NOTA News Newsletter July 2018 1

Branch News
NOTA Northern Ireland
On Thursday 22 March, I attended
as a Youth Justice Agency
delegate, the NI NOTA Branch
Conference and Training Event
which this year was focussed on
females who sexually abuse. The
conference was close to the border,
at the beautiful Dromantine Retreat
and Conference Centre, which
meant that there were colleagues
present from across the island of
Ireland; in total, over 80 delegates
were present from a range of
organisations which resulted in
lively and wide-ranging debate.
The conference aimed to explore the
theory, research, assessment and
interventions in respect of females
who sexually abuse. Admittedly,
this was a subject that I had little
knowledge of and I was eager
to hear from others about their
experiences.
The day was opened by the NI
Branch Chair, Yvonne Adair, who
welcomed all and urged everyone
to appreciate the time out to come
together to discuss and learn about
this challenging group.
Gareth McGibbon, Independent
Social Worker, began the day with a
“myth or fact” quiz which highlighted
just how little I knew about the
subject at hand. This was followed
by a presentation by Stephen Sherry,
Public Protection Arrangements
for Norther Ireland, who gave an
insight into ‘The Challenges of
Females who Sexually Offend’. Val
Owens, Independent Social Worker,
then took the stage to share her
extensive knowledge of research into
this subject and its findings, which
gave food for thought to all. Val
highlighted, in particular, the difficulty
in gathering research on this subject
given the limited number of cases
reported each year.
As the second session got underway,
Marcella Leonard (Social Worker,
Leonard Consultancy) introduced
a look at ‘Female Sexuality - is it
Changing?’ Marcella left us in no
doubt about the ways in which
females differ from males in how they
view and experience sexual thoughts,
express intimacy and sexually offend.
Marcella provided much needed
humour to the session and directly
challenged my personal view that
females and males act alike in their
sexual offending. This was followed
by a powerful presentation from
Noelle Collins (Belfast and Lisburn
Women’s Aid) on ‘Exploitation
through Human Trafficking’ and
the reality of living in an oppressive
environment.
There was a lot to discuss with
colleagues over lunch, which
provided an opportunity to network
and compare our thoughts on the
morning’s proceedings.
The afternoon session commenced
with Gareth McGibbon providing
input on ‘Assessing Female Risk’.
This was followed by Marcella,
focusing on the ‘Impact [of
abuse by females] on Victims of
Sexual Abuse’. Both were highly
informative, with Marcella in
particular, shedding light on the
impact on young males who are
abused by a female. The final input
of the day was delivered by Gareth,
who looked at a range of current
interventions with female offenders
and the impact they have had.
The event, which covered much
ground and gained an excellent level
of engagement, was concluded
by Yvonne Adair, who summarised
and drew upon some of the more
pertinent points raised: Females
ARE sexual; their offending has a
very different pattern to males; and,
there is some correlation between
females who have experienced
childhood trauma and those who
become involved in sexual deviance.
It was heartening to attend an event
with focused inputs from all speakers
alongside space given to delegates
to interact and share their learning
from the events of the day.
Immediate and spontaneous
feedback on the day was very
positive, and that received
from those who completed the postevent
survey was most encouraging.
For example:
• “This was an excellent conference
that provided realistic overview
on research and current views on
required interventions for females
with HSB”
• “Every presentation provided
much food for thought”
• “Has really shaken up my preconceived
notions about F.S.O.s”
All presentations from the day are
available under the Northern Ireland
section of the NOTA web site.
Gary Halliday
Youth Conference Co-ordinator
Youth Justice Agency
www.nota.co.uk conference@nota.co.uk @notaevents
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