Authentic Voice
Authentic Voice: Embedding Lived Experience in Scotland is a partnership project from SafeLives, the Improvement Service, and Resilience Learning Partnership, working together with survivors of gender based violence (GBV) and other forms of complex trauma.
Authentic Voice aims to help local authorities and partners develop safe, meaningful and trauma-informed processes that ensure survivors’ voices influence and shape services, systems and pathways of support in local communities across Scotland.
The project is overseen by the SafeLives Authentic Voice Panel and is supported by the National Trauma Transformation Programme and Delivering Equally Safe Fund.
The AV Project has worked with stakeholders across a wide range of policy areas to understand what support is needed to embed the voices of lived experience of children and families who have experienced physical, sexual and/ or emotional abuse and trauma into systems and services. This work has been underpinned by a shared understanding that these activities will support improved practice amongst local workforces when engaging with people affected by all forms of psychological trauma and has led to the creation of a suite of resources that can be used by professionals working across a wide range of policy areas and services.