A guide to help activists understand and improve trauma support and recovery after police brutality.
Key Points from the Resource
A group of activists came together to produce this resource because of the increasing police violence they have witnessed at non-violent blockades in Wellington and Auckland over the past several years, and the resulting effects they have experienced ourselves as organisers and participants in those actions.
Trauma is not something we talk a lot about in activist communities. Sometimes it is because we have been relatively insulated from violence and brutality so it is unfamiliar terrain for us; conversely, sometimes it is because we valorise being “staunch” in actions and there can be a perception of shame associated with feeling traumatised after being brutalised by police. Equally, for some the experience of police brutality is nothing new or notable, and the resulting effects are often not recognised.
Potential Signs and Symptoms That May Indicate Trauma
- Flashbacks & nightmares while asleep
- Depression
- Feeling numb, switched off
- Becoming withdrawn, self-isolation
- Changes in eating, sleeping or sexual habits
- Stomach pain, nausea, muscle tension, fatigue
- Fear, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, panic attacks
- Guilt, shame, self-blame, regret
- Difficulty concentrating or remembering
- Suicidal thoughts, feeling that there is no point in living
- Doubting political activism and relationships with friends
- Reliving previous, other traumatic experiences
- Hopelessness, belief that this phase will never end
What You Can Do for Yourself
- Remind yourself: your reactions are normal and there is help available; this is a difficult phase but you will get better.
- Immediately after the experience: get to a place where you feel safe and take care of yourself. This may mean allowing other people to take care of you.
- See a professional if that is what you need.
How to Support a Friend
- Don’t wait for them to ask for help. Be there for them.
- The days immediately after the experience are crucial. This is when all the emotions are easily accessible. It’s good to talk then.
- Bear in mind that many people seem all right after traumatic experiences and that reactions may come later.
- Behave normally. Pity or self-indulgent “overcare” do not help.
What You Can Do as a Group
If you want to support each other through stress or trauma post action, make the goal of your gathering or meeting clear. There is definitely a time and a place for detailed reflection and sharing of how the action went and what went well and didn’t go well, but it might not be immediately after the experience. What people may initially need is help with regulating their nervous systems, and grounding them.
Access the full PDF of Police Brutality and Activist Trauma Support and Recovery.
A message from Roots of Change Collective
Challenging power is hard work, so how do we support each other through the tough times?
One of the amazing things about activists is that we are often willing to expose ourselves to stressful or potentially upsetting situations when we believe it is necessary as part of changing our world for the better. This work of confronting and speaking truth to power, and disrupting the status quo, is not easy.
Over the past few years, a number of us have witnessed an increase in police violence at blockades in Wellington and Auckland against the Weapons Expo and the Petroleum Summit. After the Petroleum Summit community blockade in Wellington last year, many of us were left exhausted, burnt out and either experiencing, or supporting those experiencing trauma as a result of the violent police response.
Sometimes we might underestimate violence from police, sometimes we are not prepared for the stress involved in a political action.
Some of us have felt ill-equipped to support each other as both individuals and groups when witnessing trauma after actions. For some, the trauma is accumulative after being involved in activism for a number of years and witnessing or experiencing repeated violence. Witnessing or experiencing police violence for the first time can be a deeply shocking experience. But for others police and institutional violence is no new or notable thing, and its effects can be left unrecognised.
If we wish to transform our world for the better, and do the difficult work that entails, we need to talk about how we both prepare ourselves for, and support each other through our responses to stress and trauma, whether it be from police brutality, another institutional force, or from conflict within our own communities.
Some of us, mostly from various Wellington activist groups, have been having many conversations over the last year about how we do this work well. We have more questions than answers, but we wanted to start somewhere, so a few of us came together to create this resource. It includes some accessible info on what trauma is, how stressful situations affect us, and ideas on how we might support ourselves and each other.
We hope it starts some conversations. We are continuously impressed by the resourcefulness of community activist organisations to do what needs to be done, and know we have the skills and capacity to support each other. We hope this booklet is a step in drawing out and articulating the skills and knowledge that exist in our community, and making conversations about trauma and mental health within them feel possible.
Here is the link again to the booklet — let us know if you have any feedback!
Thanks to members of Peace Action Wellington and Oil Free Wellington for their contributions and typo-spotting. We worked with mental health professionals within our community to write this booklet and want to thank Julia Rainsford, Lenka Rochford, and Gaayathri Nair for their valuable contributions. We are grateful to Te Ao Pritchard for her reflections on trauma and Māori activism including insight on the community’s response to the 2007 terror raids. Thank you also to Chloe Palmer for her stunning artwork she created for us.
We would love to chat to anyone about this booklet, get feedback or chat about ideas for the future. Feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected].
In strength, solidarity, love and whanaungatanga
Valerie Morse and Jessie Brea O’Scarry
Explore Further
- Lessons for resisting police violence and building a strong racial justice movement
- Resources About Police Violence and Racial Justice
- We Need a Climate Movement that Addresses the Trauma of Fighting for a Burning Planet
- Navigating Trauma in Disaster Relief
- 10 Great Resources on Activist Wellbeing
- Transformative Approaches to Conflict Resolution
- Nonviolent Community Safety and Peacekeeping Trainers’ Manual
- Street Medic Pro-Tips: Medical and First Aid Support at Protests and Direct Actions
