Connecting Communities is a partnership program between MCWH and Safe and Equal, to support recipients of the Victorian Government Supporting Multicultural and Faith Communities to Prevent Family Violence Grant.
Why this project is important
Violence prevention practitioners who work to prevent violence in ethno-specific and faith-based communities face unique challenges for which there is little support. These challenges can include backlash, racism and resistance, which can significantly impact on practitioners’ professional and personal lives. Currently there are limited resources or tools to support practitioners or address these challenges.
Promoting gender equality at the same time as promoting anti-racism is essential to prevent violence. Multicultural and faith communities face racism, xenophobia, and faith-based discrimination, like Islamophobia and Antisemitism. These forms of discrimination cannot be separated from multicultural and faith communities’ experiences of gender inequality. That is why preventing family violence and promoting gender equality must include anti-racism.
How this project is making a difference
Multicultural and faith-based organisations have unique strengths relevant to family violence prevention. They have specialist expertise which draws on shared community experiences and examples of resilience, survival, and collective care and understands common experiences of displacement, isolation, and systemic exclusion, as well as culturally specific challenges and gendered norms.
Connecting Communities connects practitioners to strengthen their capacity and share their expertise, while supporting practitioners to build resilience.
Project Activities
Capacity building activities such as training, communities of practice, events and practice workshops are running through 2023.
So far, Connecting Communities participants have taken part in:
- Prevention in Practice training
- Event to connect participants and encourage networking
- Communities of practice to offer support and practice reflection. Topics we have covered so far have included: Challenging ‘cultural’ explanations for violence, Building equitable partnerships and Co-designing prevention initiatives.
Practice workshops for 2023 will include sessions on:
- Intersectionality in practice
- Transforming resistance – faith and culture
- Migrant men and masculinities
- What we can learn from Aboriginal PVAW
- And more to be confirmed.
For more information about our 2023 activities, please contact: multicultural@safeandequal.org.au
Connecting Communities is a partnership between Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health and Safe and Equal, and is supported by the Victorian Government.
