Truth That Hurts......
When survivors of childhood abuse and other victimizations
seek assistance from victim service providers and community
institutions, they often have a complex array of needs. Some
need mental health and substance abuse treatment; others
require help with complicated legal matters. Still others want
employment or vocational assistance or advocacy for disability
benefits. Responding comprehensively to this range of needs
challenges service providers to think in new ways
about staff training and supervision, community
collaborations, and cross-systems service designs.
Without this more complex and innovative thinking,
victims may not receive the help that they need.
Every day, every night, victim advocates talk with
survivors of sexual violence who have
experienced more than one type of violent
victimization and whose needs are complex.
Many sexual assault service providers reported that
more than half of their clients were
incest survivors, and clients with childhood abuse and
multiple victimizations faced
difficult issues which made providing
adequate assistance to them more challenging.
Because they seem to need more or different
services
services
than sexual assault survivors having a single victimization,
these conversations raise difficult questions for advocates:
How will I need to respond differently to these survivors?
· Does my agency offer what these survivors
are asking for and what they need?
What is the role of my agency in serving these survivors?
Where else can these survivors turn for assistance?
What can I do when there is no help available?
· What is my role regarding assisting
and advocating for these individuals?
What is beyond my capacity?
How will I cope with the experience
of working with these
survivors and the exposure to
this type of victimization?
c/o Toni L.Vossen 2010
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