Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for the privilege and opportunity to be here with you today.
I'm joining you from London, Ontario, the traditional territories of the Anishinabe, Haudenosaunee, Lunaapéewak nations.
As was said, my name is Yasmin Hussain. I work in a small social service organization called the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration. MRCSSI was established in 2009 to address intimate partner violence and family violence within the diversity of London's Muslim communities.
We work closely with mainstream organizations, and our work spans the continuum of violence prevention, early intervention and critical intervention in situations of risk. Our work is really focused on providing culturally informed services and programs, and on culturally adapting existing evidence-informed programs such as the caring dads program, the strengthening families program and the healthy relationships plus programs for male and female youth that were developed at the centre for school mental health at Western University.
I'm speaking to approaches to addressing gender-based violence. Our approach is one that is culturally integrative. By that I mean that our work in prevention and intervention considers fully the socio-cultural context and experiences and intersectional vulnerabilities of the individuals and communities we serve, in particular survivors.
While there are a lot of universalities to intimate partner violence and domestic violence, there are also really clear specificities. We need to really pay attention to the social contexts that are varied and diverse. The factors and barriers that create vulnerability and risk for survivors are varied and diverse, as are the protective factors that exist in their lives. Therefore, the work of prevention in responding to intimate partner violence and domestic violence really requires multiple strategies and approaches.
I think my ask to the committee is to really continue to recognize and value the work that organizations like ours, but also many other culturally informed and grassroots organizations, do across the country in so many important ways. I think the work is really coming from a place that is trauma informed but also from a place that's building understanding and working with strengths. In our work specifically we recognize the collectivist context of family structures and community structures, and we take into consideration things like premigration trauma, migration trauma, integration stressors and racism and discrimination. I think all these intersectional vulnerabilities are part of the consideration in this work.
I do believe that prevention is key, and the work of creating safety for survivors and accountability work for those who abuse really starts and exists at the level of community, with direct work with community members, working directly and actively within communities.
Most individuals who experience intimate partner violence or family violence turn first to family members and friends before accessing formalized services, so it's important that we all have the knowledge to understand intimate partner violence, to recognize it, to name it, to recognize warning signs and to know how we can provide peer support.
How do we respond when someone discloses to us that they're being abused, or how do we recognize those warning signs?
One piece of our work is really building on peer leadership. We have a program that works with newcomers, immigrant Muslim women who are Arabic-speaking. Through this 12-week curriculum we really focus on building their knowledge of intimate partner violence and domestic abuse, to be able to name and recognize things, and equip them with capacity to provide peer support, plus provide them with knowledge and skills to sort of navigate the system, to recognize resources and to support any of their friends or loved ones who are in situations of abuse to navigate these systems as well.
My call is just to recognize that the work of addressing intimate partner violence and domestic violence will take working at many levels. It will require the involvement of multiple organizations and many people, and it will require diverse strategies. It's thinking about how we can create safety in various ways and how we can create awareness in various ways. The continued support of agencies dealing with violence against women, sexual assault centres and shelters, as well as work within formal institutions and academic research, are important. Equally important is the work of building in communities, because I think that's where so much about safety starts.
Thank you so much for your time and for the opportunity to speak.