TRAINING EVENT
Understanding and managing women who cause sexual harm to
others
Dates:
Event 1, 2nd and 22nd March 2011 10-4pm (registration from 9.30am), Exeter
Event 2, 3rd and 24th March 2011 10-4pm (registration from 9.30am), Bristol
Location:
Exeter and Bristol
Cost:
Free to VCS organisations working with women who have contact with the
criminal justice system
Places:
15 places available for each event (30 in total)
Introduction
This course, funded by a grant from NOMS South West in partnership with CLINKS, is
designed to help workers and managers in voluntary and community sector organisations
offering services for women within the criminal justice system to increase their knowledge
and awareness of women who cause sexual harm to others. The course will present factual
information from empirical research as well as insights gained through the clinical
experience of LFF staff working across a range of settings. It will facilitate attendees to
consider techniques and strategies which will increase their confidence in approaching
situations where sexually harmful behaviour by women may have occurred. The course will
also encourage reflection on the implications of working with issues of female sexual abuse
within voluntary and community sector organisations and changes that may need to be
made to ensure gender responsive is embedded into service provision for this client group.
Course Objective
To assist participants to approach providing services for women who cause sexual harm to
others with increased confidence and knowledge.
Course Aims:
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To increase awareness of the challenges women who cause sexual harm to others
present to commonly held perceptions of women and professional judgements.
To highlight the impact on victims of sexually harmful behaviour by females.
To increase the confidence of attendees from VCS organisations in approaching
situations where sexually harmful behaviour by women may have occurred
To assist participants to consider how voluntary and community sector organisations
might provide services to women who cause sexual harm to others which include
safe and effective management of risk.
To highlight the dynamics of managing women who cause sexual harm to others
within voluntary and community sector organisations
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Programme
The programme will be informed by key principles contained in the Corston (2007) and
Fawcett Society reports (2007) in relation to the needs of female offenders. It will also reflect
key recommendations made by a national review of responses of the Criminal Justice and
Child Protection systems to female sexual offending (2005).
Day One
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Challenges women who cause sexual harm to others present to commonly held
perceptions of female behaviour
Prevalence of female sexual harm
Implications for victims of abuse by females
Gender responsiveness- what does it mean for women who cause sexual harm to
others?
Women who cause sexual harm to others in the context of women with complex
needs
Abuse patterns and thinking associated with female sexual harm and risks to self and
others
Issues for individual attendees to consider and discuss with their organisation in
preparation for day two
Day Two
This session will be informed by feedback from discussion within the voluntary and
community sector organisations attending and wider group discussion
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Feedback from discussion within agencies and group discussion
Safeguarding children-everyone’s responsibility
Risk assessment - walking the risk/need continuum
Working together- what information do we need to hear/share with others?
Boundary setting and establishing shared goals – what does this mean for our
agency?
Positive therapeutic engagement – tips for practice
Supervision and support- what do I need, what does our agency need?
What next- individual organisation planning
Course Delivery
This course will draw on research material relating to female sexual abuse. It will also draw
on the clinical experience of LFF staff working with women and children in a range of
settings. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on individual attitudes and beliefs and to
engage in group exercises and discussions of relevant case study material.
Details of Trainer
The training will be facilitated by Sherry Ashfield. Sherry works as a Principal Practitioner for
the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a national child protection charity. She specialises in working
with female abusers across a range of settings and provides assessments and direct work in
both criminal justice and Family Court settings. She is the primary trainer for the Lucy
Faithfull Foundation in relation to female sexual abuse and regularly provides training and
consultancy for a range of organisations including the Probation Service, BAAF and local
authorities. She is the co author of a number of book chapters and research papers related
to female sexual abuse.
Please contact Candice Laband at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation for an application
form and further information, claband@lucyfaithfull.org, 01527 591922
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