Ireland

Improving specialised therapeutic interventions for women subjected to sexual violence in intimate relationships

Organisation/Third party
Laois Support Services Against Domestic Abuse CLG

Grant amount
17.600,00 EUR

Website
www.laoisdomesticabuseservice.ie

Country
Ireland

Title of the project
Improving specialised therapeutic interventions for women subjected to sexual violence in intimate relationships

Project duration
10 months

Target groups
The target group for this project are LDAS services users who are women subjected to sexual violence and abuse in the context of domestic violence and abuse. Based on our nearly two decades working with women in Laois, we have found that the vast majority of DV survivors also experience sexual violence. As the only DVA service in Laois, and due to the fact that Laois lacks any sexual violence service, SV survivors are referred to us from our fellow service providers in the county.

Although part of the 'commuter belt' for workers in the Irish capital city of Dublin, Laois is still a rural county. Therefore, our services are used by women from a broad range of backgrounds and cultures. Over the past three years, we have noted that the age profile of our service users has changed significantly and it is much younger than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. We currently support a high number of women in early adulthood aged 18-29 years.

Almost all of the women using the services of LDAS have at least two children, and most of the women are not currently employed. Their unemployment status is usually due to their experience of being subjected to coercive control, which creates a dependence on the abuser and leads to social isolation. This in turn limits their prospects of finding and sustaining employment. We work with women with multiple support needs, and in 2023, LDAS supported women of the following nationalities: Irish (including indigenous Irish Travellers), British, established EU states (Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish), newer EU states (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish), former Soviet Union (Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian), Asia (Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Pakistani), Americas (Brazilian, Mexican, United States) and Africa (Nigerian, Congolese, South African).

As a result of the generational span and multi-cultural diversity of LDAS service users, any SV supports will need to be developed to be adapatable to diverse needs, capacities and cultures.

Project summary
This project aims to strengthen capacity within our organisation, Laois Domestic Abuse Service (LDAS) and among our colleagues in other service providers in County Laois, to achieve the following objective: protect and promote the safety and integrity of women, and by extension their children, through improving specialised therapeutic interventions for victims of sexual violence in intimate relationships at LDAS.

Domestic Abuse Service (LDAS) is the only specialist domestic violence service in the county of Laois. Laois does not have a Rape Crisis Centre or specialist sexual violence service. With a population of over 91,000 people, Laois is a fast-growing rural county whose population grew by nearly 60% in the last 20 years. Covering a geographic area of 1,720 km², the county’s demographics include: (1) long-established settled communities, (2) indigenous ethnic Irish Travelers, (3) new Irish residents such as young families and commuters from other parts of Ireland working in the capital city of Dublin, up to 2 hours away, (4) other new residents who lack kinship support networks include Ukrainian refugees and, (5) International Asylum Seekers, particularly from Asia and Africa.

According to the 2022 Census of Population, 10% of the population in County Laois is comprised of non-Irish citizens. The increasing cultural diversity in Laois has enriched the social fabric. However, one-fifth of the population in Laois now speak English either poorly or not at all. The expanding range of national, ethnic and religious traditions among our population has also expanded the range of gender norms and intimate partner relationship dynamics presenting among our service users. At the same time, other welcome societal changes in Ireland, including rising awareness of and reduced tolerance for domestic and sexual violence, have increased demand for our services. As we continue to develop our core service to response to such rising demand, we seek to also expand our service offerings to respond to emerging needs. A key emerging need in Laois’s rapidly expanding and diversifying population is related to women being subjected to sexual violence within their intimate relationships. This project proposal is a direct response to this need.

The project is in three parts. May to June 2024: Project Initiation Phase – LDAS will engage the services of (1) an experienced Sexual Violence Therapist and (2) a Social Researcher with experience in the development of a community-led sexual violence supports. We have identified the therapist, established her availability and completed the necessary Garda Vetting so that she is ready to start as soon as funding is agreed. We have also identified an appropriate researcher interested in joining the project team and working in partnership with LDAS and the therapist, who is experienced in conducting such participatory research with a DVA service to develop sexual violence supports.

