Antidote: Multiracial Girls and Womens Network

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Anti-dote Multiracial Girls and Womens Network

• Participatory Action Research
• March 24th, 2006

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Anti-dote

• A Network of Racialised and Indigenous Girls and
  Women in Southern Vancouver Island

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Its About Us Girls Conference 2002
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Study Findings

• Many young women from racial minority backgrounds
  experienced in Victoria
• Isolation
• Low self esteem
• Marginalization.
• In addition, the study found very few appropriate
  services in Victoria to meet their particular
  needs.

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Anti-DOTE

• Anti-
• D iscrimination
• O ppression
• T yranny
• E xclusion

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Anti-dotes Mandate

• Increasing the psychological and social
  well-being of minority and Indigenous women and
  girls in their schools, social service
  organizations, families and ethnic communities

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• Promoting the visibility and needs of minorities
  and Indigenous peoples in the greater community

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• Promoting community development and social change
  through participatory action approaches at the
  local level, which places decision-making and
  planning in the hands of those who will
  participate in and who will be directly affected
  by the initiative.

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Current Projects

• Gurlz Club
• International Discussion Series
• Caregiver Research project
• Sistahs Group

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Gurlz Club

• Developing intergenerational communication
  between girls and women around the topic of
  relationship as a violence prevention initiative.
• Dating, sexuality, gender roles, conflict
  mediation, marriage, etc.
• Multiple consciousness, multiple identities

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International Discussion Series

• Caged Existence
• Home stay, parentis locus, and power over
  relationships
• Citizenship- Human rights legislation
• Transnational identity
• Cross Cultural communication

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Sistahs Group

• Young Women who are in the in-between stage of
  girls and aunties
• Exploring identity in new context of work, post
  secondary, and adulthood
• Becoming role models and leaders for the girls
  and in the community

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Anti-dotes Guiding Principles

• Participatory
• Peer to Peer Learning
• Youth Engagement
• Intergenerational Relationships
• Networking

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Benefits to this structure

• Decision making is in the hands of those who
  participate in and who will be directly affected
  by the initiative
• Community-Connections

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Benefits- Continued

• Emergent and Current
• Participant Empowerment
• Strengthening the network