What Problem Did the Project Aim to Address?

Final Report – March 2004

Daphne project: 2002-248

Daphne Project

Association Parole d’Enfants

Fil d’Ariane (Ariadne’s Thread) (02/248/W)

Final Report

March 2004

1. Aims of the project

·  What problem did the project aim to address?

Our project related primarily to the business of dealing with sexual trauma, and more specifically, to the types of aid provided to:

1)  mothers of sexually abused children, and/or:

2)  women victims of sexual abuse.

(1) Mothers of children abused sexually within the family are also the victims – the secondary victims – of these situations. Most suffer from a lack of self-esteem, a poor self-image and a weakened awareness of their body. They progressively see their protective capacity numbed by the strategies adopted by their husbands to abuse the children. In addition, they suffer when the abuse is revealed, from a crisis situation: symptoms of post-traumatic stress, questioning of their identity as a mother, wife and woman, lack of support from friends and family, ambivalent feelings, unstable socio-economic situation, and so on. The need to come to terms with their own distress can therefore make it difficult to provide the emotional assistance their children need in order to put themselves back together. The protective energy of mothers of abused children therefore needs to be preserved, applied and developed in abuse situations.

2) Many women who suffered sexual abuse during childhood are still under the shadow of the trauma linked with that abuse. When they become adults, these victims show many different symptoms (difficulty in emotional, social and family relationships), plus indicators of abuse suffered, not often acknowledged in the past and rarely worked on.

In addition, many mothers of children who are the victims of abuse are themselves former victims. Therefore, because of their specific weakness in this area, they are more at risk from non-protection in relation to their children.

·  Beneficiaries of the project

A) Although in the context of this project we are not developing activities that directly involve women, mothers of children abused sexually within the family and/or have been victims of sexual abuse in the past are the main group to benefit from our project through the identification and analysis of care methods to help rebuild their lives as effectively as possible, and through the compilation of recommendations for professional people on how to help them.

B) Indirectly, the sexually abused children will also benefit, through the non-ambivalent position adopted by their mothers.

C) The recommendations made for supporting women will also deal with a prevention objective for other children and future generations.

·  Expected result

To study Belgian and French practices applied when dealing with adult women victims of sexual abuse and with mothers of sexually abused children. To identify and circulate information on these good practices. To establish recommendations for services providing help for victims of sexual trauma. To develop a European network between professionals confronted with and/or specialising in this type of care.

·  Conditions or recommendations formulated by the Commission?

The recommendations formulated by the Commission are aimed primarily at reviewing the scale of the project in order for it to be realised over a period of 12 months. Therefore, as requested, the good practice identification phase has been limited to Belgium and France and we have excluded other countries, such as Great Britain. The inventory compiled concerns these two countries only.

We have not developed any activities that directly involve women (care units or other establishments), but have instead concentrated on identifying and analysing current good practices and on the deployment of a network of professionals.

2. Implementation of the project

·  Planned activities implemented

1.  Compilation of an inventory of the various French and Belgian experiences in the treatment of sexual and other traumas.

1.1. In-depth analysis of the various teams, whether or not officially specialising, involved in dealing with the impact of sexual trauma.

1.1.1.  In order to prepare this inventory, we initially carried out research (via the Internet or in various existing inventories or guides) into the various Belgian and French services specialising in the treatment of trauma. The aim of this research was to find out about the various methods of aid and intervention in existence in these countries on one hand, and on the other hand to identify more specifically the existing aid network, whether or not officially identified as services working for the benefit of sufferers and/or mothers.

1.1.2.  On the basis of the research carried out into the areas of involvement identified in the first phase, and of our prior knowledge of the problem of sexual abuse, we compiled a questionnaire relating to practices in Belgium and France and aimed at specifying the existing services and areas of priority involvement in dealing with women victims and/or mothers of victims of sexual abuse. Almost 150 services in Belgium were contacted by telephone to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was also sent by e-mail to the French services identified.

1.1.3.  Organisation of exchange days between Belgian professionals involved in the problem of sexual abuse suffered by women and children in order to deepen and exchange knowledge around the good practices identified in dealing with women victims of sexual abuse and/or with mothers of victims of sexual abuse. The deployment of a network of professionals, generalists or specialists involved in dealing with sexual trauma.

1.1.4.  Preparing and organising, in partnership with the International Association of Victims of Incest, of a support group for adult victims, aimed at establishing from the point of view of the victims themselves what was or is most useful in helping them rebuild their lives both as women and as mothers.

1.2. Synthesis work on the various European experiences

The collection of data from the Belgian and French questionnaires, and the encoding and analysis of those data, led to:

1.2.1.  Validation of the initial hypothesis on the wide range of difficulties encountered by women, the different types of aid on offer and the involvement of generalist or specialist services, whether or not officially identified as being involved in this targeted sector of the public.

1.2.2.  Identification of psychological and social paths followed by women and/or mothers of victims.

1.2.3.  Identification of means of involvement developed and used by those working in the field.

1.2.4.  The compilation and dissemination of an inventory of professionals offering aid to women victims of sexual abuse and/or mothers of sexually abused children.

2. Establishment of recommendations integrating the various effective European practices

2.1  Following the exchange days with the professionals, practices that are effective and respond to the social, psychological, medical and other difficulties endured by women were updated and compiled as recommendations for the various professionals. These considerations were transcribed and sent to the professionals who participated in the working days, as well as to a number of other people involved in providing the care. They were also published on our Internet site so that they could be shared with as many as possible of the field workers who have to meet with these women.

