What public-service agents think interpreters should know to work with gender violence victims. The ‘Speak Out for Support’ (SOS-VICS) project

Abstract

The academic community is showing keen interest in Public Service Interpreting (PSI) due to its importance in ensuring fair treatment and human rights’ protection in an increasingly mobile world population. The importance of good interpreter training and provision of professional services is therefore an essential requisite for ensuring quality language mediation. PSI in gender violence (GV) settings is one such service that needs close attention. Communication of public service agents with foreign victims in the different areas (courts, police, forensic medicine, etc.) and stages of GV assistance involves specific features, and therefore the need for specialised training. Speak Out for Support (SOS‑VICS) is an EU funded project that has created resources to provide specialised training for interpreters assisting GV victims. The project first ascertained the communication needs of all stakeholders (service providers, victims and interpreters) and then prepared a set of resources aimed at enhancing such communication. This paper addresses service providers’ perceptions of the training needs of interpreters and presents the main topics raised, such as specific knowledge on GV and of the field (legal, medical, etc.), understanding of the gender perspective or management of ethics, trauma and stress issues.