From the always-amazing Michael Munson of FORGE:
FORGE is looking to identify trans-savvy individuals in Boulder, CO; Iowa City / Cedar Rapids / Johnson County, IA; Boston, MA; and the state of Maine who are interested in working in coalition with professionals from agencies serving sexual assault survivors to ensure these services are culturally competent about and accessible to transgender survivors.
Multiple studies have found that over 50 percent of transgender people have experienced sexual assault at some point in their lives. Many transgender survivors live with the long-lasting effects of trauma. Yet few transgender people access sexual assault healing services.
Supported by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, FORGE will help form coalitions in these four jurisdictions (Boulder, CO; Iowa City, IA; Boston, MA; and the state of Maine) to identify their own community/state barriers and develop and implement a work plan to reduce or eliminate those barriers. Work will include disseminating surveys, participating in at least one full-day in-person meeting, and carrying out follow-up work as the coalition determines. The timeline is roughly October 2011 through summer 2012.
There is no monetary compensation for coalition participants; however, your involvement will help change services and attitudes, which will result in the reduction of pain carried by people in the transgender community. You will also make valuable local and national connections that will be personally rewarding, as well as being part of ground-breaking efforts to improve the ability of transgender survivors to access competent healing care.
If you are interested, please send a bio, resume, or other statement of interest to mmunson@forge-forward.org.
Teleconferences to discuss the project and answer questions are scheduled for October 12, 2011. Please click the link next to the time you would like to attend. (It is not necessary to attend the teleconference in order to participate in the project.)
October 12, 2011 — 12:00 p.m. noon CENTRAL TIME — https://cc.readytalk.com/r/119pteu40e8i
October 12, 2011 – 8:00 p.m CENTRAL TIME — https://cc.readytalk.com/r/slhisdm5du1fFor more information please contact FORGE staff Michael Munson (mmunson@forge-forward.org) or Loree Cook-Daniels (LoreeCD@aol.com). FORGE can also be reached by phone at 414-559-2123.
This project was produced by FORGE under 2009-SZ-B9-K003, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this teleconference are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position nor policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.