A new resource being set up by SafeSpace, a "Queer Survivor Council," will advise the anti-violence agency on policies, service gaps, and other concerns, according to Resource Coordinator Connie Beal, an Americorps Vista worker with the group. In addition the council will be the source for a speakers bureau of survivors of domestic and anti-lgbt violence to share their experiences in training settings.
      "The Women's Rape Crisis Center and the [statewide] Domestic Violence Network have survivor councils," Beal noted. Those organizations provide speakers who have suffered sexual assault and other violence to remind agency staff and volunteers of the all too real experiences and needs of constituents they seek to help. However, "It's very rare to have [a speaker] who is queer."
       The aim of the project is to "help us stay grassroots, to keep active, to empower survivors, to educate people in the speakers bureau, to provide advice, and for survivors to have a say,"
Beal explained. The Queer Survivor Council will be launched in October, during Domestic Violence Awareness month.
       "Our survivors lead us, queer survivors especially," she added. In a speakers bureau role, they can address sexual and gender identity questions that can arise following an incidence of violence, particularly when the violence has an anti-lgbt component, such as the use of anti-gay, anti-lesbian, or anti-trans epithets during an assault.
       According to its web site, SafeSpace provides information, support, referrals and advocacy to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning survivors of physical, sexual, and emotional violence across Vermont. Advocates may meet with survivors face-to-face, help access protection orders, and accompany survivors to court or to the hospital.
       SafeSpace also identifies itself as a resource for the community regarding lgbtqq physical, sexual and emotional violence. The agency works to reduce barriers for people to access help and/or information through other agencies and institutions. The group is active statewide, with offices in Burlington.
       "We are survivor-centered," declared SafeSpace Director Kara DeLeonardis. "We are really accountable, and the Survivor Council will help us continue to be true to the social change part of our purpose."
        DeLeonardis noted that the anti-violence movement has become increasingly professionalized, implying the potential for distance between the service providers and their clients. "A lot of us [professionals] are survivors but that’s not our primary focus," she added.
       "The real question a Survivor Council can answer is, 'Are we doing what they need us to do?'" DeLeonardis explained. The agency will look to the council for feedback on their web site, the effectiveness of their outreach efforts, and whether staffing the agency's "warmline" 24 hours a day should become a priority, among other concerns.
      SafeSpace is considering "a couple of models" for choosing members of the council, which might include community activists as well as queer survivors. The council will not be limited to the agency's volunteers, board members and staff.
       Anyone interested in helping to form the council or in serving on it may contact Kara DeLeonardis at SafeSpace: 863-0003, or Kara@safespacevt.org
For more information on SafeSpace, visit their web site: www.safespacevt.org