North Carolina LGBTQ Domestic Violence Symposium: Centering the Margins

435 Smokey Park Highway,Asheville NC 28806

13 September, 2021

Description

A symposium on supporting LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence, particularly outside state institutions. This symposium will create a space of learning, resource sharing, and strategizing to explore the emerging best practices and the particular challenges of supporting LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence in North Carolina. The NC LGBTQ Domestic Violence Response Initiative and others in the state will discuss how rural and urban communities in NC can advance their capacity to prevent LGBTQ domestic violence and respond to survivors. Many of the institutions that typically serve survivors don’t highlight the particular needs of LGBTQ people. In particular, law enforcement and the legal system are not set up to serve Queer and Trans survivors, especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) survivors, and these systems very often cause further harm to these marginalized communities. We particularly want to focus on the interlocking systems of oppression faced by BIPOC who are also queer. In this symposium we aim to build better practices, share prevention strategies, develop advocacy methods and foreground alternative means of finding safety. We hope to build on the rich history of care already performed in racialized LGBTQ communities. Helpmate's Mission: We work with our community to eliminate abuse and fear by providing safety, shelter, and support for people who have been victimized by domestic violence.  Helpmate's Philosophy:  We believe that we are all to be valued, and have the right to speak our truths, be heard, be honored, and achieve our full potential. We all have the right to live in safety, without violence or fear.   We believe that hope, change, and healing are possible, and that people can transcend painful experiences, grow, and thrive.  We embrace the diversity among ourselves and in our community, and believe that valuing people means respecting and understanding their experiences and beliefs. We are committed to maintaining a diverse organization that reflects our community.  We recognize that violence is created in and sustained by our society, and that the elimination of violence begins with societal and global change. We believe that it is the obligation of our local and global community to eradicate violence by challenging a culture that values power and control.  We believe that in order to challenge our society, our organization must reflect the world in which we want to live. To fulfill our mission, we must create collaborations that cultivate our strengths, knowledge, talents, and services.   We believe that to serve survivors, we must model a violence-free community that is founded in respect and equality. By providing safety, shelter, counseling, and advocacy, we empower survivors to create a life that is free of violence; by providing education, we empower our community to create a world that is free of violence.