M4_4: Are there DEIDENTIFIED/ANONYMISED examples you can share from your work practice that demonstrate the service-relevant variables for CALD victims/survivors?

Trauma-related variables include:

• Gender

• Age and duration of abuse

• Severity

• Known/unknown perpetrator and who

• Location (including institutional context)

CALD-related variables include:

• English proficiency and need for interpreter

• Generational status and presence of intergenerational conflict

• Years of residency, acculturation, and attitudes about collectivism and patriarchy

• Social isolation/disconnection from extended family

• Religion and orthodoxy

• Citizenship/visa status, fear of deportation, and history of forced migration

• Awareness and understanding of systems and services, and fear of authorities (especially among the newly arrived)

• Cultural identity, sense of belonging, being visibly different, stereotyping, racism, discrimination, social exclusion, and vilification

Other variables include:

• Neighbourhood

• Family structure

• Disability

• Sexuality

• Impacts on physical and mental health

• Social difficulties

• Length of delay in disclosing, presence of supportive responses to disclosure, and attachment style to caregivers post-disclosure

Service-related variables include:

Cultural competency at the personal level

• Non-racist attitudes, empathy, patience, and open-mindedness

• Value for and practice in cultural self-awareness and reflection

• Sense of efficacy in working with CALD clients

• Being aware of the pros and cons of a medical versus sociological approach to the treatment of mental illness

• Encouraging self-help, family, and group therapy to avoid professional omnipotence in a one-on-one setting

Cultural competency at the organisational level

• Promotional/visual inclusiveness

• Using interpreters or bilingual staff trained in matters to do with sexual assault and providing such training

• Having an ethnically diverse workforce including in management positions

• Providing regular ‘cultural competency’ training to service provider staff

• Using ‘a multicultural framework’ within mission statements, organisational philosophies, practice frameworks, etc.

• Mandatorily collecting data on ethnicity-related variables

• Strong links with local CALD community members and organisations

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Ethical responses welcome | Discussions from prior platform of the program here.

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