September 2023 • 2nd Edition |
|
Editor’s Note: The first edition stated that this newsletter would be quarterly - that was an error! This newsletter will come out bimonthly. | |
|
Welcome to our SECOND edition of the Inclusion Insights Newsletter! Wow, we received some amazing feedback from member programs, and we are so excited to present this second edition. Thank you for your feedback and keep it coming! DEI is so important to our work - both internally with our fellow coworkers and externally with clients. Even programs who aren’t considered culturally specific still serve clients who have multi-faceted parts of their identity that are interlinked with their trauma. DEI is (sadly) becoming a buzzword and staff are not always as dedicated to the deep conversation and thoughtfulness that true equality work demands. We could ramble all day about what this means, but all of our DEI work comes down to a single word: Belonging. Think about what you need to have that feeling. Think about what it feels like not to belong, to be excluded, to go to check a box and not having one that you identify with (and if you haven’t experienced this, thank your lucky stars!). Remember, our agencies and missions are only as strong as the individuals who dedicate themselves to them. So, let’s be intentional. Let’s invest in our people. Let’s champion purpose and create a culture of belonging. And let’s continue to learn, adapt, and grow, so our organizations can continue to be beacons of light to survivors. A world where we understand each other more and devalue each other’s experience less is a world that is more empathetic and less violent.
This bimonthly newsletter will highlight the efforts of programs across the state, local and national challenges for DEI matters, promote inclusive language, share relevant information that affects gender-based violence (GBV), and more! For questions, suggestions, or comments, please email Chloé McMurray at [email protected] or Michelle McAnarney at [email protected].
|
|
Here are even more specific dates to honor and celebrate
during the next two months:
| |
|
Anant Chaturdashi
is the 10th and second
to last day of the great Ganesha Utsav or festival that begins
with Vinayak Chaturthi. In Sanskrit, 'Ananta' means eternal and 'Chaturdashi' means fourteenth.
Read more here!
| |
To undo a whitewashed version of America’s history, Indigenous Peoples Day advocates - and our current Presidential Administration - sanctions the second Monday in October as a day to celebrate the lives and cultures of Indigenous groups. This day also honors and remembers the way that, for generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures. Read more from the President’s Statement here. | |
|
Many people use the term "coming out" to refer to the process of telling someone else how they identify in terms of their
romantic orientation, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Coming out is a
lifelong process that
has both intrapersonal and interpersonal components, although most people have an initial phase where
they are first coming
out to themselves. Coming out can be dangerous or unsafe depending on the person’s
circumstances. A different spin on “coming out?”
Check out this video
on “inviting in” from
the National Black Justice Coalition: Why Some Black LGBTQIA+ Folks Are Done
‘Coming Out’:
| |
Words and language are some of the most powerful connections and communication tools humans have. Learning to be more thoughtful and conscientious of the language we use in our daily lives is imperative to being effective communicators. As ICADV members, we add a layer of responsibility with the words we choose to use as we work with those who are, or have been, experiencing trauma. What we say can hurt or retraumatize another. | |
|
Highlighted Issue: When I look at you, I don't see color, America is a melting pot, There is only one race, the human race, or All lives matter, are statements that indicate a person does not want to acknowledge a race, also known as "color blindness."
When we make these statements, we are denying someone or a community as a racial or cultural being or entity, we deny their experiences, and we are pushing assimilation towards a dominant culture.
"All lives matter," for example, denies the experiences of the Black community being stigmatized, marginalized, and discriminated against, and denies that "Black Lives Matter" too. It buries the conversation specific to racism against Black people and replaces it with one that broadens the need.
| |
Think of it this way: If your friend comes to you and says, “My arm is broken,” you wouldn’t respond with, “Yeah, well, ALL bones matter” would you? No, you would help fix the broken arm. If your mom comes to you and says, “I have breast cancer,” you wouldn’t respond with, “Lung cancer affects more people.” Your response would be hurtful and insensitive. The exact same logic applies to “Black Lives Matter.” | | |
Ellen Pence, one of the original leaders in the fight against domestic violence, responds to remarks on racism within the world of domestic violence in this short video on why "All Violence is Not the Same.” John Heath from the Family Violence Project says, "Ellen’s point intersects with the reason why we do not accept the statement “All lives matter”, because our history shows that certain lives in the center of social power have always “mattered” more than those on the margins. It only harms the marginalized to equate the violence experienced in the center, with that experienced on the margins of society." | |
|
Above is a helpful graph sent from the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence that helps really uncover how those more “socially acceptable” communications slip into our everyday conversations. We challenge you to remember how important language is, how communication is the best and sometimes only tool we have in the fight against domestic violence. It can be hard to admit we are wrong. It can be hard to admit we have said the wrong thing. But when we know better, we must do better. And with survivors’ lives in our hands, we must speak intentionally. | |
|
Around the World:
Ireland Becomes one of Europe’s First Countries to Offer Paid Leave for Domestic Violence: In Ireland, average sick leave is paid at 70%, but Prime Minister Varadkar approved a 100% payrate for five days for employees to address domestic violence concerns. Moreso, employees will not have to accumulate evidence of or prove their abuse in any way. This is a huge win for national survivors (and hopefully something the rest of the world can take note of and emulate). Read more here.
