Breaking Silos of Practice to Address Intersectional, Complex, and Co-Occurring Issues: Honing in Gbv and Gender Issues

Existing and traditional models of practice for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) are fragmented. Care is routinely specialized for survivors seeking services; community resources are often broken up across multiple organizations and institutions. This is in direct opposition to the core tenets of social work of treating the person as a whole, meeting them where they are, and advancing social justice. These challenges are especially problematic for socially marginalized populations of survivors (e.g., women living with HIV, LGBTQIA+ communities, immigrant and refugee populations), who experience disproportionate rates of stigma and immense structural challenges and inequities that stymie progress and hinder access to care.

Research indicates that survivors experience myriad intersecting experiences including adverse mental health, physical health outcomes such as STIs/HIV, increased risk of substance misuse, cultural and language challenges, and immigration. Yet, frequently, most organizations refer people externally for their complex, intersecting, multidimensional, co-occurring needs. This can be harmful given the trauma associated with having to retell ones' experiences and confronting potential stigma across multiple, disjointed services.

In order to affect change and improve service outcomes, it is imperative to dismantle existing silos: 1) Center the experiences of diverse survivors from a critical intersectional and social justice framework; 2) Build capacity of existing survivor-serving organizations in identifying and addressing needs in a manner that is affirming to their whole selves; 3) Work with organizations/agencies that primarily address other domains/issues (such as health care providers, youth-serving organizations, mental health providers) that intersect or co-occur with GBV and gender issues.

This roundtable will focus on the necessity of and practice towards breaking silos within the context of gender-based issues, especially GBV. First, the presenters will engage in a dialogue about the existing challenges of current models of care. Second, the presenters will offer examples from their research with organizations that address gender as it intersects with four issues: 1) health - organizations serving people living with HIV to understand the links between GBV and HIV; 2) youth development - DV/SA and youth-serving organizations to address survivor safety and facilitate well-being and resiliency; 3) positive mental health - facilitating belonging, inclusivity and positive identity development among LGBT+ youth and 4) immigration - refugee and immigrant-run community based organizations that are often in the front-lines informally assisting survivors and addressing GBV. Finally, the presenters will engage the audience in a discussion on the "how," - deliberating about future directions for breaking down silos to address intersecting issues related to gender. Cross-pollination and diffusion of knowledge may potentially rely on models such as the train-the-trainer (ToT) models for sustainability, for example.This discussion will also tackle community-based and embedded research (CPBR, CBR, PAR), relationship building, understanding existing organizational identified needs and gaps, needs assessment, working to identify potential interest and capacity in responding, among others. Central to these conversations is the role of social workers in breaking silos and then bridging connections and facilitating renewed relations across disparate institutions, such as health, youth development and immigration related institutions.