A Future without Gender-Based Violence: Building Newcomer’s resilience through Community Education.
Publisher: OCASI
Date Published: 2022
Languages: English
This toolkit is designed for staff working in community organizations serving immigrants, refugees, and individuals without legal status. It exists in both English and French versions and aims to assist service providers in delivering community-based education to newcomers regarding gender-based violence. It also equips them to handle challenging situations. Given that gender-based violence affects newcomers in unique ways and newcomers may face various barriers in seeking support, this toolkit is intended to enhance the capacity of agencies and organizations serving newcomers in understanding and addressing gender-based violence in immigrant and refugee communities.
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Support program staff at community organizations in establishing connections with immigrants, refugees, and those without status to provide accurate and culturally relevant information about gender-based violence.
Offer practical ideas and guidelines for hosting community-based educational events, recognized as a best practice for addressing this issue.
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This toolkit can be explored at your own pace, ideally in collaboration with colleagues at your organization and within your community to encourage discussion and idea-sharing.
The toolkit assumes prior familiarity with gender-based violence and its impact on newcomer communities. It serves as a starting point for understanding community-based education and planning direct actions.
Should you identify gaps in your knowledge, the Online Resources and Training platform at LearnAtWork.ca, along with other initiatives by OCASI, are available to support your continued learning and understanding.
GBV Prevention
The toolkit aims to increase understanding of gender-based violence in immigrant and refugee communities and equip service providers to address challenging situations.
The toolkit is instrumental in GBV prevention by educating service providers on gender-based violence, enabling them to share culturally relevant information with newcomers. It promotes awareness and education as crucial tools in preventing GBV.
Creating Normative Change
The toolkit's inclusive language and definition of "gender-based violence" go beyond traditional definitions, acknowledging a wider range of identities and experiences. This can foster normative change by challenging stereotypes and biases and promoting more inclusive attitudes towards gender and violence.
How it could be adapted to the communities
To serve specific communities such as Syrian, Iranian, Iraqi, and Afghan populations effectively, the toolkit can be adapted by incorporating culturally sensitive elements. It should include cultural competency training, translation into relevant languages, and materials addressing unique challenges faced by these communities.
Community-specific case studies and examples can be integrated to make the toolkit more relatable.
Collaborating with community leaders and organizations from these backgrounds can ensure that the toolkit is culturally appropriate and responsive to the needs of the target communities.
By adapting the toolkit to meet the specific cultural and linguistic needs of different communities, it becomes a more effective tool for GBV prevention and normative change within those communities. This approach ensures that the toolkit is both respectful of cultural nuances and better received by the target audience.
Keywords
Building trust, GBV Inclusivity and Education, Service providers, Trauma-informed approaches
