ISVAs and RIs Working Together

IfJ CPD Courses

Course Facilitator(s)

Dr Tina Pereira, Jamie Allinson, Penny Edwards Rebekah Ridgway Ruth Afako, Zoe Mitchell, and Susan Stewart

Course Facilitator(s) Bio

Speaker information

Dr Tina Pereira (Registered Intermediary, Court Approved Intermediary and researcher)

Dr Tina Pereira is an intermediary who has many years of experience working in criminal and family courts with witnesses, defendants and other parties. Her research interests include using low tech communication aids, investigative interivewing and vulnerability in legal settings. Tina delivers bespoke training to a range of justice professionals on specialist topics and has presented at national and international conferences.

Jamie Allinson (Practical & Emotional Support (Specialist ISVA) Coordinator, Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland)

Jamie Allinson has worked in the sexual violence sector since 2014, beginning as a helpline volunteer providing emotional support to survivors. From 2018 to 2022. He trained and worked as an ISVA, before becoming Service Manager of a commissioned ISVA service at Rape Crisis Darlington and County Durham. In 2024, he joined RCTN as Deputy CEO. He has developed services to remove barriers to access, meet demand as well as support ISVA's wellbeing and was proud to receive a National Award in 2023 recognizing his team's work. He has also collaborated with the OPCC, police, and CPS to support survivors' rights and reduce retraumatisation within the criminal justice system, with a commitment to meaningful partnership working.

Zoe Mitchell (PhD researcher)

Zoe Mitchell is a PhD researcher in Criminology at Northumbria University. Her research focuses on sexual violence advocacy, and the role of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) within the criminal justice system. Drawing on her previous experience as an ISVA, her PhD explores how ISVAs are positioned within the criminal justice space, exploring how they are perceived by other criminal justice professionals and how this shapes their ability to support victim-survivors

Ruth Afako (Registered Intermediary) 

Ruth Afako has worked as a Registered Intermediary since qualifying in 2019. She previously worked as a Speech and Language Therapist for over 30 years. This was mainly in the UK, but she was also involved in developing services and carrying out research in Zimbabwe and Uganda. Ruth worked within the mainstream and special education systems and obtained a Master’s degree in Special Education. She worked for several years in a school setting where she supported the communication difficulties of children who had experienced severe emotional trauma.  

Rebekah Ridgway (CHISVA) 

Rebekah Ridgway qualified as an ISVA in 2024. Previously she had worked for 9 years in Colombia, South America supporting vulnerable and at risk children and families. Upon returning to the UK in 2021 she joined SAFE!, a charity that supports children who have been affected by crime. In her role as a project worker she supported u18’s who had been affected by any crime type before taking on a role within the domestic and sexual abuse team in 2022. Since qualifying in 2024, she has been working in the role of a CHISVA at SAFE! 

 

Facilitator Information

Susan Stewart (RI and IfJ CPD Programme Lead)

Susan is a Registered Intermediary and Speech and Language Therapist who has worked as an RI for 9 years. She has over 20 years experience in working with children, young people and adults communication needs. Susan volunteers to organise the IfJ CPD programme. She has also created published resources for vulnerable witnesses and youth defendants. Susan will reflect on her experiences working with ISVAs over the years, her learning points and how this continues to change her RI work

Penny Edwards (Group Worker and Training Lead, Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland)

Penny has worked with the rape crisis movement for over 10 years. She has developed Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland’s Group Work Support Service and co-ordinates external training. Training developed includes Sexual Violence Awareness, Young People and Sexual Violence, Consent and Myths about Sexual Violence.

 

Description

Course Content:

Dr Tina Pereira: 'Intermediaries: Role, professional responsibilities and practice’

This presentation explains the role, legal context, professional responsibilities and practice of an intermediary working with vulnerable individuals in legal settings. It identifies the key differences between the intermediary and ISVA roles, presents a case study of joint working and finally suggests a way in which intermediaries and ISVAs can work together in the best interests of the vulnerable person.

Jamie Allinson: 'Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland): The Role of the ISVA'            The role of the ISVA explained including specialisms that Intermediaries can support with. This will include a summary of the new ISVA guidance and how it will affect cases.

Zoe Mitchell: ‘ISVAs and Intermediaries: Learning what Works in Practice’                    

This talk draws on qualitative research involving interviews with 14 ISVAs and 4 Registered Intermediaries.  It explores perceptions of the ISVA and RI role from their respective viewpoints, highlighting areas of successful collaboration as well as gaps in communication. Using thematic analysis, the research examines how both roles can best complement each other within the criminal justice space to effectively support victims and witnesses of RASSO.

Ruth Afako (RI) and Rebekah Ridgway (CHISVA) Joint case presentation. 

Rebekah and Ruth will describe how they worked together over a period of several months this year to support an 8 year old complainant. The girl's needs were language delay and social/emotional difficulties related to trauma. The case involved a series of both expected and unexpected events leading up to a Section 28 hearing. Rebekah and Ruth's different roles proved vital in enabling this case to progress. Their communication and joint planning assisted the witness, the family, and the other professionals involved.

Susan Stewart (RI and IfJ CPD programme Lead) 'Reflections on working with ISVAs'

Susan will reflect on her 9 years experience and learning from working with ISVAs and vulnerable witnesses. She will also draw attention to relevant documents that have changed the way she works with ISVAs

Susan Stewart (RI and IfJ CPD programme Lead) and Penny Edwards (Group Worker and Training Lead, Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland):

Best Practice Exploration- 

Facilitated breakout rooms for attendees to work together to discuss their experience of working alongside each other to share practice- These conversations will be captured with a view to produce top tips info sheet for joint working between ISVAs and RIs. This would include some summary and written feedback collated from these groups. 

The top tips sheet will then be used to create an IfJ document: ‘Best Practice for RIs and ISVAs working together’

Discussion questions to include:

 

1.  What does best-practice between RIs and ISVAs look like?
2.  What is the one thing you think is crucial for witnesses that are supported by both an ISVA and RI?
3.  What barriers are there to successful joint-working and what might be the solutions to overcome these barriers?

 

Course Aims/Objectives:

The course will enable ISVAS and RIs to learn together about each other's roles, emerging research on the ISVA role, discuss shared case experiences and collaborate together to offer ideas about how ISVAs and RIs can best work together.

 

Course Method:

The workshop is run in the form of a small group training. The presenters will present information and will invite high levels of participation and sharing of knowledge and ideas. Prepared slides/handouts guide the process rather than impart information.

The following materials are provided:

• Powerpoint presentations
• Guidance for further reading-Bibliography

- Participants to log on 15 minutes prior to start of each session. - It is required that all participants keep their cameras on throughout the workshop. - Participants to complete online feedback form post workshop.

Cancellation Policy

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