‘Louise’ is a 14 year old girl who was assaulted by a group of girls whilst on her way home from visiting a friend. The girls responsible all attend the same school as Louise. 

 

On receiving the referral a Voyce worker visited Louise and her Mum at home and listened to what they had to say about the incident and its effects. They explained that although Louise’s injuries were relatively minor, she would not go to school for several days afterwards as she was scared of further problems. Her Mum said she now accompanies Louise to and from school, and Louise has stopped going out with friends socially because of what happened so has become quite isolated.

 

Both Louise and her Mum were unaware that one of the girls had been charged with assault and were pleased that the case was subsequently referred to the Children’s Reporter. In the course of conversation the Voyce worker picked up on the fact that bullying had already been a problem for Louise, and was therefore able to give some literature about bullying to assist both Louise and her Mum.

 

Given that personal safety was an issue, the worker also offered Louise a personal alarm. Both Louise and Mum thought this was a good idea, and would boost Louise’s confidence and enable her to socialise more. Her Mum indicated that there were other family issues at the time of the incident, causing the impact to be greater.

 

A referral had already been made to the local Victim Support community based service for further emotional support, but Voyce was also able to provide information and refer on to a local befriending service for Louise as well as provide information about a specific counselling service for another family member.