who might still be searching for the words to name what they’re living.

🚨🚨Help Sarah get to safety:🚨🚨

✨👉 CookinCleaninMama’s Linktree 👈✨

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 OR text begin to 88788

Give me a call! 1-844-TELLDTS

Come join our community of survivors who are looking to meet someone just like you! See the behind the scenes work that goes into the sisterhood non-profit business, discuss DTS episodes, and of course find your survivor sister.

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• Instagram: @thedvsurvivorsisterhood
• Join the Sisterhood! The Survivor Sisterhood

Ready to share your story? Send me an email with the main talking points of your experience and I'll reach out to book an interview.

dismissedtruestories@thesurvivorsisterhood.com

Give DTS a 5 star rating! It helps this podcast reach other victims and survivors who NEED these stories! Help us find each other, help us heal, and help us find safety. Love you, mean it.

All sound and music courtesy of Epidemic Sound

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A mother of three children with special needs has been running for her life for nearly six years. Now, with her abuser scheduled for release from prison in November—a man who told a judge he's coming to find her—time is running out.

Sarah's story begins with profound childhood trauma. At nine years old, she lost her father to cancer, only to be sexually abused by a family friend weeks later. Her mother quickly remarried and left Sarah to navigate her grief alone, setting the stage for a lifetime of seeking love and safety in all the wrong places. This childhood betrayal formed the foundation for cycles of abuse that would follow her into adulthood.

What makes Sarah's case so disturbing is that she's done everything "right." She's filed police reports across multiple jurisdictions, testified in court, obtained restraining orders, and relocated her family repeatedly. Yet the system continues to fail her at every turn. The Address Confidentiality Program, designed to protect survivors like her, processed her application so slowly that her real address became public record—accessible to anyone, including her abuser who has a documented history of shooting a previous girlfriend.

Sarah's resilience shines through her determination to rebuild her life while protecting her children. She's self-published three books, including "Memoirs of a Mama on the Run," documenting her experiences and offering guidance to other survivors. Through social media, she shares her story, hoping to raise awareness about the gaps in our protection systems for domestic violence victims.

This powerful first episode of Season 3 challenges us to confront uncomfortable truths about how domestic violence cases are deprioritized and mishandled by authorities. Statistics show women are 70 times more likely to be killed in the two weeks after leaving an abuser than at any other time in the relationship, making these systemic delays potentially lethal. As we follow Sarah's journey, we're left asking: What happens when you follow every rule and it's still not enough to keep you safe?

🚨🚨Help Sarah get to safety:🚨🚨

✨👉 CookinCleaninMama’s Linktree 👈✨

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 OR text begin to 88788

Give me a call! 1-844-TELLDTS

Come join our community of survivors who are looking to meet someone just like you! See the behind the scenes work that goes into the sisterhood non-profit business, discuss DTS episodes, and of course find your survivor sister.

🔗 Follow Along:

• TikTok: @thedvsurvivor
• Instagram: @thedvsurvivorsisterhood
• Join the Sisterhood! The Survivor Sisterhood

Ready to share your story? Send me an email with the main talking points of your experience and I'll reach out to book an interview.

dismissedtruestories@thesurvivorsisterhood.com

Give DTS a 5 star rating! It helps this podcast reach other victims and survivors who NEED these stories! Help us find each other, help us heal, and help us find safety. Love you, mean it.

All sound and music courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Send us a text

What choices would you make to survive when the system designed to protect you repeatedly fails? Season 3 of Dismissed: True Stories follows one mother's harrowing journey as she flees domestic violence with her children across multiple states for nearly six years.

The nightmare begins with a knife at her throat and a terrifying threat: "He told me he was going to cut my scalp off and said if I screamed, he was going to make sure my kids have nightmares for the rest of their lives." What follows is not just an escape, but a desperate fight for survival that continues long after leaving her abuser. Despite filing "a whole string of police reports from multiple cities, multiple states," safety remains elusive as her ex-partner refuses to give up the pursuit.

This season delves deep into the reality of domestic violence survival—the homelessness, hunger, sleeping on floors, and constant relocation that becomes normalized in the quest for safety. We explore how abuse ripples through generations, with our survivor noting that her mother was "truly my first abuser in life." When backed into a corner with few options left, survivors face impossible choices: "Have you ever considered sex work?" becomes a legitimate question when conventional paths to stability have been exhausted.

Dismissed: True Stories centers the voices that society too often ignores, challenging listeners to witness the full complexity of domestic violence survival. This podcast is created by survivors for survivors, acknowledging that leaving an abuser is often just the beginning of a much longer journey. Subscribe now and join us on October 3rd for a powerful season that refuses to look away from the stories our society too frequently dismisses.

🚨🚨Help Sarah get to safety:🚨🚨

✨👉 CookinCleaninMama’s Linktree 👈✨

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 OR text begin to 88788

Give me a call! 1-844-TELLDTS

Come join our community of survivors who are looking to meet someone just like you! See the behind the scenes work that goes into the sisterhood non-profit business, discuss DTS episodes, and of course find your survivor sister.

🔗 Follow Along:

• TikTok: @thedvsurvivor
• Instagram: @thedvsurvivorsisterhood
• Join the Sisterhood! The Survivor Sisterhood

Ready to share your story? Send me an email with the main talking points of your experience and I'll reach out to book an interview.

dismissedtruestories@thesurvivorsisterhood.com

Give DTS a 5 star rating! It helps this podcast reach other victims and survivors who NEED these stories! Help us find each other, help us heal, and help us find safety. Love you, mean it.

All sound and music courtesy of Epidemic Sound