Dear readers, 

As we approach the middle of the autumn, we bring to you our latest CSE Aware bulletin, this time with a focus on trauma-informed support. Over the past years, trauma-informed has become a bit of a buzz word. Yet its benefits and positive impact for women cannot be underestimated.

In this bulletin, we deep-dive into trauma-informed practice and consider how it applies to women involved in selling or exchanging sex. Firstly, in our insights article we share women's voices on what works and what doesn't, and through an interview with practitioner Alison Scott, we explore what services can do to respond in a trauma-informed way (which includes being creative!).

Alongside these pieces, you will find a wealth of resources to expand your practice in this area, as well as upcoming events for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, interesting news and articles and a small survey at the end.

Until next time!

The CSE Aware Resource Worker

Women involved in selling or exchanging sex often have multiple and intertwined traumatic experiences.

Although not all women involved will carry traumatic experiences, recent research has suggested that mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, PTSD and suicide are highly prevalent among them.

Looking at this context, in this article we explore how support services can offer trauma-informed support to women who have been involved in the sex trade.

For this edition, we interviewed Alison Scott, a consultant gynaecologist at the WISHES clinic and current Head of Student Wellbeing Services at the University of Edinburgh’s medical school.

Alison shares how she approaches supporting women who sell or exchange sex in a trauma-informed way, including the importance of partnership working, she reflects on why services need to be aware of trauma and discusses making sure that employers looks after their support staff.

In this list you will find reports, guides, toolkits and research written by different specialists in trauma-informed practice and violence against women:

• Gender Equality and Sexual Consent in the Context of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

• Confronting the harm

• Why Adopt a Gendered Analysis of Violence and Abuse
  
  
• Mental health and trauma-informed practice: companion document

• Trauma-informed care in the UK: where are we? A qualitative study of health policies and professional perspectives
  

Wednesday 30 November, 11:30am - 1pm

The high prevalence of trauma among women who sell or exchange sex evidences the need for support services that understand how trauma can play out and continue to be re-lived for those have been involved in the sex trade.

As part of this year’s 16 Days of Activism campaign, this event will offer an introduction to trauma-informed practice when supporting women involved in selling or exchanging sex, as well as examples of good practice.

It’s common to think that caring for ourselves can be too time-consuming. But looking after oneself shouldn’t always mean blocking out a whole evening. In fact, some scientists advocate for a more effective strategy: short but regular activities that could be incorporated into our daily routine.

Neuroscientist Dr. Gabija Toleikyte argues that we are exposed to multiple stressors throughout the day: information overload, missing a train, receiving criticism from a colleague… which is why it’s important to counteract this chronic stress by doing consistent self-soothing practices. This could be a 5-minute conscious breathing, walking or listening to music.

Breathing, in particular, is a powerful way to enter a relaxation state. Psychiatrists suggest that the “brain listens to the lungs.” We can create that restorative communication between the body and the mind through a simple breathing pattern: a sigh. Clinician Deb Dana explains: “Humans sigh many times an hour and those spontaneous sighs are a sign your nervous system is looking for regulation. You can intentionally sigh to engage your system in that process.”

Let’s try that: inhale through your nose, pause for a second or two, and exhale slowly and deeply through your mouth – you can also add the whispery sound ahhhhh.