Aine and her project partners engaged non-academic audiences on their research with the aim to help practitioners and organisations providing support services to refugees to better accommodate LGBTQ+ people.
Award: PGR Public Engagement Bursary
Academic: Aine Bennett
Department: PIR
Context and Underpinning Research
Aine and project partners Vicky Gerrard and Lizzie Hobbs (Postgraduate Researchers) and the Migrant Rights Network (MRN) used this bursary to engage non-academic audiences on their research relating to the impact of gender identity and sexuality on migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Their postgraduate research combines insights on the different challenges faced by people claiming asylum on the basis of sexuality and gender; on the relationship between gatekeeping and masculinities in the migrant rights sector; and design in migrant support settings.
Outcomes and Impact
Aine and project partners delivered an event to help staff and volunteers at refugee and asylum support organisations better navigate issues of gender and sexuality. Practitioners and organisations providing support services were brought together to learn about contemporary research around migrants’ rights and the challenges they face relating to gender and sexuality. Research on how design is used to reconfigure boundaries of participation helped to guide the discussion.
The first of two events concluded with a ‘commitment’ from each participant and actionable steps towards better accommodating of LGBTQ+ people, mainstreaming a more nuanced understanding of gender, and managing potential tensions with other pressures of service provision.
Participants were asked to leave notes which were combined with the project team’s analysis to create a zine. This was used as a starting point for the follow-up event, which Aine was able to host alongside MRN using some of the remaining funding. This event hosted a smaller group which allowed for whole group discussions on personal experiences and solution-oriented idea mapping.
Participant contributions, key discussion points and reflections across both events were then brought together as a workbook to be used by practitioners. These workbooks guided practitioners through different ways of thinking about gender and sexuality in their work. Physical copies were printed and distributed to more than 20 organisations, and digital copies were made accessible on MRN’s website.
Next steps
While juggling finishing their theses, vivas and finding post-PhD employment, the team are starting to put together a network of migrants, support service providers, researchers and activists to share resources and organise future co-learning events. There are also some physical copies of the workbook still available for any organisations providing support to migrants.
If you have any questions for Aine based on this project, please get in touch at Aine.Bennett.2021@live.rhul.ac.uk
