GOOD PRACTICE in ADDRESSING SEXUALISED VIOLENCE: Guidelines Document GOOD PRACTICE in ADDRESSING SEXUALISED VIOLENCE Guidelines Document
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WWP EN GOOD PRACTICE IN ADDRESSING SEXUALISED VIOLENCE: Guidelines Document GOOD PRACTICE IN ADDRESSING SEXUALISED VIOLENCE Guidelines Document Authors: Kate Iwi, Nathan Eisenstadt Year of publication: 2020 Editors: Alessandra Pauncz, Sandra Jovanović Belotić, Anna McKenzie With financial support from the “Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020” of the European Union This publication has been produced with the financial support of the “Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020” of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission. CONTENT GOOD PRACTICE IN ADDRESSING SEXUALISED VIOLENCE: GUIDELINES DOCUMENT ......................................... 2 IMPACTS ON PRACTITIONERS .......................................................................................................................... 2 STANCE .................................................................................................................................................................... 3 NORMS, EXPECTATIONS AND BELIEFS .............................................................................................................................. 7 EXERCISES FOR WORKER PREPARATION AND ONGOING WELLBEING ............................................................... 9 SCRUTINISE YOUR BELIEFS AND EXPECTATIONS .................................................................................................................. 9 INVENTORY OF ‘SHOULDS’ .......................................................................................................................................... 10 LEARNING ABOUT SEX ................................................................................................................................................ 10 KNOW YOUR PAINFUL POINTS ..................................................................................................................................... 10 CO-WORKER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 12 SUPPORT AND SUPERVISION ........................................................................................................................................ 14 MATERIALS FOR WORKING WITH CLIENTS ON SEXUAL RESPECT .................................................................... 15 SEXUAL RESPECT (1) – LEARNING ABOUT SEX ................................................................................................ 15 TRAJECTORY OF THE MODULE ...................................................................................................................................... 15 HEALTHY SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS ................................................................................................................................. 16 LEARNING ABOUT SEX ................................................................................................................................................ 16 WHAT DOES PORN TEACH US, HOW DOES IT CHANGE US? ................................................................................................. 17 THE MASCULINITY BOX AND SEX ................................................................................................................................... 18 TONY PORTER ‘A CALL TO MEN” .................................................................................................................................. 19 SEXUAL RESPECT (2) – SEXUAL PRESSURING .................................................................................................. 20 TRAJECTORY OF THE SESSION....................................................................................................................................... 20 SEXUAL ABUSE SCENARIO: CONSENT AND RECEPTIVITY ..................................................................................................... 21 HANDOUT - SEXUAL ABUSE SCENARIO .......................................................................................................... 23 SEXUAL PRESSURING ................................................................................................................................................. 24 TEA AND CONSENT .................................................................................................................................................... 26 CONSENT WITHIN A SCARY RELATIONSHIP ...................................................................................................................... 26 SEXUAL RESPECT (3) – BUILDING INTIMACY ................................................................................................... 27 INGREDIENTS OF A HEALTHY SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP REVISITED ............................................................................................ 27 TALKING ABOUT SEX WITH YOUR PARTNER ..................................................................................................................... 29 SEX IN LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS .............................................................................................................................. 30 ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO INTIMACY .............................................................................................................................. 31 EXTRAS ......................................................................................................................................................... 32 BDSM – BONDAGE AND DISCIPLINE, DOMINANCE AND SUBMISSION, SADISM AND MASOCHISM .............................................. 32 SHARING INDECENT IMAGES ........................................................................................................................................ 33 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................. 36 WWP EN | Addressing sexualised violence Good practice in addressing sexualised violence: Guidelines document Perpetrator work is now well established across many parts of Europe. However, addressing sexualised violence in perpetrator programmes remains one of the areas in which professionals need support and guidance to do high quality work. In this document, we present good practice in addressing sexualised violence. Some programmes are structured in detail – entering the group setting with a clear session plan, while others apply more client-responsive approach with less pre-planned exercises. These good practice guidelines are relevant for either approach and focus on providing directions and recommendations for high quality work that practitioners can adjust and apply to their programme’s specific situations. Experience has shown that the good practice in addressing sexualised violence needs to include understanding the impact of the work on practitioners, as well as their self-reflection on the topic. In line with that, the document offers guidance for practitioners on how to prepare for the work, alongside with the guidance and materials for addressing the topic with perpetrators. Impacts on practitioners In many, if not most cultures, talking about sex is a taboo subject. It is therefore likely that you have felt uncomfortable or anxious when it comes to addressing the topic of sexual abuse in group work with men. On top of this reluctance to talking about sex is the knowledge and perhaps experience that hearing about sexual abuse – whether from perpetrators or victims can be uncomfortable, painful, and even traumatic. In less structured group settings, our aversion to this discomfort can lead us to talk euphemistically or avoid the subject altogether, while in more structured groups it can lead to an over-reliance on structure, such that we minimise hearing about our client’s stories and issues. It is common for practitioners to be negatively affected by this work, and especially by the topic of sexual abuse. For decades now, researchers have looked into the vicarious or secondary trauma suffered by practitioners working with domestic violence/abuse and sexual abuse perpetrators. Impacts include depression and emotional fatigue, as well as cognitive intrusion and avoidance. You may experience the impacts of the work differently depending on your own gender, upbringing and experiences. Research indicates that women practitioners are more likely to feel threatened by their clients (79% as opposed to 21% of male practitioners), and to find themselves avoiding sexual contact in their own lives because of their encounters with sex offenders. On the other hand, a higher rate of male practitioners seem to defend from the impacts by avoiding difficult issues with their clients as well as becoming more cynical in attitudes to human nature and feeling 2 WWP EN | Addressing sexualised violence uncomfortable about their masculinity (DeCarvalho Petry, 2005; Ellerby, 1998; Farrenkopf, 1992). Despite a lack of research on the impacts of this work on LGBTQI+ practitioners, individuals report extensive additional complications – including whether to be ‘out’ with their clients, who tend to be more homophobic/traditional in their attitudes around gender than the population as a whole. Watch the video session on “Impacts on practitioners” here: https://youtu.be/BueaomwLiFc Stance When you raise the issue of sexual abuse with a client, you bring into play