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An Online Resource Library on Gender-Based Violence.

Applying an Intersectional Lens

When responding to survivors of abuse, it is critical that advocates and faith-leaders alike employ an intersectional lens to understand how race/ethnicity, gender, and religion play a role in shaping survivors’ experiences of abuse, grieving and help-seeking.

The term intersectionality was coined by Dr. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. It is a concept that enables us to recognize the fact that membership in a particular group can make people vulnerable to various forms of oppression. However, because we are simultaneously members of many groups, our complex identities can shape the specific way we each experience oppression.

A survivor’s unique situation and all of the identities one may hold (for example, immigrant, Muslim, Black, mother) shape how they experience domestic violence, how they feel about their experiences and what they decide to do about it. This infographic for survivors by Peaceful Families offers a helpful illustration of intersecting identities and their impact on experiences of domestic violence.

Experiencing multiple forms of oppression increases one’s vulnerability to violence and can make it more challenging for victims to find the help and support that is responsive to their individual needs. Domestic violence is linked to a web of oppressive systems such as racism, xenophobia, classism, ableism, sexism, and homophobia; therefore, it disproportionately affects women, children, and other marginalized groups (CDC, 2017).

Additionally, White supremacy practices within domestic violence agencies, coupled with Anti-Blackness, Islamophobia and hostility towards immigrants and refugees, have historically left many survivors, especially Black women, isolated, discredited and fearful for their safety – not only in their abusive relationship but also when accessing services from domestic violence agencies.

Resources in this section highlight the importance of responding to domestic violence within a racial justice and intersectionality of oppressions framework.

"Intersectionality is a framework that must be applied to all social justice work, a frame that recognizes the multiple aspects of identity that enrich our lives and experiences and that compound and complicate oppressions and marginalizations.” – Uwujaren & Utt, 2015

A Primer on Intersectionality

This document discusses the importance of using an intersectional prism to 1) analyze social problems more fully; 2) shape more effective interventions; and 3) promote more inclusive coalitional advocacy.

#RaceAnd: Sonny Singh

#RaceAnd is a special 8-part video series produced by Race Forward’s Video Production Specialist Kat Lazo, exploring the many ways that race compounds and intersects with all the other issues faced by people of color. In this video, Sonny Singh gives insight on how he navigates the world as a South Asian turban-wearing Sikh man, but also sheds light on how his privileged identities as a cishet abled-bodied middle-class man can be utilized to stand in solidarity with others.

Coffee and Conversation: When Black Women Seek Help

This webinar from Ujima, Inc. explores the many different avenues or systems that Black women may engage when addressing the intersecting forms of violence in their lives. Presenters from different service sectors discuss the ways in which advocates in those fields can be more culturally humble, trauma-informed, and responsive to the needs and realities of Black women survivors.

What is Gendered Islamophobia?

This workshop is specifically tailored towards practitioners in the field of gender-based violence and gender justice. Presenters focus on ways practitioners can better understand how gendered Islamophobia shows up in their work, and how to respond in holistic ways.

Partnership to End Gendered Islamophobia Community Report

Gendered Islamophobia consists of the ways the state utilizes gendered forms of violence to oppress, monitor, punish, maim and control Muslim bodies. This report shares collective learnings from a convening of the Partnership to End Gendered Islamophobia on the 19th anniversary of 9/11.