Felicity Guest
Felicity Guest is an award-winning social justice advocate, speaker, survivor advocate, and Internationally Accredited Financial Abuse Specialist dedicated to creating safer families, safer workplaces, and a more just society.
Drawing on more than a decade of frontline advocacy, Felicity has helped thousands of parents navigate South Africa's family court system, particularly in matters involving child maintenance, protection orders, domestic violence, and post-separation abuse. Her practical, trauma-informed approach empowers people with the knowledge and confidence to navigate complex legal processes.
Recognising that abuse does not stop at the workplace door, Felicity also partners with organisations to build safer, more respectful workplaces. Through keynote presentations, workshops, and training programmes, she helps leaders understand the impact of gender-based violence, coercive control, and economic abuse on employees and organisational culture, while equipping them with practical strategies to respond effectively.
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Beyond her work with individuals and organisations, Felicity is a passionate advocate for systemic change. She contributes to national and international conversations on child maintenance, economic abuse, and gender-based violence, championing policy and legislative reform that promotes economic justice, gender equality, and better outcomes for women, children, and vulnerable families.
Her mission is simple: empower people, strengthen organisations, and inspire lasting social change.
Felicity’s Advocacy Journey
My advocacy journey began in 2010 when I entered South Africa's family court system following the breakdown of my marriage. What I expected to be a legal process became a life-changing lesson in how easily vulnerable families can be failed by the very systems designed to protect them.
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As I navigated divorce, child maintenance, domestic violence, and the family courts, I witnessed first-hand the barriers that thousands of parents face every day. I saw how delayed justice, systemic failures, and economic abuse leave women and children trapped in cycles of financial hardship and vulnerability.
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In 2011, after a fraudulent divorce order was dismissed as "a civil matter," I took my concerns directly to the Deputy Judge President of the Pretoria High Court. That experience strengthened my resolve to become a voice for those who struggle to access justice.
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In 2014, I founded Child Maintenance Difficulties South Africa (CMDSA), which has grown into one of the country's largest peer-to-peer support communities for parents navigating the maintenance system. Through this work, I recognised a common thread running through thousands of stories: economic abuse. Regardless of race, culture, religion, or income, the patterns were strikingly similar.
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Over the years, my work expanded beyond helping individual parents. I began contributing to policy discussions, advocating for legislative reform, and raising awareness of economic abuse as a hidden but powerful driver of gender inequality, poverty, and gender-based violence.
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In 2021, I joined the International Coalition Against Economic Abuse, collaborating with experts from around the world to advance understanding of economic abuse and strengthen responses for survivors.
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In 2022, I delivered my first workplace training programme. That experience highlighted an important reality: abuse does not stay at home. Employees carry the effects of domestic violence, coercive control, and economic abuse into the workplace every day, affecting their wellbeing, performance, and safety.
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Today, my work bridges two interconnected worlds. I continue supporting parents navigating the family justice system while helping organisations build safer, more informed workplaces through trauma-informed training, keynote speaking, and practical guidance.
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Whether I am coaching a parent, speaking at a conference, training workplace leaders, or advocating for policy reform, my mission remains the same: to empower people, prevent harm, and create lasting social change.
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Felicity's work has one clear mission:
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