‘. . . there’s so much within the work that we do where all we kind of need is the space and the safety’: The experiences of Australian practitioners who support autistic survivors of sexual and domestic violence

Research has found that autistic women experience elevated rates of sexual and domestic violence and may benefit from accessing support to recover. This study aimed to explore the experiences of Australian practitioners and the approaches they use to support the recovery needs of autistic women who are survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 Australian practitioners to capture their experiences of supporting autistic women who are survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Data from these interviews were analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis, which generated four themes about participants' experiences in supporting autistic survivors: (1) unburdening the processing load of understanding violence and trauma, (2) understanding support and recovery needs as interconnected, (3) lived experience as a therapeutic tool, and (4) the challenges of practicing within unaffirming and invalidating systems. The findings illustrate how Australian practitioners help autistic survivors by accommodating their recovery support needs, and the systematic and structural issues that create barriers to recovery for autistic survivors while putting additional strain on the practitioners who support them. The findings also highlight practice implications around how supporting autistic survivors with interoceptive awareness and understanding their needs within relationships is beneficial to their recovery.Lay AbstractResearch has commonly found that autistic women are more likely than autistic men and non-autistic women to be harmed in their sexual and romantic relationships and may need support in healing from the impacts of these experiences. In this study, we wanted to find out more from the people who provide this support to autistic women. We asked 14 Australian practitioners about what they do to support autistic women who have experienced these types of harm in their relationships, and what makes this harder or easier for them to do. We then analysed the common patterns (themes) in what these practitioners said. From this we found that Australian practitioners often help autistic women to heal by providing a safe and supportive space to process their experiences and recover from what has happened to them. We also found that an important part of the support that practitioners provide autistic survivors is helping them to understand their experiences of violence and build awareness of feelings in their body (interoception). The practitioners in this study also talked about how the autistic women that they support often have bad experiences when getting help from support services and systems that commonly do not meet their needs. This often makes it harder for practitioners to help autistic women heal and a lot of them suggested that services could be made better by learning more about autistic people's different support needs and how to accommodate these.