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Horizontal Violence, Bullying & Microaggressions in Sign Language Interpreting: Anonymous Survey

On Monday 15 March 2027, AIMS will have Emily Ott author of, "Do We Eat Our Young and One Another? Horizontal Violence Among Signed Language Interpreters" (2012) and Selina Jacques-King BA (Hons), MA PhD Researcher talk about horizontal violence, bullying, microaggressions and harmful behaviour between colleagues in our profession.

We’re seeking interpreters who have experienced this, have had time to reflect, and want to help create positive change to participate in an anonymous survey. Please don’t include names of people, organisations or specific locations. Questions marked optional can be skipped. Some questions may bring up difficult memories, so please take care of yourself while answering.

Please note: this is about behaviour that goes beyond appropriate professional standards, such as repeated, personal, exclusionary or demeaning conduct. Fair feedback or evidence-based competency decisions, such as not passing an exam, aren’t in themselves bullying.

About you. Which region do you mainly work in?

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Which Sign Language/s do you work with?

How long have you worked as an interpreter?

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Have you personally experienced horizontal violence, bullying, microaggressions or similar harmful behaviour from colleagues?

Which of these apply?

Briefly describe what happened (Don't include any names or specific details)

How did it affect you?

How long ago did the experience occur?

How far do you feel you’ve moved through it?

A
B
C
D

What helped you move through or recover from the experience?

Looking back, what do you wish you had known at the time?

What could help reduce horizontal violence, bullying and microaggressions in our profession?

What would you hope another interpreter going through something similar could learn from your story?