Does your organisation work supporting migrants? Do you want more resources when you encounter gender and sexuality in that work?
Following two workshops co-facilitated with academics and frontline caseworkers Aine Bennett, Lizzie Hobbs and Victoria Gerrard, we have produced a resource combining the contributions of participants into a handy training resource for support services. We’re honoured to host this important research on our website.
The first workshop was held in May 2024 at the Feminist Library in London with staff and volunteers from frontline migration support services to explore their challenges and strategies in addressing issues related to gender and sexuality for migrants, including refugees and people seeking asylum. In September 2024 we convened a second workshop at Pelican House, the home of Migrants’ Rights Network.
The workbook has four main sections organised around four key challenges people faced:
- Finding the “Right” Words
- Reproducing Norms
- Considered a Bespoke Service
- Personal Experiences
Each section shares summaries of issues faced by our workshop participants; some of their experiences in their own words; a discussion activity about addressing the issue; and a reflection activity about how this applies to your own organisation.
Along with our collaborators, we are setting up an ongoing network for migrants; volunteers and staff in the migration sector, activists; and researchers who are interested in gender and sexuality in migration. If you are interested in joining our google group, please fill out this expression of interest form.
This research sits alongside the Migrants’ Rights Network’s Who is Welcome: Gender, Queerness and Migration campaign. If you want to learn more about gender, queerness and migration, check out our research in this area: