Program description
The Zoe Belle Gender Collective has been a leader in developing trans and gender diverse best practice across a wide range of services and organisations throughout Victoria since 2007. This is shared through its training sessions for professionals across government and the community sector on the needs and experiences of trans and gender diverse people.
All trainings and workshops are created and delivered by members of the trans and gender diverse community. The training sessions are presented to practitioners and other workforces across peak bodies and community organisations, and are tailored to suit organisational needs.
Over the reporting period, Zoe Belle Gender Collective held 132 training sessions and educational presentations reaching over 3,500 workers. Aims of the training sessions include developing:
- organisations’ capacity to understand the drivers of violence against trans and gender diverse people
- practitioners’ understanding of trans and gender diverse peoples’ experiences of discrimination and violence
- practitioners’ understanding of the shared drivers of violence against cisgender women and trans and gender diverse people
- organisational and individual practitioners’ skills and capability to provide inclusive, respectful and welcoming services to the trans and gender diverse community
- organisations and practitioners to meet the unique needs of the trans and gender diverse community
- practitioners’ knowledge of gender affirmation and trans and gender diverse healthcare pathways
- organisations’ understanding of the legal frameworks protecting the human rights of trans and gender diverse people.
Insights
Zoe Belle Gender Collective has observed that mainstream organisations often have a very limited understanding of the significant backlash against trans and gender diverse people, and how it is driving increased experiences of discrimination, street-based harassment, intimate partner violence and family violence.
As prevention of violence organisations typically have significantly more resources than organisations led by trans and gender diverse people, training and empowering these organisations to include trans and gender diverse people in their work is highly effective and important. Mainstream organisations have greater reach than dedicated community organisations, and often the people perpetrating violence against trans and gender diverse people are not LGBTIQA+, so these mainstream organisations are well placed to change attitudes and make impact.
Key takeaway
Many organisations working on the prevention of family violence and violence against women need support in developing their knowledge and practice to meaningfully include trans and gender diverse people in their frameworks, priorities and activities. However, when they have a better understanding of the extremely high levels of violence against trans and gender diverse people and its links to the same drivers of violence against cisgender women, their capacity and capability to include trans and gender diverse people in their work increases.