Perspectives on responses to sexual assault

Participant 1: Some people would still be hesitant to opening up to someone from their country, just in case they feel like they would judge them more, especially in the Middle East. Participant 2: I…

I believe that they [a person supporting a survivor] should definitely just have empathy first and foremost. But I also believe they should be able to be really understanding. I don’t know if the word…

I feel like many people [trying to support a survivor] would just jump to their own experiences thinking that would help the other one. But I feel like sometimes, that’s not needed because it should…

Just to make it clear, when I say “biased,” I’m talking about gender-biased. So […] not to judge the other person from their gender, because some of us have some experiences, and we can actually…

I think being educated about it is important for people that can protect you, like psychologists and more, because they’re educated and they know the fears and they know how to reassure you. Because a…

If it’s someone you care about, someone you know, you should approach them the same way: from the heart. You should just care about them and try to be there for them, because that’s all…

Protecting anonymity and privacy is very important. Keeping privacy protects the victim from the emotional pressure that he/she could experience.

I think that the best quality that a friend could have is to listen to what the person [who has experienced sexual assault] has to say. I think listening is a big part of it,…

I believe that you have to have compassion in a situation like this, where it’s not about enforcement of what you think is right, or what you think should be done. It’s just understanding the…

Another quality I would say would be reliability. It could help if you went through a struggle of your own. It may not be the exact struggle – you don’t have to be abused yourself;…