Enhancing Victim Advocacy Through a 
Trauma- Informed Approach 

By Olga Trujillo, JD & Patricia Moen 

Tip Sheet #3 August 2019 

Victims of crime experience trauma when they are exposed to 
violence, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, natural disasters, 
accidents, or any other events that induce powerlessness, fear, 
recurrent hopelessness, and a constant state of alert. These 
victims often access system responses as a result of the crime, 
including law enforcement, prosecution and corrections, and 
community-based advocacy services, such as MADD, Parents of 
Murdered Children and Justice for Homicide Victims, as a result of 
the crime. Whether youÕre an advocate in a system response or 
one in a community-based organization, knowing about trauma 
will enhance your ability to work with these victim/survivors. 

Why Consider Trauma 

Crime and/or violence is often traumatic. When you work with 
victims of crime you are working with people who have 
experienced trauma. Victims of crime may also have been 
traumatized by previous experiences such as Adverse Childhood 
Experiences (ACEs), which can have an impact on how they 


respond to more recent trauma. In addition, our responses and 
services can be stressful and confusing for most people. All of this 
can influence to what extent a victim is willing and/or able to 
participate in system responses and services. Trauma and your 
response to it, can impact your ability to carry out your role. The 
trauma that these victims experience can affect their participation 
in two key ways: 

 

1. Participation in services and interventions can be difficult for 
victims who have experienced trauma, because the services, 
investigations, prosecution, and release notifications throughout 
the process can bring up the experience of the crime. When 
victims see the people or pictures of the places or scenes of the 
incidents of violence, it can bring up the feelings and sensations 
associated with those traumatic events, which can cause 
flashbacks, when a victim/survivor re-experiences the incident. 
This kind of re-experiencing may cause feelings of panic, anger, 
disorientation, physical pain, grief, or numbing and shutting 
down. These traumatic reminders are referred to as ÒtriggersÓ 
and these triggers during the service or response you offer can 
disrupt your service, investigation, prosecution or notification, 
while also causing significant pain to the victims/survivors. 

 


2. Credibility determinations of whether the victim is being 
truthful are often made by people with positions of authority in 
our system responses and services, without recognizing the 
impact of trauma on victims. A great deal of our system response 
is based on proving that something did or did not happen. Most 
peopleÕs lives arenÕt like that. When someone is forced into the 
criminal justice system because they have been victimized, their 
credibility is constantly being assessed. 

 

This experience is unsettling for most people but to someone who 
is traumatized it can be triggering. It can also impact the course 
of a criminal investigation, whether the incident is referred to 
prosecution. Triggering experiences can also impact a victimÕs 
ability to access advocacy services. Even if your program is not 
set up to determine credibility itÕs a natural instinct to assess 
credibility with someone in your program. The problem of making 
accurate credibility assessments is that determining whether a 
person is truthful is often based on the investigator, prosecutor or 
victim advocateÕs sense of what a reasonable person can 
remember, or how they believe a victim should look or sound 
when talking about life threatening events. However, traumatic 
events can alter the way a person thinks, talks and even 
remembers an incident. To survive, victims may have dissociated, 
allowing them to experience the incident without actually feeling 


the full effect. For example, someone who experiences a near 
deadly car crash caused by a driver under the influence, may 
dissociate so they donÕt feel all the pain and terror associated 
with the incident. The victim may talk about the car accident in a 
flat and scattered manner when contacting an advocate, 
reporting to law enforcement, or testifying. Without knowing 
dissociation is normal for trauma, an advocate, investigator or 
prosecutor can find it hard to believe a victim who is showing 
signs of trauma. An advocate, investigator, or prosecutor may 
find it hard to believe a victim is credible if they donÕt understand 
what dissociation is or how it is related to trauma. 

What Can Advocates do to Help? 

The most effective advocates incorporate an in-depth 
understanding of trauma into every part of their services. The 
crime and subsequent investigatory and prosecutorial processes 
often leave participants feeling a loss of control. Recognizing this 
and alerting investigators and prosecutors about the impact of 
trauma can help them fully engage victims in their responses by 
minimizing and avoiding re- traumatization, to the extent 
possible. Advocates can provide victims with information about 
the impact of trauma and adapt how they work with victims to 
create a welcoming environment that incorporates both physical 
and emotional safety. 


