“As a facilitator of the Shark Cage group in Adelaide for the last 18 months, I have found running the program very satisfying. I found that the way the manual had been so thoroughly written out by Ursula made it far easier to run the group than other groups I have facilitated. I enjoyed the non-blaming Shark Cage metaphor and the Human Rights lens, and women who have participated have told me that they now use this lens when assessing future relationships and looking out for red flags that might indicate Shark activity. I loved the originality of creating the Shark Cage mural using group activities throughout the program and have had lots of participant feedback about the long term positive effects of the program. It has become a very popular group and fills up quickly with a minimum drop out rate.”
The Shark Cage Framework was developed by Melbourne psychologist, Ursula Benstead. The Five Step framework is a way of preventing, understanding and healing from violence against girls and women. It is based on the concept of Universal Human Rights and draws on a powerful metaphor and multiple psychological modalities for working in trauma informed ways to help women interrupt patterns of abuse in their lives and in ways that empower girls and women and challenge victim blaming.