Perspectives on responses to sexual assault

Facilitator: Participant 1, how do you think your parents would respond to the policy? Participant 1: They wouldn’t listen. They would tell me, “Call the police! Call the embassy!” They will tell me, “Call all…

I know, like, when you think about sexual assault, you are like “Oh my gosh, we have to go and report this now.” I am being their friend first and then figuring out which steps,…

Facilitator: What are some things we would ask ourselves when making suggestions [to a friend who has been sexually assaulted]? What would we need to think about before giving advice? Participant 1: Did you give…

I think patience is important because, as we all stated before, people might not want to report immediately – the same way they might not want to talk about the experience they have had immediately.…

Participant 1: Yeah, don’t wash afterwards. Participant 2: Yeah, ’cause the DNA is still on you. Participant 3: Like, if something happened to your friend, you should ask if they showered. […] Participant 1: If…

I would say it would be beneficial if they were trained; so, they took training in how to deal with that particular situation. This way, they would be more understanding and more open to what…

[When supporting a survivor], I would say try to be less formal – be informal! Like, act as if you care and are not just asking me because you have to […]. And don’t come…

Just being able to say, “okay, it doesn’t matter – your race doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter where you are from, these things can happen.” I think people should understand that it can be easier…

Facilitator: Do you think that you would visit a counsellor’s office to ask for help if something like this happened? Participant 1: Here? Facilitator: Yeah. Participant 1: I’ve never been there, but honestly, no. Participant…

The relationship dynamics within the Caribbean, like, every relationship, is different but a lot of behaviours are normalized in our culture that would be seen as, I don’t wanna say abuse, like, basically, a lot…