| |
In our Nation:
Executive Promotion of Access to Behavioral Health Care for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities: On July 26, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration hosted its inaugural mental health summit focused on improving equity and access to behavioral health care for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising anti-Asian hate, and the twin public health and public safety epidemic of gun violence, AA and NHPI communities have been deeply impacted by the nation’s mental health crisis. And the task of expanding access to quality and culturally competent medical, including mental health services for AA and NHPI individuals has only grown more urgent. In 2020, suicide was the leading cause of death among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, ages 10 to 19, and the second leading cause of death among those ages 20-34. With a promise to tackle the big issues - a lack of funding to underserved communities, language barriers for the affected communities, stigmas and negative cultural stereotypes within AA and NHPI communities, as well as a lack of culturally competent providers - the Biden-Harris administration pledged to increase funding and implement the National Mental Health Strategy. We call this a huge step in the right direction for AA and NHPI communities. Read more here.
|
 | |  |
|
In Illinois:
Relieving Unfair Medical Debt: House bill 2719, legislation to Protect Illinoisans from Unfair Medical Debt, requires that uninsured community members be screened for eligibility for medical or financial aid. This will help uninsured Americans prevent medical debt, which is disproportionally acquired by marginalized groups. For more information on American groups impacted by medical debt, click here. This legislation will go into effect on January 1, 2024. This is a huge VICTORY for Black and brown Illinoisans who are most likely to be uninsured. Read the bill here or read more here.
| Illinois is the FIRST STATE in the nation to count Arab Americans: On Friday, August 4, 2023, Governor Pritzker made history by signing legislation that adds Middle Eastern North African (MENA) category to list of racial/ethnic categories used for data collection statewide. Arab American Family Services helped lead these efforts and deserve a round of applause! More inclusion in data collecting allows for more comprehensive understanding of the experiences MENA communities face! Read the Act here, watch the press conference here, or reach out to AAFS for more information! | Ban on Book Bans: Governor Pritzker signed into law the first ban on book bans! In Pritzker’s words, “book bans are about censorship, marginalizing people, marginalizing ideas, and facts… Everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in the books they read, the art they see, the history they learn. In Illinois, we are showing the nation what it really looks like to stand up for liberty.” This legislation is a huge win for marginalized people and the DV community. Read more here. | Firearm Industry Responsibility Act: Just one day after the supreme court upholds the state-wide ban on selling assault weapons, Governor Pritzker signed another firearm legislation into law that allows victims of gun violence to sue firearm manufacturers. Victims can sue manufacturers when their firearms are advertised in a way that threatens public safety, encourages private militia activity, or is directed at minors, which also restricts certain imagery from advertisement. Black Americans, women and youth are disproportionately victimized by gun violence. In an abusive relationship, a woman is five times more likely to be killed by her partner if they have access to a firearm. Black women only make up 13% of the U.S. population, yet accounted for 30.6% of femicide victims from 2003-2014, and are more likely to be killed by a firearm than any other racial group. The Firearm Industry Responsibility Act holds manufacturers accountable, like any other industry, for their contributions to gun culture and encourages survivors of gun violence to hold them accountable too. This is a win for all citizens - gun culture in America is directly correlated to our high rates of gun violence. Read more here. | |
|
This past month, I had the honor of interviewing Viki Rivkin, Outreach and Education Legal Liaison with one of ICADV’s member programs, SHALVA. SHALVA is the oldest independent, Jewish domestic abuse agency in the United States. Based out of the Chicago metropolitan area, they provide counseling, supportive services, and community education in the state of Illinois. They are one of the only programs in the U.S. sensitive to the unique religious and cultural issues many Jewish families face while also addressing the universal needs all abuse survivors must face.
When Viki and I first sat down (through Zoom, of course—it is 2023 😉), we began with intros and discussing our tenures at our various agencies. Viki told me she’d been at SHALVA several times in different ways, with a laugh. She began by serving on their board from 2004-2014, but when the position for Legal Liaison came open in 2015, she thought she’d be a good fit for it. She was such a good fit, in fact, that they expanded her position to more than just legal and she now does, “legal-education programs, recruiting attorneys, while also doing a lot of the communications work.”
As we settled into our conversation about SHALVA and how imperative their services are, I asked Viki about a statistic I’d heard, but admittedly, failed to do a lot of research on…
Me: So I heard that SHALVA is one of six Jewish specific DV orgs in the nation. Do you feel like that affects or amplifies the work you’re doing?
