2S/LGBTQIA+ communities have unique experiences of gender-based violence (GBV). CBRC is working with academic and community partners to understand our communities’ experiences of GBV, hear perspectives on service needs, and imagine creative, community-led responses to GBV.
Defining GBV is complex, and part of our work is understanding how 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities understand, define, and experience GBV. Broadly, GBV is a term used to describe violence targeting someone’s gender, gender expression, gender identity, or perceived gender, and is a violation of human rights. GBV is an umbrella term that encompasses many forms of violence. It is a systemic issue shaped by cis-hetero-patriarchy, racism, colonialism, and ableism, and it affects our communities in unique ways.
Our communities face higher rates of GBV, encounter greater barriers in accessing support, and often find that our needs and lived realities are not well understood by service providers, policy-makers, or researchers. For 2S/LGBTQIA+ folks who are trans, Two-Spirit, Black, Indigenous, disabled, im/migrants, living in poverty, or impacted by other intersecting systems of oppression, these challenges are compounded. Violence against 2S/LGBTQIA+ people is often underreported, mischaracterized, or dismissed, especially by state systems that have historically been complicit in this harm.
Scholars and activists have long emphasized that mainstream GBV responses which are often rooted in carceral feminism, binary victim/perpetrator models, and white colonial understandings of gender, are ill-equipped to address queer and trans realities. Another part of our work is to understand the current state of GBV service provision for 2S/LGBTQIA+ folks seeking care, and learn what kinds of GBV responses our communities would find more helpful.
Projects:
Reach Into Self-Expression (RISE): Participatory Arts-Based Research to Understand Experiences and Needs of 2S/LGBTQIA+ Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Survivors
From 2024-2026, CBRC partnered with Health Initiative for Men (HIM) and art therapist, Jillian Bagan, to conduct participatory arts-based workshops, service provider interviews, and 2S/LGBTQIA+ survivor interviews to understand community perspectives on GBV in the Fraser Health Region.
We are continuing to expand this work over the next year (2026-2027), building new partnerships and collaborations in Northern BC and Yukon to explore and understand the experiences and needs of 2S/LGBTQIA+ GBV survivors through arts-based methods and qualitative interviews.
Funder: Government of Canada Women and Gender Equality 2024-2027
Building Capacity Through Community-Led Arts-Based Approaches to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) for 2SLGBTQIA+ People
This project empowers 2S/LGBTQIA+ survivors to explore what community-led, arts-based approaches best support healing from GBV. Engaging with 2S/LGBTQIA+ community co-researchers from across BC, our team will imagine new peer-led models of support and build community-led resources for service providers. Through art-making, storytelling, and collaboration, this project will generate new pathways for survivor-led healing and influence systemic responses to GBV with creativity and care.
Funder: Vancouver Foundation Investigate Grant 2026-2029; University of Northern BC Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Explore Grant 2026-2027