Understanding trauma and identifying its impacts, including on giving evidence

The Pacific Island Law Officers’ Network (PILON) brings together senior legal officials from 19 Pacific nations to advance key regional law and justice priorities for a safer, more secure region. This article was first presented at a PILON Workshop in March 2024. The workshop supported member countries in adopting new trauma-informed prosecution guidelines, a multi-year collaborative project driven by PILON’s Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Working Group with support from the Australian government. Focusing on the widespread issue of sexual violence in the Pacific, the article outlines barriers to reporting and introduces key concepts of trauma – its psychological, emotional, physical, and social effects, and its impact on memory. It highlights that trauma-informed principles are essential to achieving just outcomes for victim-survivors. By examining these principles and their application in prosecution practice, the article contributes to a vital regional conversation about building legal systems that promote both justice and healing.