Community Powered Responses

I recently designed and facilitated a workshop on a particular inclusion framework. We had a short time, and the subject was the framework; the specific groups of people who could benefit from using this framework were secondary. Therefore, I used the example of women and girls throughout the workshop. I mentioned numerous times that women and girls (in all their diversity) are examples and that the subject's identities can be changed to meet the needs of underrepresented groups—for example, socio-economic status or ethnicity or disability... Several times in the workshop, I had men question, 'What about men?' in the workshop. Men in this context or men in that context... also experience discrimination or oppression. Many people in many contexts that we did not mention also experience oppression, but what is concerning is that this is an example that leads to resistance and, eventually, backlash. "What about men?" denies the legitimacy of the issues that women experience. It minimises the significance and impact of women's experiences and attempts to redefine them out of existence. It can also deny the credibility of the problem. The beginning stages of backlash to gender equality programmes often take the form of the denial of inequality or privilege and counterclaims of male disadvantage. It disavows the lack of power and decision-making that women and girls and gender diverse folks experience compared to men and boys. Disavowal does not recognise that gender (women, girls and gender-diverse people) inequality is a structural and systemic problem. It can lead to inaction, appeasement, appropriation, co-option, oppression, and backlash (Michael Flood), which we see and experience globally. From the higher rates of murder of women, the rollback of SRHR, and the anti-trans movements, to name just a few. One way to combat this in our organisations is to have an organisational response to resistance and backlash of women and girls, as well as other marginalised groups (e.g., race, gender diversity, sexuality, disability) So, today's reflection question is, "How can we identify backlash"? and I have added a few more questions for you <3 What do resistance and backlash look like in your area of work? How can you monitor backlash and resistance? What would an organisational response to backlash and resistance look like? Keep an eye out for my Friday #Reflexivepractice posts, and if you want to follow what Community Powered Responses is doing, you can sign up to the newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gRX2dmjq This blog post refers to Michael Flood's work on backlash and resistance.

Are you waiting for the critique of the #safeaccessibleinclusive toilet sign? Well, this week, I am taking a break while I develop a new format for sharing my weekly images and critiques. This Thursday morning, toilet time has become bigger than I planned or imagined, and I have decided to put the series in a dedicated collection, with many more critiques to come. If you'd like to find out more, you can join my Community Powered Responses Monthly(ish) newsletter or check back next week. Newsletter sign-up is here: https://lnkd.in/gG46SWms Enjoy some of the images of different toilet signs below! #WASH #GEDSI #LGBTIQ+ #SOGIESC #womenandgirls #disabilityrights

Today's #Reflexivepractice Friday question acknowledges that so often, GEDSI workers typically have so little power. It's a familiar sight to see a lone GEDSI worker on a country team or within an organisation. This individual, who isn't full-time, takes on a multitude of roles, working across countries and cultures, various thematic areas, and both humanitarian and international development settings, often with little to no budget or support. This is despite major contractors and donors insisting on minimum standards of inclusion in areas such as women and girls, disability and increasing indigenity and SOGI-SC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Sex Characteristics). No wonder we see increased tokenism and a failure of inclusion (See the Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals - The Gender Snapshot 2024 for evidence) Social inclusion is a specialized field that necessitates the concerted efforts of teams and the backing of leadership to be elevated to an organizational priority. The GEDSI worker, already burdened with a multitude of tasks, cannot accomplish this alone. It is the responsibility of leadership to collaborate with the organization to foster an inclusive culture. So often, I see the lone inclusion champion in an organisation leave, taking all the institutional knowledge and expertise with them, leaving the organisation worse off than when they started because now the organisation needs to catch up. So today's reflexive question is for GEDSI workers and everyone else. "Does my organisation prioritise Social Inclusion?" If not... well..... To keep up to date with Community Powered Responses and the work I do, the training courses, learning events and coaching - join my Community Powered Responses Monthly(ish) Newsletter https://lnkd.in/gG46SWms #GEDSI #reflexivepractice #reflexivepraxis #socialinclusion #gender #disability #LGBTIQ+ #SOGIESC #internationaldevelopment #humanitarian

