Book Clubs for Change

This project will use an innovative book club methodology to create positive change in the support provided to victim-survivors of sexual assault. We are hosting a narrative-based program with sexual assault first responders, like counsellors, sexual assault support workers, police, hospital staff and clinical forensic medical staff. The project tests whether a guided practice of “reading like a survivor” (Gilmore 2023) facilitates a survivor-centred approach to sexual violence. We are also assessing whether participation in the book club prompts participants to reflect on their own roles as professionals working with victim-survivors.

Aims:

The project aims to investigate how book clubs that read stories written by survivors of sexual violence can encourage those who work with survivors to be more victim-survivor centred, thus improving wellbeing outcomes for the victim-survivors they work with.

Background:

According to QLD Government Statistics, Townsville has a rate of (reported) sexual offenses more than 50% higher than the state as a whole (269.3 per 100,000, compared with 177.6 for QLD; 2021-22 data). Further, ABS data tells us that 92% of women who experience sexual assault do not report the incident to police (DJAG 2023), and of those cases that are reported, very few make it to sentencing. These statistics suggest two things: Townsville is an ideal place to try new approaches to improving outcomes for sexual violence victims, and the system is not currently working for victim-survivors. This study aims to use literature to improve the experience for victim-survivors by centering their perspective among sexual assault first responders.

Book clubs are ideal spaces to facilitate cultural change work (Bruneau & Tucker 2023; Grenier et al. 2022; Jocius & Shealy 2017). Literature creatively transforms the human experience and reflects it back to us, allowing us to see ourselves as connected to the larger human experience (Bruneau & Tucker 2023). Book clubs’ combination of books and discussion can increase empathetic identification with others (Davis 2008), instigate socialised and non-formal learning (Grenier et al. 2022; Landry et al. 2022), help participants develop a meaningful sense of community (Long 2003), and interrogate cultural representations of marginalised groups (Davis 2008; Jocius & Shealy 2017). In this pilot project we seek to understand the impact that book clubs can have on critical understandings of and attitudes to sexual violence among those who work with victim-survivors in an Australian context.

Methodology, connection to Roderick themes, and plan of work:

Our project seeks to engage directly with those who work to support victim-survivors of sexual violence, as they have the power to make a direct difference to victim-survivors’ wellbeing. The project will include specialist police, medical staff, counsellors and support workers, to encourage them to identify and empathise with victim-survivors by engaging with narratives of Australian women who have experienced sexual violence. Memoirs link powerfully to real world contexts and the lives of readers, making them highly relevant sources of authority on particular life experiences (Smith & Watson 2010, 33-36). Because memoirs portray experience through a personal lens, and they use techniques from fiction that engage the emotions of readers, they give the reader a personal link to political issues that encourages them to invest emotionally (Keen 2016). Life writing can act pedagogically to educate readers about perspectives and experiences that are not available to them (Gilmore & Marshall 2019; McNeill & Douglas 2016).

Our project aligns directly with the RCALC theme of wellbeing, including exploration of narratives that address the impact of trauma on individuals or communities and their healing. One of the memoirs we have selected is by an Aboriginal woman, thus also aligning with the RCALC focus on First Nations perspectives. We seek to highlight the power of storytelling in creating social change that directly impacts the wellbeing of an important part of our community.

The book clubs will run from about February to June 2025, with time for analysis and reporting prior to 31 October 2025. We will partner with The Women’s Centre, which is Townsville’s specialist sexual assault service. The book clubs will be held in Townsville, given the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) that operates here and is being expanded by the QLD government. The SART was started in Townsville in 2017 and brings together counsellors from The Women’s Centre with specialist detectives, forensic examination teams, hospital social workers, and other relevant services, providing 24-hour wrap around support for victim-survivors, wherever they make their initial report.

We aim to recruit approximately 20 participants, with three book club discussions focused on three different memoirs. The target population for participants includes sexual violence responders including police, forensic medical, counselling and support staff. As pilot research we will focus on members of Townsville’s SART and related services, but hope to expand the project in the future. We will seek participants from a range of demographics. The participants will likely have direct benefits on their professional practice as this is an innovative approach to professional development. We also expect flow-on effects to their colleagues who do not participate, and most importantly, to victim-survivors who they support following their participation in the book club project. We have already begun seeking ethics approval for the project.

The discussions will be facilitated by the research team, with surveys conducted before and after the book club program to measure its impacts, and interviews to examine the benefits of this project towards creating cultural change around sexual violence in Queensland. In time, we intend for this research to inform a larger research project that will create the evidence base and resources for a nation-wide program.

Researchers:

Associate Professor Theresa Petray, James Cook University

Dr Helena Radke, James Cook University

Dr Emma Maguire, James Cook University

Dr Melanie Lotfali – Sexual Assault Counsellor, The Women’s Centre, Townsville