ICDVP Cultural Competence & Ethical Practices 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A male survivor seeks DV services at an agency that primarily serves women. The ethical response is to:
- Explain that the program is designed for women and redirect him to law enforcement
- Assess his needs and provide or refer to appropriate services without dismissing his experience (Correct answer)
- Ask him to prove the abuse occurred before providing assistance
- Offer services only if his female partner has also contacted the agency
Correct answer: Assess his needs and provide or refer to appropriate services without dismissing his experience
DV affects people of all genders and ethical advocates provide or facilitate access to services without gatekeeping.
Question 2: Which scenario represents a conflict of interest that an advocate must disclose?
- The advocate previously volunteered at a different DV organization
- The advocate is personally acquainted with the survivor's abuser outside of work (Correct answer)
- The advocate has professional training in trauma-informed care
- The advocate recently attended a DV conference funded by a state grant
Correct answer: The advocate is personally acquainted with the survivor's abuser outside of work
A personal relationship with an abuser creates a conflict of interest that could compromise objectivity and survivor safety.
Question 3: Trauma-informed care in a culturally competent DV program recognizes that:
- All survivors respond to trauma the same way regardless of background
- Cultural context shapes how trauma is expressed, interpreted, and healed (Correct answer)
- Trauma symptoms are best addressed through one universal therapeutic model
- Cultural factors are secondary to addressing physical safety needs
Correct answer: Cultural context shapes how trauma is expressed, interpreted, and healed
Cultural background influences how survivors understand, express, and seek healing from trauma.
Question 4: A survivor's abuser is also a client at the same agency in an unrelated program. The advocate's primary obligation is to:
- Share information between programs to improve service coordination
- Maintain strict confidentiality and implement safety protocols to prevent contact between parties (Correct answer)
- Inform the survivor that the abuser receives services there and suggest she transfer to another agency
- Ask the abuser to voluntarily withdraw from the agency's services
Correct answer: Maintain strict confidentiality and implement safety protocols to prevent contact between parties
When both parties are served by the same agency, information firewalls and physical separation protocols are essential ethical obligations.
Question 5: A survivor who is deaf requests services. Under ethical and legal obligations, the agency must:
- Refer her to a deaf-specific organization since they lack qualified interpreters
- Provide qualified sign language interpretation at no cost to the survivor (Correct answer)
- Offer written notes as an equivalent alternative to interpreters
- Schedule her only when a bilingual staff member is available
Correct answer: Provide qualified sign language interpretation at no cost to the survivor
The Americans with Disabilities Act and ethical standards require agencies to provide qualified interpreters at no charge to deaf survivors.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'intersectionality' in DV advocacy work?
- The point at which two safety planning strategies overlap
- The recognition that survivors hold multiple identities that interact to shape their experiences of violence and access to services (Correct answer)
- A model for scheduling multi-agency case conferences
- A legal theory used in court proceedings involving DV
Correct answer: The recognition that survivors hold multiple identities that interact to shape their experiences of violence and access to services
Intersectionality acknowledges that race, gender, class, disability, and other identities compound and shape each survivor's unique experience.
Question 7: An advocate is asked by a researcher to share de-identified survivor data for a DV study. The ethical requirement is to:
- Share it freely since the data is de-identified and poses no risk
- Obtain informed consent from survivors and ensure IRB approval before any data sharing (Correct answer)
- Allow the supervisor to decide without informing survivors
- Provide aggregate statistics only and skip the consent process
Correct answer: Obtain informed consent from survivors and ensure IRB approval before any data sharing
Even de-identified data sharing for research purposes requires survivor consent and institutional ethics review.
ICDVP Cultural Competence & Ethical Practices 4
A male survivor seeks DV services at an agency that primarily serves women.
The ethical response is to: