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Session 6 Supporting victims and survivors
6.1 Introduction
In this session, you will understand more about survivor-centred and trauma-informed approaches.
Learning outcomes
In this session, you will:
Explore what is meant by survivor-centred and trauma-informed approaches. |
Understand what being survivor-centred and trauma-informed means when responding to a disclosure. |
Explore how to embed these approaches across your organisation’s practice. |
Examine the benefits of engaging people with lived experience of abuse. |
Understand how to engage people with lived experience in a meaningful and safe way. |
Let’s begin.
6.2 Applying your learning: comment
Task 2
Develop your own safeguarding flow chart for responding to concerns in your organisation.
Comment
Having an agreed process for everyone to follow if they have a concern, and for you to follow if you receive one, is a really important step.
It helps raise awareness about what to do, and it helps ensure everyone follows a consistent process, so concerns don’t fall between the cracks, or don’t get acted upon.
Once you have agreed your flow chart, it is really important to share it widely, so that everyone knows what they are supposed to do if they have a concern, and what will happen next.
Next, you return to the course content by exploring the importance of being survivor-centred and trauma informed.
6.3 What is a victim or survivor-centred approach?
A
A useful starting point is to understand how people would like to refer to themselves.
Throughout this session we will use victim, survivor, and person with
Everyone is different and it is important to use the words that resonate for each individual.
 |
Non-recent abuse |
It is best to avoid using the term ‘historic abuse’ and instead use non-recent abuse. This is because, whilst the abuse itself may have occurred in the past, the effects of that abuse can be very present for the person involved. |
Let’s explore first how you should respond to a disclosure of abuse.
6.4 What is the appropriate response when someone discloses their abuse?
Being victim or survivor-centred, starts with how you respond to cases of abuse. Although it is rare that you will hear about abuse through a direct disclosure by the victim, it is important to understand the basic principles of responding to this type of situation.
Remember that it takes courage and trust for anyone to tell someone else about experiences that feel painful, humiliating, or frightening.
Often abusers will have convinced their victim that they are equally responsible for what happened or threatened them that they will not be believed, or they will be harmed if they do tell someone what happened.
This can all form part of the grooming process outlined in Course 2 Session 3.
Understanding this and making sure it informs your response to someone who has experienced abuse can have a hugely positive impact on their wellbeing – including how well they recover from their trauma.
Activity: Identify the appropriate responses to someone who discloses abuse
Imagine a child has approached you and described having been emotionally and physically abused by someone trusted within the sport. Remember it is important to approach every report with an open mind as each case will have different circumstances.
Read the eleven responses below. Decide for each one whether you think the response is appropriate in this situation. Think about why you answered this way.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is b.
b.
This could reinforce feelings of self-disgust or guilt and will likely result in the victim not disclosing further
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is a.
a.
It provides reassurance to the child and validates their disclosure.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is a.
a.
This is seeking permission and gives some control back to the individual – and it is important that you retain the key points.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is b.
b.
You will need to tell someone else. However, you can explain that the information will only be shared with people who will be able to help.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is a.
a.
This is an
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is b.
b.
This appears to be challenging and doubting the person’s account – and promoting the abuser as a good person.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is a.
a.
This is another positive message about taking action to help the individual.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is b.
b.
It is really important that victims are included and informed about the process, so they do not feel they have lost control of their own case.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is b.
b.
It is not acceptable to make someone repeat their disclosure – nor to introduce a colleague to record what is said. The victim has chosen you to disclose, so you should listen carefully and do your best to record as much as possible at the same time.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is a.
a.
This is an honest explanation of what you will do and why.
a.
Yes
b.
No
The correct answer is a.
a.
This helps victims keep a sense of control, and also helps them be prepared for what happens next.
Comment
A victim or survivor-centred approach means doing everything you can to reassure and support the person disclosing. This includes being honest about what you will be required to do (for example, pass the details on) for them to get the support they need.
You have learned how to be more victim or survivor-centred in your initial response. Next, you explore how to embed this approach across all your case management practice.
6.5 How can you embed this approach across case management?
What you say in an initial response is critical to reassuring someone they have done the right thing in coming forward with their disclosure – but it is not the only part of the system you need to focus on.
Activity: Why is embedding a victim or survivor-centred approach across case management important?
Study the table below and for each aspect, write down why you think it is important. You can reveal our thoughts at the end.
