I will be more conscious of my own position/role before speaking and engaging. – workshop participant
Last week MCWH partnered with Diaspora Action Australia (formally known as the Humanitarian Crisis Hub) for the second year in a row to facilitate a gender workshop for 10 of DAA’s staff and volunteers. It was an evening of exchanging thoughts, ideas and concepts about gender issues, as they arise in both national and global contexts. Participants were introduced to different ways of thinking about gender and asked to reflect on the impact of gender norms and racial biases in their everyday lives.
Concepts such as ‘intersectionality’ were new to some members of the group, with one participant observing: “I will no longer be simplistic in my assumptions.” For others, the training was a way of deepening their understanding and expanding on their professional practice. As an attendee later reflected: “I was reminded of how amazingly complex these issues are.”
In order to ground these complexities in reality, the settlement stories of real immigrant and refugee women were shared and discussed with participants. What those stories illustrated, and what the group discovered through the workshop, was how interlaced and multifaceted gender issues can be. By seeking out a deeper understanding of oppression and working towards continual self-reflection on the mechanisms which hold it in place, staff and volunteers at DAA are even better placed to effectively empower women and their communities.
If you think your organisation could benefit from an MCWH gender workshop, why not contact us here.