Specialist training for investigators
Investigative Practice for Sexual Misconduct
This is not a course on how to run an investigation. We assume you already know how to do that. What we teach is the specialist, trauma-informed layer that even experienced HR professionals and seasoned investigators have rarely been trained in. It is genuinely rare in the HR training market, and if you have been running investigations for years, you will still learn something new here.
Or call us on 01709 460500The gap in most training
The training even experienced investigators haven’t had.
Most investigation training covers process. Almost none covers the trauma-informed specialism that determines whether a sexual misconduct investigation is fair, accurate, and defensible: how myths distort judgement, how language shapes outcomes, how power dynamics play out in process and decisions. This course fills that gap. Getting these cases wrong carries serious legal, human, and reputational consequences, and the difference is a specialist skill most people have never been taught.
What it covers
The arc of a case, from mindset to aftercare.
Facilitated debate and self-reflection run throughout the whole course. It is the method, not just an occasional exercise.
The foundations you bring to every case
- Trauma-informed practice as the underpinning approach throughout
- The psychological theories that shape how we talk and think about sexual violence
- Victim and perpetrator, complainant and respondent, myths, and how they distort casework
- Intersectionality and the biases that show up in sexual misconduct cases
Receiving the complaint
- The difference between confidentiality and anonymity
- Recognising when a complaint becomes a protected disclosure
Conducting the investigation
- The subtle power of language in this type of casework
- Record keeping and note taking in a trauma-informed way
- Managing power dynamics within the process
Reaching an outcome
- Weighing power dynamics and their influence on outcomes and decision-making
- Victim blaming and victimisation, and how to guard against them in judgements
Support and aftercare
- Support and signposting, using EIDA’s (Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse) Recognise, Respond, Refer approach
- Supporting wellbeing, recovery and personal resilience, for those involved and for the investigator
Who it’s for
HR managers, HR consultants, internal investigators, and the leaders they report to.
Line managers and leaders benefit too, but this course is built for the people who run or oversee these cases directly. Even experienced HR and ER professionals leave with specialist skills they did not have going in.
Delivery and format
Delivered live, always, and shaped around your cases.
Half a day to a full day
Depending on the depth and content your organisation needs.
Facilitator-led, always
Built on facilitated debate and self-reflection, rooted in the neuroscience of learning.
Rooted in the neuroscience of learning
Built around how adults actually retain and apply new understanding, not just how they sit through a session.
Delivered your way
Face-to-face at your premises, live virtual via MS Teams or Zoom, or as a public, open-enrolment course. Tailored to your organisation.
Included, at no extra cost
Evidence of learning, not just a certificate of attendance.
Pre- and post-delivery impact assessments
Measuring the shift in confidence and understanding this course creates.
A full Learning Solution Impact Report
Statistical evidence of what changed, included free of charge.
Why work with us
Delivered by a genuine specialist, not a generalist trainer.
- A trauma-informed practitioner, trained by Victim Focus, a leading CPD-accredited UK provider.
- Supervision-trained by the British Psychological Society.
- CIPD qualified at Level 7 in Human Resource Management.
- Mental Health First Aid and IOSH Managing Safely trained.
- Elements of this learning have been delivered to over 30,000 professionals, including police and social workers, as part of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategies.
- Experience delivering training in Ofsted-regulated environments.
Expert, specialist training doesn’t have to cost the earth.
This course works out from as little as £250 per person, and includes pre- and post-delivery impact assessments and a full Learning Solution Impact Report at no extra cost. Every engagement is tailored to your organisation, so the right way to find your number is a quick conversation.
Get in touch
Enquire about this course
Tell us about your organisation and we will come back to you within one working day.
Give your investigators the specialism most never get.
Book a call, send us an email, or pick up the phone. There is no obligation, and no sales script.