We were excited to collaborate with Zoe Belle Gender Collective and Starlady by hosting their Trans and Gender Diverse inclusive practice: prevention of family and sexual violence training on 12th March.
Zoe Belle Gender Collective (ZBGC) is a trans and gender diverse (TGD) led advocacy organisation based in Victoria, auspiced by Thorne Harbour Health . ZBGC currently has two areas of strategic focus:
- Improving the lives and well-being of TGD young people and their families. This is led through our long-running Youth Project which provides inclusive practice training, sector advice, community resources, events and youth workshops. It is part of the Healthy Equal Youth (HEY) partnership and is funded by the Victorian Government.
- The primary prevention of gendered violence experienced by trans and gender diverse people. Our flagship campaign in this space, Transfemme.com.au, is a world-leading website and resource series that promotes healthier relationships between trans women and cisgender men.
Starlady is a queer trans woman/feminine person living on Dja Dja Wurrung country and is the Director at ZBGC. She is passionate about social justice, the prevention of gender-based violence and dismantling trans misogyny. Starlady is the lead author and campaign director of Transfemme.
The in-person training was open to BPIFVP members across the Bayside Peninsula and covered the following topics:
- Understanding TGD people’s identities and relationships
- Respectful communication
- TGD experiences of sexual violence, intimate partner violence and family violence
- Identifying transphobia and transmisogyny as risk factors for family violence and service barriers
- The latest research related to TGD people’s experiences of intimate partner and family violence
- Inclusive practice tools to support TGD people
- Feminist perspectives of TGD inclusion within the family violence sector.
As a TGD led and run organisation, all of ZBGC trainings and workshops are created and delivered by members of the TGD community.