Healing after sexual assault is a complicated process which hinges upon a myriad of factors including whether or not to disclose. When choosing to disclose, supportive responses can encourage empowerment and reaffirm self-worth, while negative responses can reinforce feelings of shame and isolation. With consideration of culture and race, this session will explore why it may be difficult to disclose, motivations for disclosure, who survivors often choose to disclose their experiences to, and trauma-informed approaches to responding.

Audience: Anyone in the general community with compassion and empathy including: parents, students, health care professionals, educators and support staff, victim advocates, sexual assault agency volunteers, law enforcement and court services personnel, civic groups, youth services staff, coaches, mentors, and religious leaders.