Celebrating trans, non-binary and intersex inclusion
We were thrilled to hold our first Trans Inclusion Practice Sharing event at then end of last year. An online ‘lunch and learn’ for people working in sexual violence support services across the country.
Why did we hold this event?
This event was born from the work of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee which has made trans, non-binary and intersex (TNBI) inclusion one of their central focus areas for this year.
The event aimed to share best practice learning from TNBI inclusion work happening across specialist services, and to highlight some of the great projects happening in this space.
Often, discussions about trans inclusion in services tend to centre the challenges involved in maintaining an inclusive stance. We wanted to shift this and celebrate all the strategies and innovations that organisations use to promote TNBI inclusion within their services.
We also wanted to provide an opportunity to share experiences and offer support to organisations who want to move towards offering a more trans-inclusive service.
What did we talk about?
The session included:
- four presentations from people working in different sexual violence organisations
- question and answer session
- different topics, including client-facing work, internal policy, and research.
SARSAS’ LGBTQIA+ Champion, Sid spoke about the Trans, Non-binary and Intersex Peer Support Group they’ve facilitated for the past year. It was great to hear the solidarity and support they’ve been building!
Lorri, our Head of Services, also gave a presentation discussing the findings of SARSAS’ focus group research with TNBI victim-survivors and the impact of our trans-inclusive work at SARSAS. You can learn more about our focus group research by watching our webinar.
How did it go?
In one word – brilliantly! We were overjoyed to have such a great turnout – we were joined by around 70 people from organisations across the country!
We had lots of positive responses. Here’s some of the great feedback we received:
“‘everyone there was just focused on how best to support trans and gender-diverse survivors – and that their place in our work and community wasn’t being questioned or debated!’
‘The positivity and feeling of solidarity – it felt hopeful’
‘Inclusive space focused on celebration rather than division’
‘The power of community, being with others that are also passionate about this topic and that are taking action to make a positive change’”
What next?
In response to feedback, we’ve started to plan a follow-up event. Our next Trans Inclusion lunch + learn is coming soon and we already have some very interesting presentations confirmed!
If you want to find out more, get in touch at info@sarsas.org.uk
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