Partnered with a Survivor Podcast
Partnered With a Survivor is a professionally 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 Safe Together Institute and creator of the Safe & Together Model — exploring personal and professional experiences around violence, relationships, abuse, and the systemic and professional responses that too often harm rather than help, has grown into a global conversation about systems and culture change.
Hosted by Ruth Reymundo and co-hosted by David Mandel, the podcast offers deep, professionally grounded discussions about how institutions respond to domestic abuse, gender-based violence, and child maltreatment. In many episodes, Ruth and David are joined by global leaders in areas such as child safety, men and masculinity, perpetrator accountability, fatherhood, and partnering with survivors.
Each episode takes a rigorous look at complex topics, including how systems fail adult and child survivors, how societal narratives about masculinity and violence shape professional practice, and how intersectional factors such as cultural beliefs, religious beliefs, racialised identities, LGBTQ+ experiences, immigration status, disability, and other vulnerabilities influence how we respond to abuse and violence.
The podcast offers an insider lens into how professionals navigate systems as practitioners, as parents, and as partners. Through candid dialogue and critical reflection, Ruth and David challenge the assumptions and structures that prevent meaningful accountability, safety, and healing. The goal is collective movement across systems, cultures, and families toward safety, nurturance, and sustained change.
Note: Episodes contain sensitive topics and occasional mature language that may be difficult for some listeners.
Check Out All of Our Podcast Episodes
Season 7 Episode 5: AI in Child Protection: Can Technology Make Social Work Safer?
In this episode of Partnered with a Survivor, David and Ruth talk with Dr. LaSharia Turner and Dr. Helen Fischle from Alabama A&M University about what ethical, human-centered, AI-driven tech should look like in social work education and frontline practice.
As agencies face workforce shortages, austerity, high caseloads, and increasing complexity, technology is being introduced as a solution. But can AI actually support domestic violence–informed practice when child safety is on the line? Or does it risk automating bias, victim-blaming, erasing survivor context, and shifting responsibility away from systems and perpetrators as parents?