This interactive session equips attendees to provide supportive, appropriate responses to disclosures of sexual violence. Participants will develop an understanding of the prevalence and impacts of sexual violence, learn to recognise and challenge unconscious biases, and build practical skills and considerations for the management of risk.   

This training focuses on communication skills and trauma-informed, survivor-centred responses drawing on the World Health Organisation’s LIVES Framework for responding to survivors of sexual violence.   

Learning outcomes 

Following completion of the training participants will 

• Identify behaviours that constitute sexual violence and describe the social factors that contribute to them.  

• Describe the prevalence rates of sexual violence among diverse and intersecting identities. 

• Describe the short and long-term impacts of sexual violence and trauma on individuals, families, and communities.  

• Identify and explain common barriers including myths, biases and structural factors that prevent victim-survivors from disclosing, reporting, or seeking support.  

• Apply a trauma-informed response framework and demonstrate supportive responses to disclosures, grounded in the principles of safety, choice, trust, and empowerment.  

• Identify local referral pathways and support services for victim-survivors and their supporters. 

Who this training is for 

This training is designed for professionals and community members who may receive disclosures of sexual violence, including: 

• Managers, supervisors, organisational leaders and those preparing for such roles. 

• Educators and staff working in schools, tertiary settings and training organisations 

• Staff and volunteers in community organisations including sporting coaches and club leaders  

• Social workers, lawyers, legal advisors and allied professionals 
• Anyone in a position of trust who wants to respond to disclosures in a safe, respectful, and trauma‑informed way