It's #safeaccessibleinclusive Thursday, where I post an image of a bathroom sign and critique it. For folks who are new, I have been posting signs for about 14 weeks, so please go back and see the previous #safeaccessibleinclusive reviews. This week's critique is inspired by comments on last week's post by CRISTINA DE NICOLÁS IZQUIERDO, who spoke about the challenge of understanding the meanings in English when English is not your first language. The signs developed - like this icon of a person in a wheelchair, are 'universal signs' - which means that while there may be individual languages and actual sign differences, the icons will be seen in every country, at least in places like airports, medical centres, and government buildings in big cities. The language underneath may be the official language of the country you are in, although it may also be English (we can't forget colonisation). To reply to @Cristina, the LH and RH on many disability signs is something that most people don't learn unless they have a disability or are a carer of someone with a disability. Something we don't focus on is the braille underneath. On this sign, the braille reads, "Unisex Disabled Toilet." in Unified English Braille. In 1991, work began to standardise the various braille codes used in the English-speaking world. Unified English Braille (UEB) has been applied to the languages of India and Africa, Arabic, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Russian, and Armenian, as well as nearly all Latin-script languages. While not all countries use the UEB, even within those countries, many people who are blind or have low vision don't have the opportunity to learn Braille. Braille is mostly taught in schools specifically designed for people who are blind or have low vision or disability-specific schools. In most places around the world (including in Australia), those schools are usually not in regional, rural or remote locations, and many people with disabilities don't have access. Therefore, we can't assume that people who are blind or have low vision can read Braille. (This is also good to know for other non-WASH international development projects) Another thing to note about this sign is that the icon image is also raised for people who are blind or have low vision to feel—it is tactile for those who can't read braille but have learnt the feel of the disability sign. In Australia, the signs are injection moulded as one complete unit for quality and hygiene purposes. So, as previously written about, the word "unisex" lowers the stars score, but in terms of disability inclusion, giving it 4 stars for the Braille and the tactile nature of the icon. I hope you liked today's post, and to keep updated with my work, and upcoming learning events, sign up to my Monthly(ish) newsletter, https://lnkd.in/g55cemUz

It's #reflexivepractice Friday, and today's reflexive practice question is, 'How are my values incorporated into my reflexive practice?' This question stems from research that shows little support for the assertion that unconscious bias training in the workplace changes people's unconscious biases, especially when mandatory. Some forms of training are really important because they create learning opportunities for people. Some people simply don't know about the different types of power, the differences in gender identities and sex characteristics, or various types of disabilities, for example. However, more than training alone is needed because we don't often know how to practice the training in our projects and programmes, and we learn to identify our unconscious biases via our mistakes. Some research also shows that we are more likely to make strides in identifying and changing our unconscious biases if we focus on our values, such as social justice, equity, and equality. This is why I am a huge fan of delivering training and supporting teams with group values-based coaching. I invite you to grab your reflexive practice journal and write about how you incorporate your values in your reflexive practice. A proven method for taking strides in changing your unconscious biases.

It's #Reflexivepractice Friday, and I have been thinking a lot about #data recently, especially the debate on whether to include questions based on diverse SOGIESC in the Australian census. There is a lot of misinformation (e.g., believing that gender diversity and the diversity of sex characteristics are the same thing), and there is a lot about rights and health statistics, but there is so little said about power. Data is power! Information is a source of power! Information is linked to access to economic power and political power. If we are only collecting data that assumes there are only two types of sex characteristics and that everybody's gender is the same as it was assigned at birth, we are invisibilising both intersex folks and people with diverse gender histories and identities. If we are equating sex characteristics and gender, we collect information that makes false assumptions that lead to bad decisions. If we only collect data that reinforces heteronormativity, then we invisabilise and discriminate against people with diverse sexualities. We make decisions based on heteronormativity, spend money based on heteronormativity, and reinforce heteronormativity. These reflections are not just based on the current debate on the Australian census, but on the aid system as a whole with their data collection methodologies. Whose data are you collecting, and what decisions are you making based on this data?

