Making the courtroom trauma informed when wounds are invisible

"We spoke about (John Doe) during deliberations. We could see he was really struggling to testify by the way he wrung his hands and his body language while speaking. We could see he was really hurt." - Juror in Does v. Mountain View Unified School District explaining how the trauma experience of a sexual assault survivor manifested itself in the courtroom.

Courtrooms are designed for facts, procedure and order. But when survivors of sexual abuse walk through those doors, they bring with them something the legal system often struggles to see: injuries without visible scars. Bringing those invisible scars to light for the jury to grasp requires survivors to relive their experiences through factual testimony. Putting into words how abuse has affected a survivor is no easy hurdle, as trauma affects memory, language and behavior. As explained in "The Body Keeps the Score," by Bessel Van Der Kolk, recalling trauma is not perfect nor linear: "We deliberately tried to collect just isolated fragments of their experience -- particular images, sounds and feelings -- rather than the entire story, because that is how trauma is experienced."  A hesitant pause or an inconsistent detail may be misread as dishonesty, when in fact they are manifestations of the mind's effort to protect itself by recalling only fragments of those traumatic experiences. But because these wounds cannot be presented with photographs or a chart, others can misinterpret the responses or body language. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in four girls and one in 20 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse. With sexual abuse so prevalent in our community, we must educate ourselves on how to effectively advocate on behalf of these survivors.

Addressing this gap involves using an advocacy approach informed by trauma awareness. This can be achieved through trust between the attorney and the client and with lay and expert witnesses who describe the survivor's experiences.

 At the outset, attorneys must build trust with their clients. Survivors need to feel safe enough to share their truths. When working with survivors, attorneys will have to confront extreme trauma and guide their clients through a difficult litigation journey. However, law school does not provide training for being such a guide. For those working with survivors, we must listen without leading, validate without judgment, and see beyond facts to the human impact: how sexual abuse shapes routines, strains relationships and changes emotional health. The trust between attorney and client shapes the trial itself. For survivors, testifying is not just about recounting events but reopening wounds they have worked to overcome. Good attorneys work to make the process less overwhelming, walking clients through the courtroom in advance, explaining what to expect and helping them feel a measure of control. The goal is for jurors to meet the person behind the testimony, not just a voice on the witness stand.

Expert witnesses can build on this foundation, translating the science of trauma into plain language that jurors can understand. An expert can explain the science behind why a survivor might wait years, or even decades to disclose abuse, drawing on research that shows how fear, shame and manipulation can silence someone. They can walk jurors through the mechanics of grooming, showing how it builds trust only to betray it, and why the effects of that betrayal can echo across a lifetime. Experts also can illustrate to jurors how trauma can be triggered long after the abuse has ended, surfacing during events like getting married, having a child, or having to send their children to school at the same age they were when they were sexually abused. Other stressors such as family instability, economic hardship, or pre-existing struggles can contribute to the harm caused. However, experts on both sides of the table agree that most often it is these very vulnerabilities that predators seek out and exploit when they attempt to groom their next victim.

Lay witnesses bring a different kind of credibility, one rooted in everyday life. Friends, family members and co-workers can describe the shifts they have observed over time: a once-outgoing friend who became withdrawn, a reliable colleague who suddenly struggled with focus or anxiety, or a loved one whose joy seemed to dim. These everyday observations connect expert analysis to real-life experience, making the survivor's story tangible.

In using this trauma-informed approach, advocates not only bring to light a survivor's invisible wounds, but they do so with compassion, allowing the jury and legal system as a whole to see and empathize with the survivor -- ultimately guaranteeing that the survivor's voice is heard and their experiences understood.