Working With Interpreters And Ethnic Minority Victims/Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA): Results From A Program Evaluation Study In Australia

To address paucity in both general knowledge and about service provision, a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program on ethnic minority victims/survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) was developed and evaluated over six months in Australia using mixed-methods (T1 n=112, T2 n=44). This paper reports the findings in relation to working with interpreters. It was found that many practitioners are unable to use only trained interpreters due to resource and organisational policy constraints; there is desire and intention among service organisations to provide such training to interpreters but low funding limits this; pre- and de-briefing were comparatively more common but still inconsistent due to specific client needs, the individual practitioner, and whether organisational policies expect these practices; and the four examined practices were higher among ethnic minority practitioners and in organisations specialised for ethnic minorities. Overall, there was insufficient evidence the program was effective in improving these four practices; likely reflecting a combination of sector-wide resource constraints and insufficient coverage of working well with interpreters within the program’s full content. The results still contribute plentiful ideas for future research. Importantly, the updated online version of the CPD program responded by developing a dedicated module to this critical practice area.