Hi.
The young immigrant women's leadership project is a two-year project funded by Status of Women Canada. The objective of the project is to build their leadership skills, to make a positive change in the community, and to put a supportive system among the population.
The project activities have been designed to build self-esteem, strengthen their leadership skills, negotiate the social system and gain community resources, and address social issues from their standpoint. Young immigrant women are one of the most vulnerable populations and they have less community support for them to build the capacity to challenge critical social issues such as domestic violence, bullying, and being victims of sexism and racism in the community.
While working with the young immigrant women leaders, the project has realized how crucial it is for them to have a safe space to build support from each other and to share their personal struggles as a safe way of preventing violence against women and building a healthy and vibrant new life in Canada. The project has offered peer mentorship opportunities to build self-esteem and create a social and political space to share issues such as intergenerational conflicts, unequal gender roles and decision-making in the family, domestic violence, and discrimination against young immigrant women in the community, in the streets, and in the schools. These leaders have built a safer environment to build support among themselves, and it should decrease their vulnerability to violence and isolation in their families and in the community.
With holistic approaches, through their leadership building and creating a safer space, they have been leading the community for positive changes. For instance, the group obtained a young immigrant women's health and wellness grant from Nova Scotia Capital Health and have created workshops regarding gender-specific issues including violence against women such as self-defence training, sexual health, healthy relationship-building workshops, and yoga. They are also developing a community heath resource brochure for young immigrant women to reduce their isolation and vulnerability by looking for support in the community. Two leaders from the group are also participating in a YWCA project addressing cyber-violence.
In conclusion, the young immigrant women leaders and the project at ISANS have been building stronger networks to share their experiences and to support each other. They have enhanced their individual and group leadership abilities to challenge inequalities and the power relationships and build resilience regarding violence against women. This valuable two-year project will be terminated at the end of March 2015. We hope to have this opportunity to work with these amazing, promising, young immigrant women again in the future.
Thank you for your time.