BREAKING THE CYCLE: supporting non-offending partners
Circles South West has added a specific victim-focused programme to our range of services.
Breaking the Cycle is a group-work programme designed to inform, empower and offer support for the non-offending partner or ‘significant other’ of a man who has been accused or convicted of sexual abuse.
We know that many men who have sexually offended return to live with their families or establish a new relationship where children are living. Partners of these men play a key role both in terms of protecting children and the offender’s relapse prevention.
We understand, too, the trauma experienced by the whole family when sexual abuse is perpetrated. The abuse itself and Child Protection enquiries that follow are often confusing and upsetting and can result in harmful isolation when a non-offending partner feels the anger, denial, guilt and stigma associated with their (ex) partner’s offending. Whilst not the primary victim of CSA, the family and non-offending partners are secondary victims for whom, regrettably, there are limited opportunities to access support and information in these circumstances.
Breaking the Cycle is based on the principle of cognitive therapy and offers a place for non-offending partners to:
INFORM – Learn about sexual offending
EMPOWER – Help non-offending partners contextualise their partner’s offending behaviour
SUPPORT – To decrease the isolation and stigma felt by the non-offending partner and facilitate support networks in order to strengthen the individual’s ability to protect their children.
Following a referral and assessment the programme is delivered in a group or 1 to 1 and is made up of the following 10 sessions:
Introduction
- What is sexual abuse?
- The fictitious family and impact issues
- Understanding denial
- How sex offenders operate
- How and why did my (ex) partner do this?
- Victim awareness
- Recognising risk and communicating with children about sexual abuse
- Better lives
- Looking to the future and Keep Safe Plan
At the end of the programme a report is written for the commissioning organisation to assess participants’ response to the intervention and their capacity to protect their child/children from the risk of sexual harm and assess areas of future need.
CSW is Licenced (by sister charity Circles South East) to deliver Breaking the Cycle across Wiltshire, Avon, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Gloucestershire. It can be delivered as a group work programme and on an individual basis. It has been previously commissioned by Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner, Gloucestershire County Council and Swindon Borough Council, with referrals from Local Authority Children’s Services.
Thanks to the generous support of the Sir James Reckitt Charitable Trust we are now taking referrals for a new Bristol group that starts in April 23.
