5.7.2.2 Risk Factors for Stress-Related Conditions

All are vulnerable to burnout, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, but certain risk factors make some more vulnerable than others.

By understanding your personal risk factors, it’s easier to identify how to cope with stress more effectively.

Discussed below are some risk factors for stress-related conditions that advocates might face.

Past victimization: If you are a survivor of sexual abuse, sexual assault, intimate partner violence or other trauma, unresolved issues could cloud your perspective as an advocate.

For example, you might over-identify with a survivor or take an overly protective role, attempting to rescue them or make decisions for them. You also might relive your own victimization.

Although these same experiences can be the ones that drive us to work for the rights of survivors and give us greater empathy for them, we need to be aware of how our personal story can intrude on our advocacy.

It’s important to have a professional counsellor with whom to talk through these issues as they come up.

Personal life: If you already have a high level of stress in other areas of your life, the stress of advocating for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence may put a larger strain on you than others.