A 3 hour workshop for partner support workers and practitioners in Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCP) and other perpetrator interventions

This workshop builds the specific skills required for partner contact and victim survivor advocacy within perpetrator intervention practice. Partner contact is a distinct role and competency set, separate from both risk assessment and facilitation, and is central to every perpetrator intervention’s ability to keep victim survivors safe, informed and supported.

Participants will explore what trauma-informed, non-judgemental advocacy looks like in practice, including how to respect a victim survivor’s autonomy without imposing narratives about their relationship or their choices. The workshop covers safety planning specific to the perpetrator intervention context, including for victim survivors who are still living with the person using violence, and how to recognise and respond when a victim survivor does not identify their experience as family and domestic violence or does not wish to be involved.

A key focus is safe contact protocols, including not leaving unsafe messages, working with the victim survivor on practical ways to reduce their risk, developing pre-planned scripts and pseudonyms for use when someone else answers the phone, and agreeing safe times and methods of contact. Participants will also explore coordination between partner support workers and intervention facilitators to safeguard victim survivor safety and manage risk.

The workshop covers how to explain the limitations of the intervention honestly, including the real possibility that violence and controlling behaviours may not stop, while supporting victim survivors to make informed decisions with accurate information about their rights, options and the intervention itself. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to deliver proactive, trauma-informed partner contact that respects victim survivor autonomy and strengthens safety planning.

Duration: 3 hours

Audience:Partner support workers and practitioners in Men’s Behaviour Change Programs (MBCP) and other perpetrator interventions