Follow My Lead
Follow My Lead is an awareness raising resource about domestic and family violence for responders.
Follow My Lead is a resource that speaks from the voices of people with lived experience of domestic, family and sexualised violence who need the professionals and their social networks to be more prepared to respond in ways that uphold their dignity and build on safety.
“How you respond to me when I share with you, and in the time that follows, matters significantly to me.”
Watch the Follow My Lead animation (4mins) (English)
Sígueme a Mí es un material que habla desde las voces de las personas que han vivido Violencia Interpersonal y Familiar que necesitan que, tanto profesionales como sus redes de apoyo social, estén mejor preparadas para responder de maneras que sostengan su dignidad y construyan seguridad.
“Las maneras en las respondas cuando te comparto cosas, y en los momentos posteriores, es muy relevante para mí.”
Ve aquí la animación Sígueme a Mí (4mins) (Español)
Booklets: Follow My Lead | Follow My Lead Aotearoa I Sígueme a Mí
Read the Follow My Lead booklet
(Australian Support Contacts)
Read the Follow My Lead Aotearoa booklet
(New Zealand Support Contacts)
Lee aquí el folleto Sígueme a Mí (Español)
(Contactos de Apoyo en México)
A4 Digital Posters with static QR code
More opportunities for sharing these resources
Follow My Lead Library
The National Risk Assessment Principles for domestic and family violence outlines 7 principles which Follow My Lead seeks to amplify and uphold. Principle 1 and 3 (below) are central to the purpose and application of Follow My Lead when responding to victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexualised violence (DFSV).
- Principle 1 Survivors’ safety is the core priority of all risk assessment frameworks and tools.
- Principle 3 A survivor’s knowledge of their own risk is central to any risk assessment.
Reference: Toivonen, C., & Backhouse, C. (2018). National Risk Assessment Principles for domestic and family violence: Quick reference guide for practitioners (ANROWS Insights 10/2018). Sydney, NSW: ANROWS
Follow My Lead Library - examples
The Follow My Lead library shares de-identified examples of follow my lead in action. The library features experiences of responses described by victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexualised violence, and responses from responders.
- Play the video to listen to the example in audio
- Open the related PDF to read the audio script in text
These examples are not conclusive, exhaustive or advisory and do not provide a full context.
Reflective Questions | Victim-survivor
We asked victim-survivors these four questions:
- Please describe a short specific example of when a responder (formal or informal) has followed your lead?
- What was the responder doing/saying (or not doing/saying) to not take over - to follow your lead?
- From your perspective, what thinking or beliefs do you think the responder had, to make it possible for them to follow your lead?
- Responses can have immediate and lasting influence and impact. In the example you have given what difference do you think that made in the moment to where the conversation or contact went?
Reflective Questions | Responder
We asked responders these four questions:
- Please describe a short specific example of what following a victim-survivors lead has looked like?
- What is one assumption, habit, or discomfort you have to manage in yourself to not take over, in order to follow the person’s lead?
- All organisations and roles have constraints and limits. Have you found a way to follow a persons lead within the constraints/rules that you can't change. What do you think about when you do that?
- We won’t ever know what our approach might have meant to the victim-survivor at the time, and over time, but what difference do you think this made ‘in the moment’?
Read the audio script in text (PDF) | VS 01
Read the audio script in text (PDF) | R 01
Read the audio script in text (PDF) | R 02
Read the audio script in text (PDF) | R 03
Read the audio script in text (PDF) | R 04
Read the audio script in text (PDF) | R 05
Follow My Lead Background Context:
- Read about the background to Follow My Lead and feedback that informed the first edition of Follow My Lead.
- Read the background context (1 Page) about the development of Follow My Lead Aotearoa.
Share Feedback to improve future editions
Accessibility versions in MS Word
- accessibility version of Follow My Lead (Australian Contacts)
- accessibility version of Follow My Lead Aotearoa in Word (New Zealand Contacts)
Are you reflecting on your own relationships and experiences?
Are you reflecting on your own relationships and experiences of domestic and family violence? Explore more about My Safety Kit
Are you reflecting on experiences of or responses to sexualised violence? Explore more about My Dignity - My Body is Mine