July to December 2024: The Sexual Violence Therapist will work on a one-to-one basis with women who have been subjected to sexual violence in their intimate relationships in order to provide them with specialist therapeutic and support responses. For example, in recent years, LDAS has commissioned a therapist from the Tullamore Rape Crisis Centre in the neighboring county of Offaly to support its clients. During this work, LDAS learned that Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is one such helpful intervention for service users who have been subjected to sexual violence.

Through this project, LDAS now wishes to learn about the broader suite of supports sought by the women in Laois that will respond to their particular experiences and needs in relation to sexual violence. The Social Researcher will work closely with the therapist to co-design a 3-phase evaluation process that is appropriately configured for the participants and the therapeutic interventions, as follows: 1. establish a baseline profile of participants in the intervention (e.g. via a pre-project feedback form completed by participants), 2. monitor their progress during the intervention (with a mid-term project feedback form) and 3. assess the short-term outcomes of the intervention (through a final evaluation form on completion). Through the relationships of trust that they develop with the project participants, and their understanding of the women’s broader needs and circumstances (e.g. literacy and English language proficiency), LDAS and the therapist will be responsible for helping the participants to complete the evaluation forms – either online or handwritten as preferred.

Jan to Feb 2025: The social researcher will be responsible for collating and analyzing these data and completing an easy-to-read report on the findings and recommendations. This will be presented to LDAS and peer service providers in a final workshop to interrogate the outcomes and agree the next steps required to put in place and expand sexual violence supports in Laois.

While LDAS is not a Family Justice Center (FJC), we aspire to be one. We see this project proposal as a steppingstone to helping us to achieve FJC status in the future. Over nearly two decades, we have established very close, collaborative working relationships with key services to develop and strengthen multidisciplinary working in the area of DVA. In the public sector, our colleague services include ‘An Garda Síochána’ - Ireland’s national police and security service (and specifically its Divisional Protective Services Unit), the Courts Service, Legal Aid, Probation Service, Youth Diversion Programme, ‘Tusla’ (Ireland’s Child & Family Agency), the Health Service Executive Adult Mental Health Services, School Completion Programme, home-school liaison officers, school counsellors. In the Community & Voluntary services, our peer professionals come from Family Resource Centres (local family support centres), Youth Service, Community Alcohol and Drugs Project, St. Vincent de Paul (charity for disadvantaged families), Irish Wheelchair Association, National Learning Network and Rehab Care (both services for people with intellectual disabilities) and Barnardos (a children’s charity).

Summary for publication: Women’s Support and Information Centre s seeking to further develop its emerging FJC by improving interventions provided to victims of domestic violence (DV) and their families. This will be done by implementing the Trauma-Informed Practices to Support Survivors of DV (TIPSS) project. TIPSS will focus on capacity building of different stakeholders on Trauma Informed Care (TIC).

Project activities

• Developing initial evaluation, mid-term evaluations and end evaluations - Social Researcher to develop and design initial/mid and end evaluation form for women using the service/project.
• One to One work - specialised therapeutic interventions.
• Write up - specialised therapeutic interventions

Qualitative results

• 5/10 feedback forms re: women’s experience of therapy in the past and intentions for this intervention.
• 4/10 detailed survey of women regarding their experience of disclosing SV, seeking support, needs and insights.
• 0/10 feedback forms re: women’s experience of current therapy and immediate outcomes from intervention.

Quantitative results

• 6/10 women’s behavioural symptom scores (CORE-34 / CORE-10).
• 6/10 women’s autism spectrum condition scores (GQ-ASC scale for women).
• 5/10 women’s adverse childhood experience scores (ACEs-IQ 31).
• 0/10 Women’s behavioural symptom scores (CORE-34 / CORE-10).