Trauma-informed support and women who sell or exchange sex
As part of the 16 Days of Action against Gender-Based Violence, we offered a webinar exploring what services need to be aware of when supporting women involved in selling or exchanging sex in a trauma-informed way. The high prevalence of trauma in this population evidences the need for support responses that are compassionate, strengths-based and person-centred.
The session started off with an overview of what women have highlighted is needed when accessing services. For this, we looked at the recent report commissioned by the Scottish Government which explores the lived experience of people who sell or exchange sex when interacting with services. We showed how what women need from services is related to the five key principles of trauma-informed practice: safety, choice, trust, collaboration and empowerment.
We then invited to speakers who have experience working with women involved in the ‘sex industry’ and they explained how they apply trauma-informed practice when supporting them:
For the participation aspect of this event, we invited attendees to consider how they apply each of the five trauma-informed practice principles in their service and to reflect on actions they will take to improve their responses to women involved in selling or exchanging sex after the event.
If you wish to see the recording for this trauma-informed support event, please get in touch. You can find a list of our upcoming events here, and if you subscribe to our bulletin you will get notified once registrations open.
The session started off with an overview of what women have highlighted is needed when accessing services. For this, we looked at the recent report commissioned by the Scottish Government which explores the lived experience of people who sell or exchange sex when interacting with services. We showed how what women need from services is related to the five key principles of trauma-informed practice: safety, choice, trust, collaboration and empowerment.
We then invited to speakers who have experience working with women involved in the ‘sex industry’ and they explained how they apply trauma-informed practice when supporting them:
- Nikki McNeill and Kate Barrett, who are the Women's Support Worker and Training Manager at Beyond the Streets, presented a case study looking at the multiple vulnerabilities that some of the women they support can face. Nikki talked us through a case of a woman who got unhelpful responses from services and how she supported her to address issues not just around self-worth but access to medical appointments, counselling and housing. To close the input, she highlighted why ‘disengaging’ from a service should be reframed as a positive outcome as it shows women feel able to move forward without support.
- Angela Voulgari, the Lead Officer of the Edinburgh Equally Safe Committee, offered a deep-dive into the trauma-informed principle of trust. Using her experience as a trained counsellor, she guided us through a reflection of what trust means and what it looks like to each of us. She then invited us to apply those reflections to our work with women who, because of trauma, might struggle to trust services. Angela provided steps on how to build trust and explained its importance in the context of supporting women who sell or exchange sex.
For the participation aspect of this event, we invited attendees to consider how they apply each of the five trauma-informed practice principles in their service and to reflect on actions they will take to improve their responses to women involved in selling or exchanging sex after the event.
If you wish to see the recording for this trauma-informed support event, please get in touch. You can find a list of our upcoming events here, and if you subscribe to our bulletin you will get notified once registrations open.
