Yes. Thank you for your question.
There are such diverse experiences around gender-based violence, and survivors have such unique experiences. In the community we work with, already you're experiencing isolation from within your community, within the social context of wider Canadian society or from services. Having a space that builds a safe space as a first foundation, where their experiences are recognized and named, which oftentimes also doesn't even happen within the communities they exist in, where I think sometimes forms of violence....
We all exist within norms. Every cultural community does. However, it's recognizing the specificity of those norms. Norms might look different. Norms that minimize violence or reinforce violence and victim-blame, all of those exist across communities and across cultures, but it looks different in communities and cultures. Bringing together spaces where there is a shared experience or recognition of how norms that reinforce control and abuse exist and happen is a powerful starting point to being able to name experiences and to challenge or disrupt those experiences.
Also, in terms of the experience, recognizing that people come with experiences moving to Canada or integration stressors, those are unique stressors that immigrants or newcomers face. Having those validated in spaces where people recognize shared experiences is really important. Sometimes it's easy to minimize, even for survivors or victims themselves, some of the isolation or the harm or marginalization they experience within systems because it's not named or validated elsewhere.
To me, that's an important starting point for empowerment.
