The women that Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland works with say that what they find most helpful is understanding, acceptance, support and someone to listen to them in a non-judgmental environment. Many workers tell us that they want to provide this but often feel out of their depth or concerned that they may say the wrong thing when receiving a disclosure about sexual abuse.

This workshop aims to increase supporters’ confidence, awareness, knowledge and skills relating to sexual violence and to explore the issues that may affect workers when receiving disclosures.

Learning Outcomes:

• Explore definitions of and our own reactions to childhood sexual abuse

• Develop an understanding of the long and short-term effects of childhood sexual abuse

• Explore society’s attitudes to childhood sexual abuse and the impact they have on survivors

• Look at ways of supporting survivors of childhood sexual abuse

• Develop confidence and skills when dealing with disclosures

• Consider practice issues and the importance of self-care when working with childhood sexual abuse