How to Tell Whose Telling the Truth?

If you support people at work or in education, you’ve probably faced this question: “Who’s harming who here, and how do we respond safely?” A lot of teams/people can freeze when a harmful situation arises, not sure who to beleive or how to respond, especially when harm isn’t physical, both people are distressed, or the story doesn’t match stereotypes.

An LGBTQIA+ lens helps us recognise harm in any relationship because it forces us to focus on power, control, and patterns over time (not “who looks stronger” or “who sounds calmer”).

Try these 4 questions:

- Who benefits from the relationship rules?

- What’s the pattern of control/abuse over time (not one incident)?

- Who can say “no” without consequences?

- After an incident, who takes responsibility, and who minimises, blames, or flips it?

If your organisation supports staff/students/clients, this can improve safeguarding, HR responses, student support and frontline practice.

👉 Want your team to feel confident responding to disclosures and spotting unhealthy dynamics earlier? Message Pride Point with “TRAINING” and we’ll send options + pricing (online or in-person).