Assisting Victims of Crime

It turns out I wasn't finished with FSI training after all - when arranging my arrival in Copenhagen with my future boss, he suggested that I add one more course onto my training schedule, and my boss in my second bridge assignment graciously allowed me to take a few days off for it.

The three-day course focused on what services the U.S. Embassy can provide to Americans who become the victim of a serious crime while abroad. A major part of it was on how to interview and talk to someone who might be a victim of domestic abuse, which unfortunately is something many consular officers will have to do on a regular basis. Although I may thankfully never have to be part of such cases, there's always the possibility that I will, and the course definitely made me feel a little bit more confident that I'd be able to muddle through. It would be a lot of responsibility, of course, but fortunately the embassy is not the principal resource for victims, as of course consular officers are not trained as social workers.

Some of the stories from the Victims Assistance course were pretty sobering, but I'm still excited about moving overseas again!