Housing, transportation, food, clothes, education, and safety are all vital needs for survivors and advocates. One thing that this growing list has in common is that, depending on the strength and stability of a person’s economic situation, all may be in jeopardy.
At the Action Alliance, we believe that one day we will see a world without violence. We know that prioritizing economic justice for survivors will be essential as we build this world. Economic justice is defined as the fair and equitable access to enter and participate in the economy.
The question, “What does economic justice look like?” often generates replies of fair, living, thriving wages for workers. Yes, higher wages are helpful; however, better pay is only one strategy we can use to build economic stability, especially as higher wages are increasingly eclipsed by the precipitous surge in the cost of housing, food, health insurance, and childcare.
To help us grasp what being able to fully participate in our economy could and should look like, the Action Alliance enlisted the help of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) advocates. We chose to work with these identity groups because of the historical way they have been systemically excluded from and/or limited by the ways they can engage in our economy. This small but mighty group, the BIPOC Economic Justice Leadership Cohort, assembled with the support of an Allstate Foundation grant, explored how economic justice, if properly practiced, would impact their lives and the lives of the survivors they serve for the better.
For two years, this cohort deeply explored exactly what economic justice is and how it impacts survivors and advocates as well as themselves. They presented their stories as both advocates and survivors last year at the Action Alliance’s Economic Justice Summit. In doing so, they described how a society framed and designed though an economic justice lens could have changed their situation and how being able to share their experiences helped them identify how their financial situation at the time impacted their safety.
Their reflections on this experience were moving:
Tammie, the facilitator of the cohort mentioned, “As a survivor myself, I don’t believe many understand all that survivors experience. It’s not just the physical abuse. It’s the recovery afterwards and, more than often, a new start with a new life, which means that finances may be affected.”
Kelcee, a member of the cohort, mentioned, “Sometimes the work and the real-life experiences feel isolating, but being a Black woman in a group of BIPOC individuals having discussions and brainstorming meaningful tactics and solutions made me feel seen. A lot of times I don’t have to try to find words that depict exactly how I feel or what I mean because they get it.”
Paulina, a cohort member said, “This experience has reinforced my belief that advocacy is about creating long-term sustainable change that empowers survivors beyond their immediate needs and not just advocacy.”
As it looks toward the future, the Leadership Cohort is taking the lessons they’ve learned and refocusing their efforts on putting economic justice into practice and helping Sexual and Domestic Violence agencies (as well as the public) see how impactful using this lens can be for advocates and survivors.
Everyone’s situation will be different, and while focusing on economic justice we are also seeing there will be no “one size fits all” solution, but we will find many ways to work on this issue by looking through and engaging with different lenses.
* Black, Indigenous and People of Color
____________________________
Cortney Calixte, MSW is the Movement and Capacity-Building Director, and staff support person for the BIPOC Leaderships Cohort and has been working to center the margins at the coalition for almost eight years.
Read more news