At the Time of Disclosure: A manual for Front-line Community Workers Dealing with Sexual Abuse Disclosures in Aboriginal Communities

Source: (1998) Ottawa: Solicitor General of Canada.

As indicated in the title, Judie and Michael Bopp developed this manual to assist front-line community workers, especially those in Aboriginal communities, to deal more effectively with issues around sexual abuse disclosures. It is not a comprehensive volume covering all aspects of sexual abuse. Rather, it focuses on a specific aspect of this very complex and critical social problem, namely, the disclosure phase. The manual is intended to help community workers understand more clearly the many factors which must be considered when dealing with disclosures of sexual abuse and to ensure that the needs of everyone affected by the situation are being addressed. In the manual the authors offer information on the following topics: a brief introduction to community-based approaches to dealing with abuse; guidelines for facilitating disclosures of abuse and investigating allegations; issues and needs of those affected by abuse (e.g., the victim, the victim’s family, the abuser, the abuser’s family, the community, and the justice system); and suggestions and guidelines for planning the healing and restoration of balance after a disclosure of abuse.