On 21st July 2020 we hosted our second VAMHN webinar on . We were delighted to welcome our incredible speakers; Eleanor Lisney (Sisters of Frida), Akima Thomas (Women and Girls Network), Sumanta Roy (Imkaan) and Ravi Thiara (University of Warwick). You can watch the recording of the full webinar below. 


Sumanta Roy & Ravi Thiara

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Skip to 00:04:48  to watch Sumanta & Ravi's presentation
This presentation looks at "locating the experiences and consequences of violence against black and minoritised women and girls in structural inequalities. The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on minoritised women and support services will be explored. We recognise that we are dealing with two pandemics – violence against women and girls declared by the World Health Organisation in 2013 and Coronavirus COVID-19. During the two pandemics, violence against women and girls is increased but for Black and minoritised women and girls, racialised discrimination and the disproportionate impact of structural inequalities also become exacerbated. For any woman and girl with protected characteristics, the two pandemics increase her risks at multiple interlocking levels. Austerity measures have disproportionately affected specialist BME VAWG services so that they have either shut or struggle to sustain the services they offer to minoritised women. Under the pandemic both women and workers from black and minoritised communities face added challenges and pressures that compromise their wellbeing."
  1. Imkaan position paper https://www.imkaan.org.uk/covid19-position-paper
  2. Thiara, R.K. and Roy, S. (2020) Reclaiming Voice: Minoritised women and sexual violence, Imkaan.
  3. Safer Pair of Hands (2020), CWASU/National Lottery Community Fund.
  4. Humphreys, C. and Thiara, R. (2003) ‘Mental Health and Domestic Violence: ‘I Call it Symptoms of Abuse’, British Journal of Social Work, 33, 209-226.​


Eleanor Lisney

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Skip to 00:31:10  to watch Eleanor's presentation
"We wrote on the impact of Covid 19 on Disabled Women – disabled women are 11 times more likely to die of Covid 19 than non disabled women according to the ONS. This talk is to tell of the need to add the narratives focused on Disabled women We feel that the narrative about Disabled women, when available, is very one dimensional. There is no consideration that Disabled women occupy multiple roles, we are diverse and any considerations have to be viewed through an intersectional lens.  We are strongly aware that new measures under the Coronavirus COVID-19 2020 Act threaten rights-based protections and reduce our independent living and in some cases our lives. We put out a call for evidence, asking disabled women to share their experiences of COVID-19 and its specific impact for intersecting identities. We want to ensure the voices of Disabled women are visible as they are often omitted as examples of multiple protected characteristics.
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I want to talk on the rights of disabled people under the Care Act 2014 where these are being eroded by Coronavirus Act,  the urgency of access to food and services for disabled people, and access to PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for their Personal Assistants (PAs) and themselves.

Disabled women’s needs under COVID-19 measures are no less significant than those of the rest of the disabled community, but disabled women face specific issues.

We are looking in particular at those issues that are impacting rights at the intersection of gender and disability during this crisis"


Akima Thomas

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Skip to 00:51:55 to watch Akima's presentation
"This brief talk will explore the challenges of COVID 19 and the impact on the mental health and wellbeing of Black and Minoritised women surviving experiences of VAWG. The aim is to share insights and impact of clinical changes in client presentations and how this relates to existing structural barriers experienced by the Black and Minoritised community. A continuum of trauma embracing the lived realities of Black and Minoritised women’s collective experiences of racial trauma will be shared and the meaning this has for survivors accessing therapeutic services.
 
Additional themes for the talk will focus on Black and Minoritised women’s resistance and rebellion as sites for active survival and pathways to resilience. A final element of the talk will aim to share insights on promising practice supporting Black and Minoritised women’s journey to recovery."
 
  1. Jordan, J (2008). Serial Survivors: Women’s narratives of surviving rape. Sydney: The Federation Press.
  2. Profit, N (2000). Women survivors, psychological trauma, and the politics of resistance. New York: The Haworth Press 
  3. Rothschild, B. (2000). The Body Remembers. The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment. New York: WW Norton  
  4. Van der Kolk, B. (1996). Trauma and Memory. In Van der Kolk, B., McFarlane, A,. Weisaeth, L. (eds). Traumatic Stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body and society. New York, London: The Guildford Press. P. 279-302
  5. Wade, A. (1997). Small Acts of Living: Everyday Resistance to Violence and Other Forms of Oppression. Contemporary Family Therapy. Vol. 19(1), 23-39. ​


Panel discussion

​Skip to 01:13:20 to watch the panel discussion with all of our speakers.





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