Aspect of a victim or survivor-centred approach | Learner reflections on why it is important |
|---|---|
Establishing and promoting safe and accessible reporting mechanisms. | |
Responding sensitively, quickly, and effectively to reported concerns. | |
Having staff who understand the impact of trauma and abuse on individuals. | |
Building in support to victims at all stages of the case management process. | |
Undertaking confidential and respectful investigations. | |
Keeping victims updated and informed on progress and outcome and next steps. | |
Valuing and seeking to learn from the experiences of victims. |
Comment
Aspect of a victim or survivor-centred approach | Our answers |
|---|---|
Establishing and promoting safe and accessible reporting mechanisms. | If mechanisms are safe and accessible, people are more likely to disclose their abuse. |
Responding sensitively, quickly, and effectively to reported concerns. | People who have experienced abuse should not be subject to delays, or a poor process. This can add to their trauma. |
Having staff who understand the impact of trauma and abuse on individuals. | Supporting victims of abuse requires specialist knowledge and insight to do it well. |
Building in support to victims at all stages of the case management process. | Trauma doesn’t end with disclosure – the process of reporting and investigation can be just as traumatic, and victims need proper support. |
Undertaking confidential and respectful investigations. | Keeping information confidential and only sharing on a need-to-know basis is really important to preserve privacy. |
Keeping victims updated and informed on progress and outcome and next steps. | Victims can feel like they are not being kept up to date, or they feel they are out of control of their case if they are not kept informed of progress. This can add to their trauma. |
Valuing and seeking to learn from the experiences of victims. | Those with lived experience are experts on their own experience and can help you shape a stronger system. |
Some parts of the case management system may need to be adjusted to be more victim and survivor-centred and to reduce the chances of
- Making sure that your processes do not require someone making a disclosure to repeat the details of their account to several other people.
- Providing safeguarding training and support for staff, to be able to receive a disclosure.
- Ensuring your disciplinary hearing process does not include the accused person being given the opportunity to question or cross-examine all witnesses – as this raises the possibility of a victim being re-traumatised, or effectively re-abused by their alleged abuser, during the procedure.
|
A victim-centred approach |
It is really important to do everything you can to place the experience and feelings of the victim at the heart of your processes. |
Next, you explore how to work alongside people with lived experience of abuse in improving your systems.
6.6 Why should you engage adults with lived experience of abuse?
People who have experienced abuse in sport are in a unique position to inform and improve safeguarding. Organisations must create opportunities for those with lived experience to have a voice and learn from them in making the sports environment safer.
Abuse often has an impact that lasts into adulthood, and some individuals want to use these experiences to help protect others. Many others choose not to, or are unable to. It is vital that care is shown in approaching, engaging, and supporting individuals or groups.
Most people with lived experience appreciate ‘control’, ‘respect’, and ‘feeling valued’. When engaging survivors of abuse in sport, they should feel believed, acknowledged, safe, and empowered.
Activity: Why engage those with lived experience?
Take a moment to think about the benefits of involving people with lived experience in your safeguarding. Think both about the potential benefits to them as individuals, as well as to your organisation.
Comment
Here’s what we came up with:
- Benefits for individuals: They often wish to be heard because they desire to create change – to know that their suffering matters enough to produce action. Helping others not suffer, can give meaning to what has been endured.
- Benefits for the organisation: Personal testimonies help convince others of the reality and impact of abuse and of the need to act. Those with lived experience may be best equipped to critically assess current safeguarding arrangements and your reporting mechanisms.
Engaging people with lived experience needs commitment. First, the person could be re-traumatised if you don’t put in place the right preparation or support arrangements. You also need to be sincere and not
|
Engagement |
Any engagement must be meaningful and have the scope to impact what your organisation says and does. |
"Whether the survivor’s experience will be healing, or re-traumatising, is dependent on what the organisation is truly willing to do with the message it receives." |
(Source: Rachael Denhollander, survivor of sexual abuse in USA Gymnastics) |
6.7 How can those with lived experience of abuse contribute to safeguarding?
There are a range of ways those with lived experience of abuse can contribute to improving an organisation’s safeguarding arrangements.
- Providing expert support to an organisation, including through roles on the Board.
- Allowing their experiences and what they have learned to be shared in training.
- Advising Safeguarding Leads or senior managers on specific policy or practice developments.
You can find more details on the Safeguarding Resources site. Navigate to the Content tab and then choose Additional Safeguarding Resources from the Course Partners tab. Then choose the CPSU and TAOS logos.
Now let’s consider appropriate approaches to engaging with those with lived experience of abuse.
6.8 How can you effectively engage with those with lived experience of abuse?
The framework below is drawn from research and describes an approach for the safe and effective engagement of those with lived experience of abuse.
Activity: Identify the core features of the four stages of engagement
Study the table below which shows three areas to consider – Logistics, Trauma-informed approach, and Trust – when planning each of the four stages of engagement – Pre-engagement, Invitation, Collaboration, and Follow-up.
We have completed some parts of the table already but there are five boxes with missing actions. The missing information is shown in the tiles below the table. Drag and drop the different actions into the relevant space in the table.
Adapted from: Mountjoy et al. (2022)
6.9 Guidance for engaging athletes with lived experience of abuse
The guidance that follows is drawn for the UK Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and was created with the help of Karen Leach, a former swimmer with lived experience of childhood abuse.
"I share my experience because I believe I have insights that are valuable to everyone involved in sport to help prevent what happened to me from happening again. It can be very difficult to revisit these experiences, but when the work is well planned and thought out by the organisation, it can result in really important and meaningful action being taken. However, it is important to understand that without a robust level of support from an organisation, the person with lived experience can feel abused all over again."
