Eva Michálková

11/5/2019

Workshop with Jennifer Landhuis (USA).

On the October 24, 2019, a workshop with US expert Jennifer Landhuis took place at the American Centre. The workshop was a follow-up of the topic Jennifer presented on the conference two days before – Break the Silence Conference

Jennifer Landhuis is the Director of the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), an AEquitas iniciative which focuses on the topic of domestic and sexual violence. Jennifer has over 22 years of experience as an educator and advocate on the issues of stalking, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

During the workshop, we learned the basic investigation techniques of victims of sexual violence / rape. The investigation is performed by the victim advocate. Further, we learned of types of care which can be provided by a social worker in case the client is not in therapy yet, the benefits of relaxation and its techniques,on how to communicate with the victim and how the self-help groups work. The workshop was backed by the concept of trauma-informed services. This concept refers to the services and activities provided by professionals (social workers, police, health professionals, etc), who are aware of a full scale of victims' reactions to trauma and are able to minimize the risk of secondary victimization through a suitable approach.