Celebrating Differences: Why Culturally Relevant and Community Specific Strategies are Our Best Hope for Social Change

During the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference, which took place in Hollywood Sept. 1-3, 2010there were more than 80 workshops. The largest track was the Prevention Track sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Workshop Title: Celebrating Differences: Why Culturally Relevant and Community Specific Strategies are Our Best Hope for Social Change

Presenters:

• Lydia Guy Ortiz, LGO Consulting, consultant
• Kimber Nicoletti, MSW, Director and Founder of MESA: Multicultural Efforts to end Sexual Assault at Purdue University

Description: “Building a World We Want to Live In” requires social change. Social change requires a paradigm shift in how we view diversity. We design most sexual violence intervention and prevention strategies to accommodate difference. These accommodations do not engage communities in a meaningful way and only serve to further tokenize the voice, input and needs of communities that have historically been marginalized and oppressed. Truly relevant strategies require us to embrace difference. All communities have specific norms, strengths and challenges. New ideas and energies for culturally relevant sexual violence prevention can emerge when the needs and characteristics of each community are welcomed. Using an experiential learning model, this workshop explored concepts related to health disparities, cultural competence, cultural relevance and anti-oppression.

Materials:

• Slides [PDF]

To view a complete list of workshops, speakers and information related to the 2010 National Sexual Assault Conference, click here.