You may be able to identify other organisations like the CPSU that offer similar guidance in your region.
Exploring the CPSU’s five guidance themes
Awareness
Everyone’s experiences are different, so you must have some understanding of this before you begin your work:
- Show kindness, understanding, and empathy.
- Recognise that each person is an individual and will therefore have different needs.
- Listen to understand what is being communicated, rather than to respond.
- Appreciate that people will be at different stages in their experience and recovery – things like counselling and whether the person has shared their experience before, may influence the impact on them.
- Keep communication open and timely.
- Understand that an acknowledgement and an apology from the leadership of the sports organisation is often crucially important to people with lived experience.
- Acknowledge that it takes ongoing proactive action to create and maintain accountable organisations to reduce the risk of abuse.
Respect
Speaking up can be very difficult and the person’s wishes and boundaries should be respected:
- Consider payment for their expertise, ask what their fee is, and consider whether they will incur expenses.
- Create a contract to agree how the work will happen and how it will be used in the future.
- Consider providing the ability to approve quotes and remove content in the future, particularly if the person is likely to be sharing elements of their lived experience of sexual abuse.
- Agree how quotes will be used and where content will appear, such as social media, press releases, website, newsletters, posters, etc.
Planning
Before approaching a person with lived experience, consider what you want to achieve and try to set a measurable objective:
- Think about what the work could actually involve, such as commenting on a policy, participating in a conference, sharing an experience for education or training purposes.
- Involve the person with lived experience of abuse to decide how they want to be involved and to direct that involvement.
- Provide the person with lived experience of abuse with trauma-informed care and support.
- Allow plenty of time for each stage of the work and offer frequent breaks, especially if it involves the person sharing their experiences.
- Recognise that sharing experiences can have a dramatic impact on a person. Organisers should take care of all the practicalities, such as hotels, taxis, and meals, so the person can focus on what they need to do.
- Try to set out the key practical information, such as payment, expenses, terms, dates and potential timescales, in the first contact.
- The location of work or meetings should be agreed by the person with lived experience and should be neutral or a place where a safe space can be created.
- Discuss whether the proposal meets the aims of the person with lived experience.
Language
Individuals will use different terms to describe childhood sexual abuse, you should recognise that they are a personal choice and can evoke strong feelings.
- Try to use the person’s preferred term in printed information, such as biographies, agendas, captions, etc., as well as when speaking to them.
- To describe abuse that took place a period of time ago, try to provide context or use ‘childhood sexual abuse’. Sometimes it may be necessary to say ‘non-recent abuse’, but the term ‘historic abuse’ should be avoided (because it wrongly implies that the impact for the person has ended).
- When describing someone’s experience, consider the meanings they may associate with some of the words you use. For example, to the media, a ‘story’ is another word for an ‘article’, but the word ‘story’ is also associated with fictional storytelling and entertainment, which may offend the person sharing their real-life experience.
Ongoing care
The dialogue must continue following a piece of work. Plan to keep talking – remember that sharing experiences can have a big impact on a person and they may need support afterwards:
- Discuss how drafts, outcomes, or feedback of the work will be shared and acted on.
- Discuss potential future opportunities to work together and follow up on these ideas.
- Acknowledge and give credit to those sharing their experience. With their permission, put their name on the work they have done with you.
- Provide support for those working with people with lived experience who may find some of the information distressing to hear.
- Put a plan in place for those people to speak to someone who can support them during and after the work.
- Recognise the contribution that people with lived experience made during their time participating in the sport or club and ensure they are acknowledged alongside their peers.
In the final section, you will consider how everyone in sport has a role to play in acknowledging and reducing trauma.
6.10 What is a trauma-informed approach?
A trauma-informed approach is a central part of a victim or survivor-centred approach. It recognises the presence of trauma and acknowledges the role trauma may play in an individual’s life.
It emphasises understanding, respecting and appropriately responding to the effects of trauma at all levels. This is an approach everyone in your organisation should learn about – particularly those who have most contact with athletes – like your coaches.
Activity: Creating a trauma-informed approach to coaching sport
The Army of Survivors, a US-based organisation that raises awareness regarding the systemic problem of sexual abuse against athletes, have developed eight steps towards creating a more trauma-informed coaching environment. You may be able to identify other organisations like The Army of Survivors, which offer similar guidance in your region.
Use the drop-down menus for each of the eight steps to match them to the role they play in creating a trauma-informed environment.
Comment
Whilst some staff may take on specialist roles, such as counselling, everyone in your organisation has a role to play in creating an environment that doesn’t retraumatise those who have experienced abuse.
You can start by helping colleagues understand trauma and its impact on people better, as part of safeguarding training and awareness.
6.11 Summary of Session 6
|
| The main learning and messages from this session are: |
|
When you are ready, move on to Session 7 Bringing it all together: safeguarding at events, where you discover more about some of the main principles you can follow in responding to concerns.