#safeaccessibleinclusive This week, I am posting this image of a toilet door. (you can see me reflected in one of the signs) On the surface, the signs in this image look pretty good! There are no gendered figures; the Baby Change doesn't have an icon of a woman looking like she is breastfeeding it (look at previous posts for examples). The all-gender toilet is accessible for people with disabilities (including people with disabilities who have diverse gender identities), and we know the handrail is on the right-hand side. When it comes to disability inclusion, optimally, a disability-accessible toilet would have handrails on either side of the toilet, and therefore, people with limited mobility on one side could use which rail they need, or those who need two rails. There is also no ceiling hoist, but as mentioned in previous posts, they are actually quite rare. The thing about this door I wanted to focus on was the door lock. MLAK stands for Master Locksmith Access Key and is a unique locking system developed for use in many accessible bathrooms, Liberty swings (wheelchair swings), some water wheelchairs, and Changing Places bathroom facilities. People who have a disability or have written authority from a doctor are eligible for a MLAK key. Many disability organisations can also apply for an MLAK key to assist with outings for their clients. The MLAK key was developed to help increase the availability of accessible, clean and functioning public facilities for people with disability. If you need an MLAK key to access this toilet, it means that people with diverse genders who fit into a gender binary or feel safe accessing a binary Male/Female toilet can't access this one without the MLAK key. The same goes for parents and caregivers who want to use this bathroom for baby change facilities. There has actually been quite a lot of discussion in places like Australia about trans and gender-diverse folks using disability toilets. There are folks to understandably insist that people without a disability should not be **required** to use disabled toilets or facilities because they have no other options. It is also a good use of space and resources to develop toilets that include the widest range of people and their needs. What makes this toilet exclusive is the MLAK, which allows only people with disabilities with an MLAK key to access it. I absolutely understand the issue with cleanliness, but that is more of a responsibility of community social/norms and the toilets (council?) owners to clean them. In this case, the rule of exclusion without a registered disability to access a MLAK key is not a good example of #safeaccessibleinclusive. In fact, many people with disabilities don't have or know about an MLAK key, and some folks with disabilities disagree with the concept itself. Great work on the signs, but the MLAK key brings down the rating. 2 1/2 stars.

This month is our fourth and final participatory art workshop, Body Mapping. Body mapping is useful for practitioners and researchers who want to: - Examine and appreciate how emotions, cultural norms or practices relate to (specific parts of) physical bodies or are embodied; Explore topics that people find difficult to express verbally; Build trust in groups. It is especially useful for participatory community development with WASH, SRHR, SGBV, and health. A module on using a trauma-informed approach will accompany this workshop. When: 21st September 2024 Where: Naarm Melbourne Time: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Cost: $250.00 + GST/BF Get your tickets below! https://lnkd.in/gYBrKppw

Yesterday, I hosted the August Bright Sparks workshop on Anti-Oppressive Reflective Practice, and I suggested that one needs to take a blended heterodox social justice perspective rather than claiming any single social justice-orientated model as the complete truth or the ‘one  method, model, or framework suitable for working in majority-world communities. I suggested a heterodox approach involving and incorporating the strengths of various critical approaches creates the greatest vibrancy and potential to deliver emancipatory theory and practice. Today's #Reflexivepractice question is, "What worldview and approaches are you practising implicitly or explicitly? #GEDSI #socialinclusion #internationaldevelopment #communitydevelopment #aid

For those following along - my weekly Thursday #safeaccessibleinclusive bathroom critique