Safety

• You can seek support at all stages of the process: before you decide to reach out or respond to a journalist; after you make the decision to share your story; while telling your story; and after the story comes out.
• If you are considering or decide to speak to the media, seek support and guidance from any of the following:
  • advocates and support groups.
  • health and medical professionals.
  • legal professionals, police and government agencies.
  • friends and family.
  • peer support network.
  • advocacy organisations who offer media support services.

Managing disclosures

Many victims and survivors who tell their stories through the media receive disclosures from others, which can be challenging and overwhelming. Advice from other victims and survivors who have managed this includes:

• provide a list of support services in your social media profile.
• if you have an email, include an automatic reply giving numbers for support services.
• close your social media off for private messaging.
• have a public and a private profile.

Social media

Social media is a place to find support and a community, but it can also be a place for bullying, trolling and victim-blaming. There are several strategies to help manage social media:

• Understand how social media platforms work.
• Set accounts to private and/or manage privacy settings. Close off comments on your accounts.
• Carefully select the accounts you choose to follow and whether those accounts can also see your profile.
• Consider asking an advocate or other support person to monitor social media on your behalf.
• Take a break from social media.
• The ABC has a guide on how to prepare for what may happen on social media: Preparing for exposure to a larger audience.

Once you do go public you get a lot, a lot of disclosures from the public and I know people are not prepared for the volume of disclosures that you get and it’s through your social media channels. So it’s like your private space, so you might still have a private profile. So you’re not only dealing with everyone knowing your stuff, but also then obviously you want to respond as well to someone else who is disclosing ... and then you’ve got this great responsibility to respond appropriately.

(Victim and survivor)