The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

The PAVE Project Report 41
AIMS OF THE GROUPS
M
ost of the groups had both support (service provision) and advocacy aims,
confirming Hamber’s (2003) observations that, while victim or survivor
support groups “offer direct support and services to their members (e.g., counselling
and befriending), most have broader goals of continuing the fight for recognition,
acknowledgment and justice in the post-conflict phase” (p.85).
The importance of both, support and advocacy, was reflected in the statements of
service users, that frequently touched on themes such as the need for empathy and
friendship, of being with people with similar experiences, the feelings of trust and
safety, as well as the necessity for lobbying for justice and recognition:
“I feel people do still need to be heard, and, unless they are heard, then, no one
can help or even understand what is like to go through those things. I wouldn’t
dismiss anybody as being a victim at all. Because I feel that, in a sense, everyone is
a victim. But it’s learning how… to give them survival techniques in order to help
them to move on.” (Interviewee L)
“Well, they’re helping me in that the people who come here are all on the same
boat, and if you excuse the expression, and I feel there’s a common denominator
there. And we are all sort of focused on the one element on it in that we are all
there to heal your mind” (Interviewee O)