The truth project paper one—how did victims and survivors experience participation? Addressing epistemic relational inequality in the field of child sexual abuse

Abstract

The last 30 years has seen an exponential increase in Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiries.1 One feature of these has been to place adult survivor voices at the center of Inquiry work, meaning that child abuse victims and survivors2 are engaging with Inquiries, sharing their experiences, with this participation often presented as empowering and healing. This initiative challenges long held beliefs that child sexual abuse survivors are unreliable witnesses, which has led to epistemic injustice and a hermeneutical lacunae in survivor testimony. However to date there has been limited research on what survivors say about their experiences of participation. The Truth Project was one area of work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse3 in England and Wales. It invited survivors of Child Sexual Abuse to share their experiences including the impacts of abuse and their recommendations for change. The Truth Project concluded in 2021 and heard from more than 6,000 victims of child sexual abuse. The evaluation of the Trauma Informed Approach designed to support survivors through their engagement with the project was a mixed methods, two phase methodology. A total of 66 survey responses were received. Follow-up interviews were conducted with seven survey respondents. The Trauma Informed Approach was found to be predominantly helpful in attending to victim needs and minimizing harm. However, a small number of participants reported harmful effects post-session. The positive impacts reported about taking part in the Truth Project as a one-off engagement challenges beliefs that survivors of child sexual abuse cannot safely talk about their experiences. It also provides evidence of the central role survivors should have in designing services for trauma victims. This study contributes to the epistemic justice literature which emphasizes the central role of relational ethics in the politics of knowing, and the importance of developing a testimonial sensibility when listening to marginalized groups.

The truth project- paper two- using staff training and consultation to inculcate a testimonial sensibility in non-specialist staff teams working with survivors of child sexual abuse

“…‘Epistemic authority’ emerges as an important lens through which to understand the layering of epistemologies and their relative authority as survivor experiences are shared and disseminated ( 1 , p. 4). As both this and our preceding paper which addressed the experiences of survivors in the Truth Project ( 9 ) make clear, the Inquiry consistently amplified survivor experiences as the strongest form of epistemic authority: that these speakers voices conferred greater truth than others. This was a symbiotic form of collaboration in which the authority of the Inquiry was established through the collection of so many survivors’ voices, and in which the epistemic authority of survivors themselves was maintained or re-established through being listened to by ‘someone in authority’ ( 15 ).…”

“…TIAs are an organizational level intervention that recognize the health and social impacts of traumatic stress and have an awareness of the ways that institutions may reenact traumatic dynamics when delivering services to victims and survivors (3). TIAs recognize the impacts of trauma, while also structuring the organization and the practices of staff to minimize the risks of retraumatization (9). Within IICSA, the TIA model was comprised of 5 key principles; (1) Recognizing that the experience of child sexual abuse is subjective and individuals should be respected; (2) Being aware that trust is not to be taken for granted, but fostered; (3) Empowering victims and survivors in their interactions with the Inquiry; (4) Prioritizing the safety and well-being of victims and survivors and working to prevent retraumatization; (5) Acknowledging the impact of child sexual abuse and institutional failures, therefore, looking out for staff wellbeing (9).…”

“…TIAs recognize the impacts of trauma, while also structuring the organization and the practices of staff to minimize the risks of retraumatization (9). Within IICSA, the TIA model was comprised of 5 key principles; (1) Recognizing that the experience of child sexual abuse is subjective and individuals should be respected; (2) Being aware that trust is not to be taken for granted, but fostered; (3) Empowering victims and survivors in their interactions with the Inquiry; (4) Prioritizing the safety and well-being of victims and survivors and working to prevent retraumatization; (5) Acknowledging the impact of child sexual abuse and institutional failures, therefore, looking out for staff wellbeing (9). This was implemented through staff training in the model, alongside ongoing clinical consultation and underpinned all work of the Inquiry.…”

Centring the voices of survivors of child sexual abuse in research: an act of hermeneutic justice

“…Recognising the scale of CSA creates a challenge to institutional structures that are “too big to fail”, and the injustice of denial of the survivor’s testimony is a small price to pay for the preservation of the status quo ( IICSA, 2022 ). The interplay between institutional failures to believe victims and epistemic injustices in interpersonal contexts was explored in the work of the Truth Project ( Barker et al, 2023 ).…”