Viki: I am actually unsure about that statistic. I’ve heard that, too, but then heard someone say that wasn’t right… Let me ask someone who knows and get back to you (spoiler: she got back to me before the end of the interview). I know there aren’t many - Shalom Taskforce in New York, there’s one in San Francisco, but they don’t do counseling. Our work is not more impactful than any other agency just because we’re culturally specific, but we are certainly unique in that we provide culturally specific services that others don’t. What makes us unique is that we are trying to provide, just like every DV agency is, a space that people feel safe to come talk about their most intimate problems and concerns in their lives. Just like Mujeres Latinas or KAN-WIN, we’re here if someone has a connection to their culture and their culture impacts their experience in the world and as a survivor, then we offer that extra sense of safety and comfortability. I’ve often asked myself, what is it about us? Well, it’s hard to say exactly what it is, but we are part of the Jewish community here and there is an understanding of being in this community (not that we all grow up the same or have the same experiences), but there is an understanding of the culture. I like to think that we feel like a cozy home for our clients.
Me: From my time working in services, I know how important that is to survivors. I worked with many queer and male-identified survivors in East Tennessee and know how important and sometimes more helpful it was for those survivors to see themselves in the staff or, at the least, feel seen by staff in their whole identity. So does that go hand in hand with survivors who identify both religiously and culturally or racially as Jewish? Or is it sometimes more one than the other?
Viki: That is so interesting. I will answer it this way: I think because Judaism is a religion and a culture, we see anyone who self-identifies as Jewish. It doesn’t matter how you practice your faith - orthodox, conservative, reform - or unaffiliated - we serve everyone and anyone who identifies as Jewish or is in a relationship with someone who is Jewish. I would also say that there is a cultural component. Judaism is a religion - and yet underneath that or within that, is also a very rich culture. And we provide services to those who identify across the broad spectrum.
| |
|
Me: You are so passionate about your work. Tell me - what makes you most proud to work at SHALVA?
Viki: I love that we provide free counseling services for as long as our clients need, and in fact we see many dip in and out of counseling as needed. It’s really based on an empowerment model of “What is it that the client needs” and all services are centered around that. Some clients come in and they take a few sessions, and they feel like they have it figured out. For others, they need more counseling - they need the legal liaison or referral attorney - and we give them choices. We don’t ever tell them what to do. The way we work with our clients makes me the proudest because when you’re a survivor, so much of your choice is taken away from you. SHALVA really puts in extra effort to put the choice back in the survivor’s hand.
Me: That is special. I think that’s at the heart of trauma-informed care, too. Switching gears a bit. What are some of the challenges of working at SHALVA? Have you ever been treated poorly because of the cultural specificity of your agency? Either by another community agency, funders, etc. What are some the ways this has presented?
Viki: Stereotypes of Jewish people are that everybody’s rich or well educated, or that Jewish women are bossy or materialistic. These are ugly stereotypes, but also there is a need to acknowledge that wealth doesn’t prohibit abuse. Just because someone is wealthy doesn’t mean they don’t or won’t need access to services. As far as community members go, I don’t think we’ve really seen that - at least not in our faces. We do trainings with hospital staff and police departments (not necessarily culturally specific, but more domestic violence specific) and we see good outcomes from those. We try to go to places in the city with a higher Jewish population. For instance, in West Rogers Park there are more Orthodox Jews living there who observe Shabbat. And then we get to educate medical staff or law enforcement on questions like, “Well, why wouldn’t they call on a Saturday? Why wouldn’t they come to the ER on a Saturday?” Well, it’s Shabbat. It’s more about getting the broader community to understand the culture better, but we’ve really never been met with hostility. It’s about learning and teaching…
Viki also shared that some of the challenges they face are no different than other agencies. They struggle to get client survey feedback when clients depart too soon. They struggle to get referrals to the right place and have challenges with custody cases.
When I asked Viki if there was anything I missed during our conversation that she’d like folks to know about their work, she responded, “We want to collaborate and we want to work together. We are here to answer any questions and have any conversations.” I agreed that a lot of times, culturally specific agencies get siloed into their niche “audience” and get left out of the conversation. The more we work together, the better we will serve survivors.
By the way, she got back to me about the statistic I had...
Viki: There are independent agencies…maybe more than six (6), maybe less - and there are other communities where the DV program is housed within the Jewish family services and the services are wrapped into a more generalized community.
Me: So I wasn’t exactly wrong. Just. Mostly.
Viki: (Laughter). Right.
