In 2020, Shama partnered with a group of 20 ethnic women from Women2Women, a grassroots initiative of 100 ethnic women and supported by the Ministry of Ethnic Communities in Christchurch. We supported this group to develop 2 prevention of sexual violence projects: a poster campaign to keep children safe from sexual harm for ethnic parents, and an animation video clip to keep adolescents safe from sexual harm.
The group who identified the need to work in keeping children from the ethnic communities safe from sexual harm decided to create a poster campaign in which they could deliver messages to the ethnic parents about how to keep children safe from sexual harm. The process of developing the campaign involved inviting ethnic community leaders from different ethnicities to participate in the campaign and be photographed in the posters. A professional social photographer and journalist from the ethnic communities join the campaign and helped the group create the posters which also included contact details of support services where ethnic parents could ask for further support on this matter.
Our partnership with this multicultural group has evolved into a long-term, collaborative relationship. Initially, Shama supported their family and sexual violence prevention work with resources, guidance, and access to national platforms. Over time, the group also began supporting our mahi in Christchurch, and some members have gone on to collaborate with us in other initiatives. This year, we supported them a second time to launch their poster campaign nationally through a hybrid event that brought together ethnic communities and government representatives to share the campaign messages. In the event the group was interested in finding more funding to continue the prevention conversation happening in the ethnic communities of Aotearoa. Their ongoing leadership and activism highlight the powerful impact of supporting ethnic women to lead community-driven prevention efforts.
