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Survivors tell Judiciary committee how to make testimony safer and clearer
Summary
Survivors and advocates told the Vermont Judiciary committee that simple practices — clear briefing, plain language, visible attention and safety options — make legislative testimony less retraumatizing. Committee staff agreed to draft a written guidance packet for witnesses.
Survivors and victim advocates told the Judiciary committee Friday that clearer preparation, respectful body language and safety options help people give testimony without being retraumatized.
The session, led by Angela Pullman of the Center for Crime Victim Services and three survivors who testified, aimed to give committee members concrete guidance for taking witness testimony in a trauma-informed way.
Participants said the most important changes are procedural and low-cost: tell witnesses how hearings work, explain why committee members take notes or use laptops, offer privacy or remote testimony options, allow a support person and warn witnesses that written testimony and recordings will be posted publicly.
“We always want to start from that place of believing, victims and survivors,” said Kelsey Rice, a survivor of domestic violence, describing how the tone of a hearing can affect witnesses. Rice and two other survivors — Taylor Russell (who has testified previously under the name Taylor Fontaine) and…
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