A Collaborative Response to Addressing Family Violence with Racialized and Diverse Communities During Pandemic Recovery in Peel Region

Sara Abdullah (), Serena Hong, Michelle Vinod, Hasha Siddiqui, Cília Mejía-Lancheros, Uzma Irfan, Angela Carter, Ian Spencer Zenlea and Dianne Fierheller
Additional contact information
Sara Abdullah: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada
Serena Hong: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada
Michelle Vinod: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada
Hasha Siddiqui: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada
Cília Mejía-Lancheros: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada
Uzma Irfan: Malton Women Council, 216-2985 Drew Rd, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A7, Canada
Angela Carter: Roots Community Services, 36 Queen St E, Brampton, ON L6V 1A3, Canada
Ian Spencer Zenlea: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada
Dianne Fierheller: Institute for Better Health, Trillium Health Partners, 100 Queensway West, Mississauga, ON L5B 1B8, Canada

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-24

Abstract: Family violence is a social issue that impacts families and communities every day in Canada and around the world. As family violence rates continue to increase there is an urgent need for cross-sectoral collaboration to codesign social work and social service systems, in partnership with those experiencing family violence. This article will share learnings from a two-year community-based participatory research study that worked alongside survivors and witnesses of family violence, community partners from diverse social service agencies, and researchers, to understand experiences of family violence in racialized communities in Peel region, Ontario, Canada. An intersectional-trauma-informed approach guided the work that included establishing a community advisory board, hiring peer research assistants, Photovoice, and holding a knowledge exchange event (KEE) with survivors and witnesses of family violence, researchers, and community partners to rapidly generate ideas for intervention areas through a 25/10 crowdsourcing activity and codesign preliminary solutions through a mini hackathon. Key findings from the photovoice highlighted systemic failures and gaps experienced by those facing family violence. As we shifted into ideation, this preliminary focus on systems solidified and top ideas identified included barrier-free, culturally aware provision of services ranging from mental health supports, safe housing, financial independence, and accessing wrap-around services. Our work concluded with the collaborative development of preliminary solutions to these ideas and emphasized the need for cross-sectoral partnerships and lived experience engagement to change systems. Centering the voices of those who have experienced FV in system-level change and advocacy is necessary to ensure services and supports meet the needs of service users.

Keywords: family violence; racialized communities; community engagement; health and social systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/6/347/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/6/347/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:347-:d:1667869

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().