Sexual and Domestic Violence

FULL PROGRAMME

Erene Hadjiioannou
In this presentation, Erene will explore the context of providing of psychotherapy to people who have experienced sexual violence. The process of accessing specialist support is rarely linear, as is the progression of psychotherapeutic work. This is due to a combination of post-trauma symptoms, continued risk of harm from perpetrators, re-traumatising recall in the criminal justice system, and societal oppressions such as racism and misogyny. Compounding these difficulties are intrusions into the confidentiality of the therapeutic space, such as legal requests for therapy notes when working pre-trial.

Psychotherapy with survivors does not take place in a social vacuum as every time a session ends all parties re-enter a shared world where oppression, violence, and trauma exist. In this presentation, we consider the realities of offering clients a space to speak freely via psychotherapy, knowing that the above factors may threaten silence and restriction at times.

Erene will share her extensive experience and working knowledge of the criminal justice system to help psychotherapists and survivors to remain pragmatically empowered in collaborative work. The discussion will consider where to set the therapeutic frame when this may require flexibility, what information may be most useful to the client, and how to stay present to the client’s deepest emotions while traversing these practicalities.

Q&A

Rose Lewis
A Long Walk to Healing
Black women have a raw deal accessing and using therapeutic services and how therapy has typically been offered by professionals who omit cultural competency and the intersectionality framework that is essential to the well-being of Black women. The reality of being a Black female survivor of domestic violence will be discussed via Rose’s work at Sistah Space. Through the voices of survivors, revealing the huge difficulties experienced in accessing mainstream support or finding justice via criminal prosecution.

Sistah Space’s work in campaigning to implement Valerie’s Law is the breakthrough that can help save Black women’s lives. This advocates for mandatory Cultural Competency training in front line services that accounts for the cultural nuances and barriers, colloquialisms, languages and customs that make up the diverse black community. This will enable providers to effectively protect Black women in abusive situations, rather than continuing to maintain their marginalised status.

Q&A discussion

Louisa Rodriguez reads her poetry

Tayba Azim
Integrating English Family Law and Shariah Law within Therapy
Women of faith bring the difficulties of their relationships with their families and partners into psychotherapy raising issues of conflicts of culture, identity and religion. There is greater emphasis given to culture which brings honour, shame and guilt into play and less emphasis on the rights of women provided in Islam, often leaving a woman feeling helpless and disempowered. Additionally, most women are unaware of their rights in Islam due to Quranic verses being taken out of context to fit the patriarchal and cultural narrative.

This presentation will look at supporting Muslim and South Asian survivors of sexual and domestic abuse from a faith-based perspective, integrating Shariah Law (in particular the rights of women in Islam) in the therapeutic space. We will look at how this work intersects with the family law system and the role of the psychotherapist in this context.

Q&A discussion

Stephen Littlewood
The Duty to Disclose: What This Means for Professionals Supporting Victims of Crime
There is a great deal of myth, misunderstanding and hyperbole surrounding the Criminal Court process that extends not only to the victims of crime and witnesses but also to the professionals that are there to help them and the public at large. Equally the police, CPS and wider legal profession have a limited understanding, and sometimes outright mistrust of what therapeutic work and other forms of treatment actually involve.

In this presentation we’ll examine certain questions: what does the court process involve from start to finish? What does the ‘disclosure’ process entail? How and when can the police obtain confidential notes, and how could those notes be used? How can therapists and medical practitioners ensure those notes are not misused in court? Finally, how can these various professions better work together?

Chaired discussion with Erene, Rose, Tayba and Stephen
We will consider how therapeutic and legal systems could better collaborate to support all kinds of survivors; how we can step into our communities to invite people into getting support from the mental health and legal systems; the meaning of justice for survivors in different communities.

Q&A audience and panel