Not Alone: Gay Men’s Trauma Information Group
To enquire, please call Eastern CASA on 9870 7330 and request to speak with intake (Available Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm)
What is the group?
Not Alone is a trauma information group for adult gay men who have experienced sexual abuse in childhood.
It is an 8-week online pilot program for 8 - 15 attendees using a secure online platform.
The group offers participants an opportunity to understand how trauma impacts them today and provides trauma information in the context of establishing safety.
It is best suited to people who haven’t received extensive support or information on sexual violence impacts and are seeking a supportive space with other gay men who may have had similar experiences.
This group will be delivered by senior counsellor advocates from three specialist sexual assault services (South East CASA, Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre & Eastern CASA), and evaluated by SASVic.
A counsellor advocate is someone who has special training in listening and helping people after experiencing sexual assault or abuse. They can also help someone to understand their rights, explore their options, make decisions and to report to police (if that’s what they want to do). They support people no matter how long ago the sexual violence happened.
When will the group be held?
The group will run weekly from 24 October to 12 December.
When: Thursday afternoons, 3pm - 5pm
Where: Online
The group will be run online to ensure that people who live in regional and rural areas can easily attend.
Why are we running the group now?
This pilot program was created in response to the inspiring advocacy of two gay men who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse, who called for more support options for gay men who have experienced sexual violence. They have both assisted in designing the program for gay men who have experienced sexual abuse in childhood and will contribute to the program’s delivery and evaluation.
Why is the evaluation important?
We hope that if this group is helpful, we can use the feedback from the evaluation to refine it further and apply for funding to run it again in the future for more people.
What about other groups?
The specialist sexual assault sector has always worked with all survivors, including the LGBTIQA+ communities and has run many groups over the years. In the past, groups have been for survivors that have already received therapeutic support from a specialist service. This group is specifically for people who have not received extensive support or information on sexual violence.
How to enquire
To enquire, please call Eastern CASA on 9870 7330 and request to speak with intake. Eastern CASA is open Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm.
What is sexual violence?
Sexual violence is being forced, pressured or tricked into doing sexual things when you don’t want to. It is often a crime and can take many forms, including child sexual abuse, image-based sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual assault. It can affect people of all genders throughout their lives and can be perpetrated by strangers or people who are known to the survivor.
How to get help
If this group isn’t what you’re looking for but you’d like to speak to someone, you can contact a specialist sexual assault service.
It can be difficult to speak about sexual violence. Specialist sexual assault services support adults and children who have experienced sexual violence, whether recently or a long time ago.
If you have experienced a recent sexual assault or would like after-hours support (5pm-9am), please call 1800 806 292.
To find and contact your local specialist sexual assault service, you can visit our specialist sexual assault service map.