Since we opened the doors, We Are Survivors has been offering training to peers, other charities and voluntary organisations, local authorities, Police, Government depts, and private sector organisations. We have also worked with other training providers such as Lime Culture, COSRT, BACP, Health Care Conferences UK, and of course, the Consent Collective adding input into their establish courses on working with male survivors, etc.
Our Training
Our Online Training
We are proud to present, in collaboration with the Consent Collective our online training course, part of the Consent Collective Academy. The Consent Collective is a social enterprise with a deep passion for activism and a commitment to social change at its heart. They help organisations and communities understand consent, trauma, relationships and sexual harassment; working in multiple sectors bringing their depth of knowledge to a wide range of contexts. The team use their expertise and resources to empower others to deliver meaningful and impactful work in service of their clients, students or colleagues.
We Are Survivors and The Consent Collective are proud to collaborate on a brand new online course: An Introduction to working with male survivors of sexual harm
This course is for professionals offering advocacy, reporting, investigations, support or therapy to men who have experienced sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape or child sexual abuse.
It has been carefully designed to equip you with the essential knowledge about working with male survivors of sexual harm and help you think about the ways in which your service is both accessible and impactful for this client group.
Our In-Person Training
Our training has been developed over time from our collective knowledge, the experience of delivering services and the challenges that can bring, the lived experience of some of our workforce, and the academic work that we have been involved with over the past decade. Whilst our standard training packages have been carefully designed, we always try to ensure that our delivery meets the specific needs of the organisation staff or audience engaged in the room.
We current have the following workshops on offer:
#Me(n)Too
A three hour hour conversation briefing, using research, data, and lived experience to enable delegates to:
- Gain a greater understanding of the cause of male victims silence
- Recognise the barriers faced by male victims in disclosure
- Develop an insight into the physical and psychological reactions to rape and sexual abuse of male victims, including case study
- Be aware of the emerging threats and understand the horizon]
Professionals who have attended this workshop include Greater Manchester Police (Detective, STO), Dyfed-Powys Police (Police Constable, STO), Social Workers, Housing Officers, Counsellors / Psychotherapists.
Workshop Cost: £525 (avg attendees 15 delegates)
Working with Male Survivors
A full day workshop, including group work, data, and lived experience enabling learners to:
- Recognise the breadth of sexual harms from a legal and social perspective
- Understand sexual offending behaviour
- In depth analysis and discussion, with case studies, on the experiences of male survivors
- Skills in working with male survivors in the interview room, therapy room; in 1:1 and group settings
Previous delegates include social work students (University of Manchester, Salford University, Manchester Metropolitan University); counsellors and psychotherapists; community workers, drug & alcohol workers.
Workshop Cost: £1,500 (avg attendees 25 delegates)
“Amazing! Keep on going and don’t stop educating us!”
“Constant quality information!”
“Opportunity to contribute and explore without judgement”
“The presentation of the subject and the interaction between the facilitator and the group was fantastic”
“Engaging, informative”
“Able to engage around a very tricky subject”
Our Self-Guided Learning
Over the years, often in association with individuals and organisational partners, we have had the opportunity to develop a range of training materials that we have provided for free or a nominal fee, aimed at wide range of professionals, areas of work and individual members of the public.
Ripped
“RIPPED focuses on Jack’s journey of self-recovery having been raped by a stranger in an unprovoked attack. Blaming himself for the attack, he moves away and transforms himself into what he believes is a ‘real man’. The play follows his journey to fit in with a new group of friends, whilst he tries desperately to keep a lid on his past and hoping no one finds out. It is a story exemplifying why so many rape cases go unreported, breaking the stigma attached to male rape, and exploring the pressures put on young men today to conform to outdated ideals of what a man should be.”
Starting out as a one man play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019, written and performed by Alex Gwyther, Ripped was re-written, re-staged, and made into a film by We are Survivors and Robin Rayner Productions for the purposes of presenting it to a younger audience.
An accompanying Teachers Pack has been written and designed by teachers for teachers to deliver key stage 7 – 11 lessons in PHSE, English, Drama, Religious Education (Christianity), History, Science, and ICT. The film is supplied as a 50 min film to be seen as a whole, and also supplied split into two parts (Part 1 – 26 mins & Part 2 – 27 mins). We have provided these two ways of viewing the film based on feedback from professionals and members of the target audience, young men aged 15 – 17, and leave it up to the teacher/facilitator to decide on how their group or class will view it.
To purchase a copy of RIPPED (£50), please contact [email protected]
We Are Allies
The Survivor Ally project is collab between two Greater Manchester based charities:
We Are Survivors and Mandem Meetup.
who are both focused on the health and well-being of boys and men. The Survivor Ally gives us a platform to work with services and organisations to help them create safer spaces for male victims/survivors of sexual abuse and harms. Survivor Ally is a commitment to support and help male survivors feel safe in places where they come into close physical contact with professionals, such as GPs, Dentists, Tattooists, Barbers, etc.
Our shared mission is to educate professionals across various fields to create environments where male (including trans and non-binary individuals) survivors feel comfortable and supported when accessing services that may involve physical contact.
We will do this through free, short courses aimed at creating awareness and understanding of the various factors that can contribute to making a survivor feel unsafe in a clinical and intimate setting.
Go to www.wereallies.co.uk to access all the resources for free and become an ally – Because together… We’re Allies!
ON IT
ON IT is a targeted co-production harm-reduction and education project by
We Are Survivors and George House Trust
The project focused on sex, consent, chems and HIV, and the ChemSex scene, in order to provide professionals, with solid harm reduction advice developed by chems users for chems users. The project also focuses on lived experience, engaging chems users in developing the information they wished they’d had.
Introducing a cast of the great and the loud of the UK Drag scene, the On It website will guide you through the four areas of interest and end with a quiz that will provide you with a better knowledge of sex, consent, chems and HIV.
Go to www.onit.org.uk to access all the resources for free.