--Chloé McMurray, Chief Capacity Building Officer
| |
Upcoming Trainings on the intersection of GBV and DEI: | | |
Collaborative Responses to Domestic Violence in Rural Communities: Coordinated Community Responses (CCRs) have been recognized as a best practice in reducing domestic violence since the Violence Against Women Act was enacted over 20 years ago. CCRs can be particularly effective in rural communities, where close-knit relationships and highly engaged community members provide an ideal jumping off point for collaborative efforts. However, with limited resources that must stretch further than their urban counterparts’, it can often be a struggle to implement and sustain this approach. Recognizing this, ICCR and the Conference on Crimes Against Women are coming together to provide critical training and resources for implementing collaborative, systemic responses to domestic violence in rural communities nationwide. | Historical Trauma & Its Impact on LGBTQ+ BIPOC Survivors: This training will address the unique barriers that exist for historically marginalized communities, including LGBTQ BIPOC ^ discuss how implementing change as an ongoing process can provide promising practices, including resources that are based on safety, cultural inclusion, and transformation. | How the Survivor Support Movement Can Address Anti-LGBTQ Attacks: Anti-LGBTQ legislation is rising at an all-time high rate in this country, threatening the safety of LGBTQ survivors, increasing stigma, and eroding legal protections. More than 400 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in 2023, most of them targeting transgender people. These anti-LGBTQ laws will have catastrophic consequences on LGBTQ survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. This workshop will aim to equip the participants with the knowledge and skills we need to leverage the anti-violence movement and survivor-support field to respond to the wave of anti-LGBTQ attacks . | | |
Cultural Responsiveness Symposium: Working with the Arab American Community: Speakers at this free event will discuss IPV prevention among Arab Americans, gender violence among Arab American Youth and LGBTQ+ individuals, cultural approaches to safety planning and risk assessment, and so much more! CEUs and CLEs offered as well! | |
October 31-November 2
(in person)
| HUD ONAP National Tribal Housing Summit “Inspiring Ideas in Indian Housing”: In partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Office of Native American Programs (ONAP), the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) is hosting this summit in St. Paul, Minnesota. This summit will provide a forum for training, exchanging ideas, consulting on upcoming issues, and developing best practices for models that implement and sustain effective affordable housing programs. | Virtual Training Institute for White Aspiring Allies in Leadership Positions: This training experience is for white aspiring allies in positions of leadership—including managers, directors, c-suite executives, supervisors, founders, and community leaders. | | |
|
With Halloween on the horizon, let’s take a refresher course on how to be the best ally we can be. Cultural Appropriation on Halloween is still an evident and pressing issue. Cultural appropriation is defined as, “the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.” This appropriation usually comes in the form of making a Halloween costume with cultural elements that are not your own. For example, a non-Indigenous person wearing Regalia (Traditional Native clothing, such as headdresses) as a costume.
Here is a short video on cultural appropriation vs. appreciation.
| |
Want to learn more?
Check out this blog written by a student at the Northeastern Asian American Center.
Or check out this list.
| | |
|
DEI is a continuous journey. It involves not only learning, changing, and discussing, but also taking action within ourselves and our communities. It is common to wonder “how do we do more?” when first beginning DEI work. There is no one answer or path. To help begin your movement, each month “Call to Action/Carry it Forward” will give you some suggested steps, gathered from various resources, that you can take.
DEI doesn’t have to be just another one of those meetings and trainings we have - you know, the ones where you take a deep breath and force yourself to listen. Navigating DEI and learning about the ways we can be more inclusive benefits the communities we work in as well as the underrepresented survivors we work with. Take fifteen to twenty minutes this week and sit down with a colleague, your team, or even just with your dog or cat (inspired by the United Way’s Equity Challenge!). Choose one or two of the below actions to get started:
| |
|
Check out this article uncovering current American attitudes towards Asian Americans and the deep-seated stereotypes that remain rooted in our climate and culture. Then, sign up to the “Stop AAPI Hate” newsletter to educate yourself and your staff about ongoing challenges facing the AAPI community.
| | |
|
Order and Read Building A Pro-Black World: Moving Beyond DE&I Work and Creating Spaces for Black People to Thrive, a recent book written by a team of dedicated nonprofit leaders delivering a timely roadmap to building pro-Black nonprofit orgs. Order it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or your local independent bookstore. Maybe even order it for your whole staff and start an internal book club where ongoing, necessary conversations about dismantling white supremacy take place!
| | |
|
Watch David R. Williams, a public health sociologist, discuss why race and deep-rooted systemic racism have such a profound impact on health.
| | |
|
Support the Working for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment (WISE) Act: an NNEDV endorsed act that will create greater and easier pathways to safety and justice for immigrant survivors. You can support this act by calling on your members of Congress to co-sponsor WISE, inform your networks about what this could achieve, and share any of the WISE Act resources with your networks!
| | |
|
Thanks for reading! Want to stay in touch?
Reach out to Chloé McMurray at [email protected] with any feedback, questions, or comments! You can also sign up here to receive this newsletter directly!
| | | | |