 

Advocates who are trauma-informed expect the presence of 
trauma and do what they can to prepare for it and help system 
responders to adapt as well. Ways to do this include: 

¥ Review your office space and decorum: 
o Ensure it is not chaotic, over stimulating, and noisy. 
o Make sure the space you meet with victims is not too 
small or crowded with furniture. 
o Make sure the victim has easy access to the door and 
feels they can leave at any point. 
o Ensure victims are clearly and kindly directed to your 
office or meeting room when they arrive for 
appointments. 



¥ Take time to develop a rapport with the victims you work 
with before you have them discuss or recount traumatic 
experiences. 
¥ Normalize the victimÕs behavior. Help others understand the 
impact of trauma and adapt the way they work with victims. 
¥ Talk to victims about what helps them when they are 
triggered or reminded of traumatic experiences. 
¥ Incorporate a what-to-expect discussion into every meeting 
with the victim. This should be a routine preparation for 
investigators, prosecutors, probation and parole officers and 
other system responders as well. Predictability, to the extent 



possible,helpsalleviateavictimÕsfearsandhelps thempreparetoparticipateinasystem responseorservice.

oExplainandwalkvictims throughtheprocess ofyour 
advocacyservice,investigationprosecutionor releasenotificationso theyknowwhatto expect.Talkthemthroughtheprocess step-by-step.
oDiscuss logisticaldetails,andhavethematerialavailableinmany formats:e.g.apamphlet,agraphic,
asimple step-by-step instruction page,available indifferentlanguages suchas wheretheywillgo,who 
theywilltalkto,thepurposeofthediscussion,remindthemthattheycanaskfor breaks,andshowthemthelocationofrestrooms or howtheycangetsomethingto 
drinkoreat, ifneeded.
oBeclear aboutthelimitations ofyour role.
oBeclearabouttheroleyoucanplay.
oAdvocates canoftenremember moreaboutwhatthevictimtoldthem,thanvictims mightwhentheyarerecountingevents under stress.Talkingwiththevictimaheadoftimeabouthowtheymighthelpthevictimiftheyforget keydetailswouldbehelpful.
¥Createaphysical andemotionalsafetyplanfor meetings 
with investigators,prosecutors,participating in a legal

proceeding, or anticipating the release of the person who 
committed the crime. 
¥ Whenever possible offer to accompany the victim through a 
specific investigation, courtroom proceeding, meeting with 
probation or other system response. 
¥ Prior to the scheduled event, offer to and plan how you will 
accompany the victim to the location where the event is 
scheduled. 
¥ Strategize with them around any emotional or physical 
challenges to the space, investigation, prosecution or other 
event. 
¥ Agree on a simple cue to let you know they are feeling 
overwhelmed or triggered. 
¥ Learn grounding techniques to help victims reorient in the 
present when they are triggered, dissociating, overwhelmed 
or feeling intense anxiety. 
o Practice these techniques generally and once proficient, 
practice them with victims to develop a rapport and to 
discuss when they might be needed. 
o If possible, practice them in the location of the 
investigatory interview, hearing, deposition, or victim 
impact statement before it takes place. 



¥ Ask for a break to give the victim a chance to get grounded 
after being triggered. 



¥ If you are not able to accompany a victim, or you feel they 
need more support, suggest and help arrange for the victim 
to have a supportive person come with them. 
¥ Explore the use of emotional support animals during any of 
these services or responses. 
¥ If an interpreter is needed to participate in the interview, 
service or any legal proceedings, discuss the process with 
the victim so they know what to expect and explore any 
potential trauma that may be compounded by interpretation. 
¥ Help investigators, prosecutors, probation officers and other 
system responders understand that the victim may need 
them to rephrase questions if it is clear that the 
interpretation process is additionally re-traumatizing or 
confusing. 
¥ If immigration and customs enforcement are conducting 
targeted apprehensions in your courthouse, coming to court 
may pose an additional risk for victims that should be 
considered and carefully discussed. 


Authors: Olga Trujillo, JD and Patricia Moen Directors, 
Caminar Latino, NRC Partner