Witness support in sexual misconduct cases: support needs to understand the process

The Professional Standards Authority’s (PSA) new report, Improving the handling of sexual misconduct cases in Fitness to Practise, is an important contribution to the conversation about how sexual misconduct cases are handled within professional regulation.

At LimeCulture, we particularly welcome the report’s focus on the experience and support of witnesses.

The PSA identifies the importance of early and ongoing tailored support, recognising that vulnerability is not fixed or categorical, but can be situational and change throughout the process. It also makes an important connection between effective witness support, witness engagement, evidence quality and fair decision-making.

This strongly aligns with LimeCulture’s position.

But there is another question that we believe deserves attention:

Who should provide that support?

Support needs to understand the organisation and the process

Our experience is that support is most effective when it is not simply something provided alongside an organisational process, but when it is properly connected to the organisation and the process the person is navigating.

LimeCulture’s internal support model has now been successfully implemented across more than 95 universities, NHS Trusts and police forces.

The model recognises that people reporting or experiencing sexual misconduct are often navigating much more than an investigation.

They may be dealing with HR processes, disciplinary procedures, safeguarding arrangements, professional standards, student or patient processes, police involvement or regulatory proceedings. They may still be working or studying within the organisation. They may have to continue interacting with the person whose conduct is being considered.

The systems can be complex. The terminology can be unfamiliar. The timescales can be lengthy. Different parts of the organisation may have different responsibilities.

For someone already dealing with the impact of sexual misconduct, navigating all of this can feel overwhelming.

This is why we believe there is particular value in support being provided by people who understand the organisation and its processes, as well as sexual misconduct and its impact.

That combination matters.

Tailored support means more than a generic referral

There is an important distinction between telling someone where they can access support and providing support that is genuinely tailored to the process they are experiencing.

A generic referral to an external service may be appropriate for some people and, in many circumstances, external specialist support will be an important part of someone’s wider support network.

But it cannot necessarily answer questions such as:

• What happens next in this particular process?
• Who will contact me and when?
• What does this stage of the investigation mean?
• Who can I speak to if my circumstances change?
• What happens if I still have to work alongside the person concerned?
• How do the different processes I am involved in fit together?
• What support or adjustments might be available to me at the next stage?

These are questions that require knowledge of the organisation and its processes, alongside specialist understanding of sexual misconduct.

That is at the heart of LimeCulture’s approach.

Where does the ISVA role fit?

We are seeing organisations increasingly recognise the need to provide support to employees who have been affected by sexual misconduct. At the same time, we are seeing organisations look to external agencies and professionals to provide that support, including asking ISVAs to take on this role.

LimeCulture has championed the role of the Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) for more than a decade. We have seen first-hand the difference that skilled, independent advocacy and support can make to victim-survivors. As recognition of the ISVA role has grown, so too has demand for their expertise.

However, we are increasingly concerned that ISVAs are being asked to move beyond their intended role and become involved in internal organisational processes, including workplace investigations, HR procedures and disciplinary processes.

This is not what ISVAs are trained or commissioned to do.

An ISVA’s role is fundamentally centred on the needs, rights and choices of the victim-survivor. They provide independent, specialist support and advocacy, helping individuals navigate the criminal justice system and the support services around them.

They are not organisational investigators, HR professionals, disciplinary advisers or organisational safeguarding leads.

There is also a practical issue. An ISVA operating externally to an organisation cannot reasonably be expected to understand or influence the complex policies, structures, reporting lines, employment processes and organisational dynamics that underpin an internal response.

This does not diminish the important role that an ISVA or other external specialist service can play. For many people, independent specialist support will be an essential part of their wider support network.

But it does mean that the responsibility for responding appropriately to sexual misconduct within an organisation must remain with the organisation itself.

Support should be part of the organisational response

For us, the goal is not simply to create better support services. It is to create better organisational responses to sexual misconduct.

That means having people who understand sexual misconduct, trauma and its impact, but who also understand the organisation in which the concern has arisen.

It means support that starts early, is reviewed as circumstances change and is connected to the person’s actual experience of the process.

And it means recognising that providing good support is not a threat to independence or procedural fairness.

Done properly, it can strengthen both.

A supported witness is better able to understand and navigate the process. An organisation that communicates well and provides appropriate support can demonstrate that it is taking responsibility for responding to harm. And a process that enables people to participate effectively is more likely to support fair, robust decision-making.

This is why LimeCulture believes organisations need appropriately trained supporters located within the organisation.

These individuals can provide specialist support to people affected by sexual misconduct while understanding the organisation’s structures, policies and processes, and working alongside — not instead of — HR, safeguarding, investigations and other organisational functions.

Their role is not to investigate the allegation, determine the outcome or advocate for a particular finding.

Their role is different.

They can help the person understand what is happening, navigate the process, identify what support they need and understand what different stages of the process mean. They can help ensure that appropriate adjustments and support are considered and that the person’s needs remain visible as the case progresses.

Importantly, they can do this because they understand how that particular organisation works.

Rebuilding trust

There is also a wider organisational and cultural benefit.

When an organisation responds to sexual misconduct, it has an opportunity to demonstrate that it takes what has happened seriously and is committed to putting things right.

For the person affected, having access to a skilled support professional within that organisation can be an important part of rebuilding trust.

Providing trusted, appropriately trained internal support demonstrates that an organisation is prepared to take responsibility for the experience of its people. It creates an opportunity to build trust and confidence within the workforce and to demonstrate, through its actions, that people can seek help and be supported within the organisation.

By contrast, routinely directing people to external agencies to access support can, unintentionally, reinforce the perception that the organisation itself is not equipped or trusted to support its people.

The parallels with Fitness to Practise

Although our model has been implemented across universities, NHS Trusts and police forces, many of the complexities we see in those settings are also relevant to Fitness to Practise processes.

A person providing evidence to a regulator may already have navigated an employer’s internal processes. They may still work within the profession. There may be safeguarding, employment, disciplinary, criminal or other regulatory considerations running alongside the FtP process.

The person can therefore experience the process as one part of a much bigger journey.

The PSA report recognises many of these challenges. It highlights the importance of supporting witnesses so that they can give their best possible evidence and identifies the risks that trauma, repeated questioning, poor communication and lack of contact can create for both witness engagement and evidence quality.

This is why we welcome the report’s focus on moving towards more responsive and flexible support.

From support to trust

The PSA report is a positive step forward in recognising that the experience of witnesses matters to the quality and fairness of Fitness to Practise processes.

We particularly welcome its emphasis on early and ongoing tailored support and its recognition that vulnerability needs to be understood in a more responsive and flexible way.

Our experience across more than 95 universities, NHS Trusts and police forces reinforces this.

Support works best when it understands the person, the organisation and the process.

For us, that means developing internal support capability that is specialist in sexual misconduct, but also expert in the systems and processes through which the organisation responds.

Because ultimately, good support is about more than helping someone get through a process.

It is also an opportunity for an organisation to demonstrate that it has heard what has happened, understands the impact, and is committed to putting things right.

Organisations need to build the capability to support their people from within.