The Sexual Culture of Justice project exceeded expectations in the completion and impact of the following activities:
1) Creation of new accessible knowledge products (toolkits, research, and media) that strengthen local advocacy grounded in Caribbean theories, praxis, evidence, and analysis through the Online Knowledge E-Portal, which features outputs of the project: portal.caribbeansexualties.org.
2) Completed GBV Training for a diverse group of 15 men to champion a new culture of gender equality and non-violence in their different communities, which facilitated media creation of scripted messages and the #PullUpYuhBredren Campaign through Five Video PSAs – Men Speak Up! Champions Against GBV – shared widely across social media with thousands of views.
4) Supported Four GBV Community Actions (led by men who participated in or facilitated the GBV training) utilised the #PullUpYuhBredren campaign and a peer to peer training pedagogy. Each action included 10-20 persons and therefore the actions’ impact extends to over 50 persons.
5) Trained 46 teachers and guidance counsellors in two cycles of teacher training workshops; Developed the “Safer Schools Teacher Training” toolkit and facilitator guide focused on preventing the culture of bullying of young people related to sex and gender.
6) Provided support for over 10 families and guardians of LGBTQI youth and 10 LGBTQI persons through Stronger Families group and individual therapy.
7) Completed a National Survey of Bullying and Gender Based Violence of 40 secondary schools (38 in Trinidad and 2 in Tobago) with an average of 60 students per school that followed the two cycles of teacher training workshops. The total of secondary students surveyed is over 2,285 students. Data analysis and report in progress.
8) Collected 18 Lifestories of working-class LGBTIQ people that offer reflections on experiences with family, support systems and violence, as well as a needs assessment and ideas for social change and transformation. These Lifestories are the first research of its kind and directly impacts the project’s output of policy development and recommendations towards legislative action. Presentation for the IGDS Lunchtime seminar completed online via Zoom/Facebook live on 2 December 2020.
9) Campaigned for legal protection for LGBTI persons from unjust discrimination through the ongoing “Add All Three to the EOA” (a public awareness and legislative campaign to expand protections in the Equal Opportunity Act on the basis of Age, Health Conditions, and LGBTI Status). The campaign includes four Radio Ads plus an Animation Video launched in April 2020 across social media (on Facebook over 40 thousand views) that features prominent public voices as Champions of Add All Three campaign. The radio ads aired on eight different popular and well-known stations with different target audiences to reach different people: first wave in March 2020 (61 rotations, 3 weeks), second wave in November 2020 (62 rotations, 4 weeks), and third wave in December 2020 (56 rotations, 4 weeks).
10) Developed the 2020 Alliance for Justice and Diversity LGBTIQ Agenda – 13 Policy Actions, which were co-created based on research from this project and experiences/work of the AJD partners, and finalised through community forums. Completed desk review of legislative and policy-related advocacy by LGBTI organisations in the past 5-10 years. National decision makers and targets of the policy have all been sent the Policy Agenda via email with follow up advocacy in 2021.
11) Facilitated the “Transforming Each Other’s Advocacy” Action-Learning Course with 22 participants and 7 facilitators representing 18 organisations/coalitions from a spectrum of civil society working on human rights, social justice, governance and development. This was a 6-month action learning course held from October 2019 to March 2020 in collaboration with UNAIDS Caribbean, Lloyd Best Institute, and two other EU-funded projects (Veni Awpan – CSOs for Good Governance; Cropper Foundation – CSOs for Good Environmental Governance). The course included five day-long sessions (with specialized workshops on Governance and Mobilisation, and Communication and Advocacy Capacity Building), as well as mentorship coaching and collaborative decision-making on support for several action campaigns.
Five Action Campaigns (micro-finance):
- “Radio Ads – DV Act Amendments” – June 2020. Led by Alliance for State Action against GBV.
- “Support Group for Advocates” – 12 sessions over 6 months with 16 participants in 2 groups, facilitated by clinical psychologist (included TEOA Facilitators and Participants): Group One (Dec 2019 – June 2020) | Group Two (March to September 2020). All were private and confidential.
- “Thrive Together – Refugee Rights Campaign” for 16 Days of Activism Against GBV – intersectional action on social media led by WOMANTRA (25 Nov to 10 Dec 2020).
- “Ensuring a Culture of Care – Healthcare Training on Sex and Gender Diversity” – 5 Modules, 5 Day Training, 25-29 January 2021 (80 Participants – completed all five days and included healthcare workers and civil society members working on healthcare issues) – organised by the SCJ Project team and Trans Coalition in partnership with the Northwest Regional Health Authority.
- “Youth Shell-tering: Exploring Youth Access to Sexual Reproductive Health” Instagram media campaign during Adolescent Health Week (22-26 March 2021). Action developed by WOMANTRA in partnership with the TT Youth Advocacy Network and SCJ Project team.
12) Developed and Facilitated the IGDS Short Course – Diverse Genders and Sexualities in the Caribbean (Online over 2 Weeks, 6 Modules, 12 contact hours – 16-27 February 2021) – that utilised and featured the project’s key outputs and research – with 32 participants, 1 main facilitator and 4 guest speakers. The course was developed in partnership with the Caribbean IRN building upon their Caribbean diverse genders and sexualities archives and networking and the 2013 short course on Critical Sexuality Studies. The project offered scholarships through an open application process and these were granted based on financial need, activist and community work, and academic merit. A total of 24 people applied for scholarships and 22 people were granted those and participated.
13) Final Closing Symposium – Curated Conversations (held online as IGDS Lunchtime Seminars) Reflections, Challenges and Lessons in Working Towards a Sexual Culture of Justice.
To honour the memory of the project’s co-creator, Colin Robinson (who passed away on 4th March 2021), and in celebration of the significant work completed, we hosted two Curated Conversations to mark the successful completion of the project. In this special series, partners and team members shared their insights and reflections on the challenges and lessons learned as we continue to work towards change and transformation. Both seminars were curated and moderated by Dr Angelique Nixon, the Project Lead Researcher. The first session was held on 24th March 2021 titled “How Do We Transform Approaches To Gender Based Violence & LGBTI Discrimination?” and the second session was held on 31st March 2021, titled “What’s Next On The LGBTI+ Agenda For Justice?” – both events highlighted the outputs of the project and how the work would continue.