2.2  Organising and participating in a support group put together in partnership with the International Association of Victims of Incest allowed the beneficiaries to be brought together in this reflection in elements essential for their development. In addition, the transcription of the exchanges will be used in future by our partners in the context of our activities, to allow increased awareness and information for front-line professionals and the non-professional public on the impact of sexual trauma on victims and on elements useful for helping women victims to rebuild their lives.

3. Circulating information at European level and improving work between professionals

3.1  Compilation of a report on the exchange days with the professionals and dissemination of the report on exchanges to the professionals present during the exchanges and to other professionals concerned.

3.2  Following the analysis of the Belgian and French questionnaires, we have set up an inventory of the various places offering aid to women victims of abuse and/or mothers of victims in Belgian and French territory. The inventory is available on our web site: www.parole.be.

The aim of the inventory is to favour decompartmentalisation between the various types of aid offered to women and/or mothers, offer clear and visible information to the various professionals, favour work in a network and reduce their sense of isolation, and make the information on the various aid structures accessible and available to the women themselves.

An update of this inventory is planned for the next few months in order to make it as comprehensive as possible and make a tool of information and visibility that is useful both to professionals and to those benefiting directly from the aid. This update will be made in the same logic of exchange and discussion between professionals as that in which the inventory was compiled.

3.3. The good practices identified in the context of the exchanges between professionals are the subject of a synthesis and a presentation made through our association’s web site.

3.4. Organisation of a training seminar in Paris, called “Restoring hope and joy of living after a trauma”, with Mrs Yvonne Dolan, a psychotherapist from the United States specialising in the care of women victims of sexual abuse. This training, aimed at professionals, provided a chance to enrich and develop knowledge of this problem, to exchange between French, Belgian and Swiss professionals working in our fields, and to create or strengthen links between professionals in these countries.

Participation in the seminar by 88 field workers from varying sectors.

3.5.  Organisation, in the context of an international colloquium in Paris, of a practical workshop led by Mrs Dolan on “the use of writing therapy with victims of sexual trauma”.

Participation in this workshop by 196 European social workers.

3.6.  Dissemination, at the end of the seminar and workshop, of a report and practical tools aimed at increasing awareness, amongst social workers other than those who participated in the seminar and workshop, of the good practices presented and developed in the context of these activities.

3.7. Organisation of exchange days with our national partners (see partnership).

4.  Ongoing evaluation of the project

Weekly meetings for those working with “Parole d’Enfants” and specifically involved in the project have been organised, in order to make the planning of activities and the exchange of thoughts, observations and so on, easier.

The meetings with the accompaniment committee have allowed us to benefit from the feedback and experience of other professionals, which will support us as we put the “Fil d’Ariane” project into practice.

Finally, we have benefited from two days of work by an outside evaluator, who essentially fulfilled the function of regulating the process being followed: identification of our own needs as professionals working in the field, identification of our expectations as project promoter, and analysis and synthesis of the elements obtained during the various exchanges between professionals.

·  Planned activities not implemented

§  Contrary to our expectations, during the good practice prospecting and identification phase, we did not make any direct observations of our foreign partners. The observation of leaders of support groups, planned in the context of the partnership with IAVA (France) was eventually held in Namur, Belgium, as that satisfied a request that our partner encountered for the possibility of organising such meetings for numbers of Belgian sufferers. This is the first time that the International Association for Victims of Incest has organised such meetings in Belgium.

§  In addition, the lack of response from the various contacts addressed in the Arémédia association of Paris meant that we had no specific exchanges with that partner. Only the use of the results in their research, made available on their web site, helped sustain that partnership.

·  Unforeseen activities implemented

§  In order to increase the number of professionals benefiting from contributions to this project, we included in the activities of our association a number of areas developed in the context of the Fil d’Ariane project. Therefore, during a colloquium on the theme of teenagers, organised by Parole d’Enfants in December 2003, we included a workshop lead by Yvonne Dolan on “the use of writing therapy to help victims of sexual abuse”. This workshop was attended by 196 Belgian, French and Swiss professionals.

§  Journées d’accord Partnership: In the context of our association’s training activities, we have in recent years met with a number of teams working in the field in the deployment of resources for people confronted with difficult situations. In the context of this project, we have benefited from an additional partnership, not initially foreseen, with the French association known as “Journées d’accord”. This partnership has found expression primarily in the context of the training seminar organised in Paris. A representative of “Journées d’accord” provided some aid in simultaneous translation for the trainer. At the end of the seminar, this partnership was also given the job of translating into English the documents (questionnaires, clinical illustrations etc) provided by the trainer. These documents were then passed on to all the participants.

§  The Fil d’Ariane team was able to participate in several different training activities not initially planned and organised by professionals met in the context of Fil d’Ariane’s activities (“Violence in Marriage”, “Systemic Intervention and Social Work”, “The Corporate Approach in Emotional Trauma”, etc). As well as deepening both theoretical and practical knowledge, participation in this training has allowed exchange with other people in the field who share our concerns.

·  Revision of the timetable

Overall, the timetable of planned activities was respected.

The period from January to August 2003 was thus dedicated to the first phase of the project. We set about compiling an inventory of French and Belgian experiences in the types of care offered to women who have suffered sexual abuse and/or to mothers of children who are victims.

From January to March 2003, we concentrated on identifying the services concerned and creating the questionnaire intended for professionals likely to meet with women victims of sexual abuse and/or mothers of victims of sexual abuse.