PIER and VSCP webinar 2: How giving lived experience individuals a meaningful seat at the table can influence and shape your work for the better

Join ARU's Policing Institute for the Eastern Region and Victim and Survivor Consultancy Panel (VSCP) for a webinar about the benefits of truly listening to people with lived experience of child sexual abuse.

Until recently, individuals with lived experiences have not been given a meaningful seat at the table. They have just been ‘consulted’ as part of a tick box exercise.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) was one of the first inquiries to have the lived experience voice incorporated into all areas of its work via the VSCP, the Victim and Survivors Forum and the Core Participants.

It's important for policymakers and professionals from all sectors to understand the importance of this and recognise the value of the lived experiences in the workplace.

Speakers

Chris Tuck, VSCP member

Chris is a powerful and authentic public speaker, an author of three books, a media commentator, and an activist in the field of child abuse (especially child sexual abuse), bullying, and domestic violence.

She has extensive experience as a motivational keynote speaker, and is a professional trainer on topics such as trauma, abuse, and recovery, for both professionals and those impacted through lived experience.

Chris has experience of lobbying on child sexual abuse at senior government and corporate levels, and on social media platforms. She has lived experience of all forms of child abuse and neglect, having grown up in three domestic violent households.

For the last eight years, Chris has been an advisor to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse as a member of the VSCP.

After a 20-year career as a Chartered Management Accountant at a senior level, Chris retrained as a trauma informed health and wellness practitioner, establishing both her own community business and founding and directing the charity Survivors of aBuse (SOB) (Registered Charity No. 116712).

Using her lived experiences, insight, and professional skill set, she created the psycho-educational Breaking The Cycle™ C.L.E.A.N.E.R™ Living Therapy Programme that empowers individuals to recover from trauma and reach their full potential.

Chris has hosted her own radio show and is a resident member on The Silenced radio show. She co-hosts her own weekly podcast and creates her own social media awareness campaigns around child sexual abuse and exploitation such as 'the myths and realities around child sexual abuse'. All can be accessed online.

In all the work she does and in her everyday life, Chris uses her voice, her lived experiences, and her insight to connect, communicate, and create positive, long-lasting change.

May Baxter-Thornton, VSCP member

May is a survivor of child sexual abuse who has spent the last five years working as a consultant for the IICSA.

May is an experienced trainer for the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, with a focus on working with survivors and intrafamilial abuse. She has a background of supporting victims, and has previously been employed as an advocate for sex working women in South Wales.

May is a Project Worker at the Marie Collins Foundation, where her duties involve working on a range of projects both nationally and internationally, as well as being a representative at PIER.

May will use all her knowledge and experience to ensure the response to victims of technology-assisted child sexual abuse is one that is based in evidence, promotes recovery, and – above all else – does no further harm.

This event is free to attend, but you need to register to receive the joining link.

This event is part of the PIER and VSCP webinar series.