by Jaylene McRae, Katie O’Brien, Jillian Bagan, Morgan Dettling, and Mattie Walker
It can sometimes be a surprise to find out that research projects can take years to complete. Between coming up with an idea, putting together a team, finding funding, applying for ethics approval, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating what we learn, projects can change and grow significantly. One such project is Reach Into Self Expression (RISE). RISE is a community- and arts-based research project that aims to understand gender-based violence (GBV) in 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities, with a focus on improving access to support for 2S/LGBTQIA+ folks who have experienced GBV. This project was first funded by Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) in August 2023, with a start date in March 2024, and we just wrapped up data collection in January 2026. As we come to the end of the first phase of RISE, our team (a collaboration between CBRC and Health Initiative for Men (HIM)) has been reflecting on what we’ve learned over the past few years together.
2S/LGBTQIA+ communities experience GBV differently than our straight and cisgender peers. We face more frequent and different forms of violence, and specific barriers in being able to access affirming support. Folks within our communities who face overlapping forms of oppression often have even more complex experiences of GBV. Our needs and experiences are not understood very well by service providers, policy-makers, or researchers – that’s why RISE has been such an important project.
We collected data from two pools of folks for this first phase of RISE: our team facilitated a series of arts-based workshops for 2S/LGBTQIA+ survivors of GBV, and also talked to professionals in the Fraser Valley region who offer GBV services to our communities. In ceremony, people take on different roles: some folks tend the fire, others lead the ceremony, and others nourish the community. This was true of RISE, too. In our workshops, Elder Dixie connected community members to the project and opened the space in a good way, Jaylene expanded the definition of research for community members, Mattie coordinated logistics and brought nourishing food, and Jillian used their experience as a nonbinary arts-based therapist to facilitate conversations and art-making about folks’ experiences of GBV. Our team members from HIM – Evan, Sebastian, and Morgan – spread the word about these sessions to community members and also supported facilitation. In the workshops, community members shared experiences that they had never shared before. Our community-centered partnership and project design allowed us to create safe, intentional, and brave spaces.
In November 2025, our project team facilitated a workshop at Summit envisioning what community care can look like for 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities in the context of GBV. In that workshop, Evan, Jaylene, Jillian, Katie, Mattie, and Elder Sheila had a panel discussion about what RISE had taught us so far. Attendees were invited to draw, write, and collage their responses to our group conversation about community care and GBV. These pieces of art came together to co-create a beautiful tree.
It is vital to have ongoing relationships of care and trust with the communities we’re asking to do research with us. You can’t just decide one day that you’re going to do a project, get in touch with an Elder you’ve never talked to before, pull together a team that doesn’t know or trust each other, and expect meaningful results. Sometimes relationships in academia and research can feel transactional or temporary, but our team rejected that approach. RISE has been built off years of community connection fostered by team members, past and present. As our team member Jaylene says, the seeds had to be planted before we got to work.
Another throughline of RISE so far has been exploring definitions of GBV. Often, both service providers and community members in our arts-based workshops shared that the term ‘gender-based violence’ didn’t initially feel very helpful, but through conversation and art-making, many folks came to understand that their experiences or services fit under this umbrella term. We’re still analyzing the data we collected, and are excited to share some more findings at our upcoming art show in Vancouver this March. This exhibit will showcase the art that project participants created in our workshops to understand their experiences, needs, and hopes for change related to GBV and GBV service provision. This art holds the sacred energy of many different experiences, and will encourage conversations that matter. We’re really looking forward to sharing this tender and generative community space with all of you.
Exhibit hours:
March 24th-27th: 3pm-7pm
March 28th: 1pm-7pm
Location:
Sun Wah Centre, BCA Room 001
268 Keefer Street
Vancouver, BC
Access information: Wheelchair ramp and elevator access; ungendered washrooms
