By Claire Black, Chief Executive, OutLine.
With Pride celebrations taking place across Aotearoa, it’s a time to reflect on the tremendous progress that rainbow communities have made. But Pride is also a time to confront the huge challenges that rainbow communities still face.
Among the most urgent issues is domestic and sexual violence against rainbow people. It’s rarely acknowledged, but rainbow people in Aotearoa experience violence at disproportionately high rates.
The statistics are truly shocking. One in two rainbow people will experience domestic, family and intimate partner violence and abuse in their lifetime. We need more research, as the statistics are imperfect and don’t reflect the variations and complexity of rainbow experiences. But what we consistently see is that rainbow people experience higher rates of violence, compared to the general population.
If that wasn’t bad enough, rainbow victims of violence may have limited access to appropriate support. That’s because the majority of violence prevention education, awareness and support services fail to acknowledge the existence of rainbow communities or adequately cater for them.
We urgently need change. That’s why the Rainbow Violence Prevention Network (RVPN) has launched This Is Us Campaign and invested in education resources, such as our upcoming webinar for health and violence prevention professionals.
This Is Us is an awareness campaign that calls for an Aotearoa where all rainbow people are free from family and sexual violence, and all rainbow people who have experienced harm have access to safe supports.
We’re working towards this goal by raising awareness of the issues affecting various groups within our rainbow communities, and educating people on how to affirm rainbow identities as a violence prevention tool. This Pride season, Mediaworks supported us to put out a series of billboards and radio ads. We’ve also been running a social media campaign with support from RVPN’s member organisations.
But it’s not just enough to spread awareness of these issues if rainbow people aren’t able to access appropriate supports due to a lack of awareness among mainstream violence prevention and health providers. We also need that to change.
Rainbow people’s experiences of violence are often overlooked or misunderstood by mainstream organisations. In part, this is due to underreporting; many victims don’t feel safe to seek help or report an assault due to mistrust of police and the courts, a fear of not being taken seriously, or a desire not to portray tight-knit rainbow communities in a negative light.
These issues can be compounded for rainbow people who are also migrants, sex workers, disabled or elders. Victims from these groups may be less likely seek help due to fear of prejudice and discrimination, or a lack of awareness of the support that is available. Transgender and intersex people also face the additional barrier of mistrust in the medical system, which can prevent them from seeking help.
When violence prevention and health providers don’t understand these issues, they are unable to provide safe and welcoming spaces for rainbow people to get help or report violence. In turn, rainbow people won’t seek support if they don’t feel safe to do so – which means providers will continue to overlook these issues.
Aotearoa urgently needs fit-for-purpose violence prevention and support services for rainbow people. This means creating environments where all rainbow people feel safe and supported to report violence and seek the help they need.
RVPN has been working to address these issues by providing education and resources for mainstream violence prevention and health organisations. We offer a range of free resources for professionals on our website, and are working to upskill violence prevention professionals through education initiatives.
If you work for a mainstream violence prevention or health organisation, you can help by learning about the issues and advocating for change. Our webinar on rainbow violence prevention will give you the knowledge to confidently navigate rainbow violence issues and create safe spaces for rainbow clients. You can watch for Preventing Violence Against Rainbow People: A Panel Discussion here.
You can also help by signing our pledge against rainbow violence, and learning more about RVPN’s This Is Us campaign.
With your help, we can work towards ending rainbow violence in Aotearoa.
Claire Black is Chief Executive of OutLine Aotearoa, a rainbow mental health organisation providing support to rainbow people, their friends, whānau and allies throughout Aotearoa. OutLine has led RVPN’s This Is Us Campaign to raise awareness of rainbow violence.
The Rainbow Violence Prevention Network is a coalition of organisations working to end rainbow violence. Member organisations include OutLine Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōaro, RainbowYOUTH, Te Ngākau Kahukura, Intersex Aotearoa, Gender Minorities Aotearoa, Rainbow Path Aotearoa, HELP Auckland, RespectEd Aotearoa, Wellington RapeCrisis and Rape Prevention Education.