'Domestic Violence and Interpreting’ National forum
By Mark Quinn
On the 24th & 25th of September 2015 the ‘Domestic Violence and Interpreting’ National forum was held in Melbourne-Organised by the Translation and Interpreting program at Monash University. Both Melissa Lowrie and I were asked to present on behalf of Deaf Victoria and ASLIA Vic to give a Deaf and Auslan Interpreter perspective on this very topic.
This happened to coincide with the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement that $100 million dollars would be allocated towards programs and services to combat DV (domestic violence) in Australia. Melissa presented on DV and what it means for Deaf people and the ways that Deaf people have been mistreated or abused by partners or other family members and the implications for Deaf people with language barriers and other ways they may or have been taken advantage of.
The focus of my presentation was interpreting in DV contexts whether it be home visits, police, or court or interpreting for support services and follow up appointments in the aftermath of such events and how we as interpreters manage and cope with these situations as they arise. Consideration was given to various forms of RP (reflective practice) and or the use of DCS (Demand Control Schema). The purpose here was to encourage interpreters to consider the potential psychological as well as the physical challenges that could arise when working in these contexts and I also shared a few anecdotes of situations that I have experienced in my interpreting career and how I managed those challenges. I also touched on the cultural and linguistic challenges that can and do occur within the legal justice framework between Deaf people and those imposing the rule of law, whether that be police officers, judges or legal counsel. Through my research on this topic something which peaked my interest was the notion of neutrality or impartiality (key tenets in our COE’s). Interpreters reflecting on their use of signs, body language and facial expression, posing the question ‘Do you demonstrate judgement on your face when interpreting for a client who is accused for committing an offence?’ The reason why I raise this is because I have had deaf individuals in the past tell me “I can usually tell when the interpreter is judging me by the way they look at me when they are interpreting, and I prefer not to have those interpreters who interpret in this way”. I would love to have further discourse around interpreters reflecting upon how their judgement of the situation or context impacts the deaf client by either consciously or unconsciously expressing judgement on their faces whilst interpreting a serious allegation being put to a client. It is often times like this when we are asked to research a specific topic that we discover more questions than answers. Regardless, this was a wonderful experience being exposed to and sharing ideas which can only benefit all of us within the interpreting industry.
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