6.3 What is a victim or survivor-centred approach?

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A young female athlete is running the relay and holding a baton. Around the athlete are five arrows all pointing inwards towards her, making her the centre of attention.

A victim or survivor-centred approach puts the interests of those who have experienced abuse at the centre of the way an organisation responds to and manages safeguarding cases.

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 lived experience of abuse. We tend to use victim more often for children – but not always.

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.