Rainbow Retrospective: Best Practices for LGBT Resettlement

ORR's technical assistance partner, Heartland Alliance International's Rainbow Welcome Initiative, released a new publication, “A Rainbow Retrospective: Reflecting on Best Practices and Successes from the Field.”

This brief (20 page) publication is a companion piece to Rainbow Welcome's field manual, “A Rainbow Response”. The report highlights and celebrates the extraordinary progress that has been made over the last few years by refugee-serving agencies across the country, and offers practical suggestions for ways to strengthen services for all beneficiaries, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) refugees.

Visit the Rainbow Welcome Initiative to download your copy today, and check out other helpful publications and resources from Heartland Alliance International.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/news/rainbow-retrospective-best-practices-for-lgbt-resettlement

From the link in the article (“A Rainbow Retrospective: Reflecting on Best Practices and Successes from the Field.” ):

“We are working with a 25-year-old, self-identified gay Russian woman, who was referred from the hospital emergency department after treatment of injuries secondary to intimate partner violence. The client, Elena1, reported verbal, physical, emotional, and financial abuse by her girlfriend. She was socially isolated, not allowed to leave the apartment, and lost control over her inheritance money. Due to her history of abuse, she currently suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and clinical depression.

She moved to the United States several years ago in order to apply for asylum with her girlfriend, who is a survivor of gender-based violence. Even though they lived in San Francisco, Elena was kept isolated and was unable to obtain information on her rights or freely join the community. Elena felt stuck and stayed in the relationship with her abusive girlfriend out of fear that she would be deported back to Russia or face additional persecution if she contacted law enforcement.

To put Elena on a path of recovery, we focused on her safety and housing first, and then on psychological and psychosocial needs. We connected her to organizations that could help her file for a U-Visa (for immigrant victims of crime) as well as legal resources to get some of her financial resources back from the perpetrator. After initially addressing urgent case management needs, we have since discussed how the possibility of the discrimination she faced in Russia may have led to traumatic bonding which kept her in the abusive relationship for so long. We continue to process her traumatic experiences to help address her PTSD symptoms as well as explore ways to keep herself safe from harm in the future.”

—Survivors International/
Trauma Recovery Center
San Francisco, California

http://www.rainbowwelcome.org/


Came across this office while reading through the list of Government agencies/offices at usa.gov. A lot of fascinating and good things our government is doing/supporting that gets little to no press.

http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/O.shtml