Safety Planning for Survivors Who Use Force
Date: Tuesday, November 20th, 10:30am-12pm
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Presented by Connie Burk & Kristin Tucker, Northwest Network
Survivors often use force or other “behaviors on the wheel” to resist abuse and attempt to regain some measure of legitimate control over their own life. But, these survival strategies may leave the survivor more vulnerable to escalated attacks by an abuser, arrest or prosecution, suspicion on the part of service providers, and rejection by family members or friends. In addition to these potential consequences, survivors may feel a range of emotions about their own use of force, including shame and self-blame. Safety Planning is a critical tool survivors can use to forecast potential dangers and limit the harms related to the abuse they are surviving and the strategies they are using to make it out alive. This session will offer a broad framework for the context of survivors use of force, as well as practical tools for advocates and organizations to more deeply engage in safety planning processes that reflect the complex realities of many survivors lives, including: how to talk to your support network about the abuse, what to do if you are arrested, understanding the boundaries of ‘self-defense’, using a ‘harm reduction’ lens to evaluate choices, asking for help from bystanders, and much much more.
