Victim/survivors’ reasons for volunteering in Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA)

Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) rely on community volunteers to operate; approximately one-quarter of these volunteers have lived experience of sexual violence. Research on the motivations of these victim/survivor volunteers has not utilised general community samples of victim/survivors but has focused on those victim/survivors who already volunteer with CoSA. This research addresses this gap. It involved a survey of 193 victim/survivors and investigated victim/survivors’ purported reasons for wanting or not wanting to volunteer in a CoSA. The findings may assist CoSA programs to enact evidence-based strategies for recruiting and supporting victim/survivor volunteers.