Anti-Black racism is prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping and discrimination that is directed at people of African descent and is rooted in their unique history and experience of enslavement. Anti-Black racism is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies and practices, such that anti-Black racism is either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger white society.
Anti-Black racism is manifested in the legacy of the current social, economic and political marginalization of African Canadians in society, such as the lack of opportunities, lower socio-economic status, higher unemployment, significant poverty rates and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system (African Canadian Legal Clinic).
Racism is actions or practices done by individuals or institutions that marginalize individuals and groups because of their race, skin colour or ethnicity. Racism is a form of discrimination that combines social, political or economic power and prejudice to benefit a dominant group, creating disadvantage or exclusion of other non-dominant or marginalized groups.
Anti-oppression examines the ways in which sexism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, homophobia, colonialism, cissexism, transphobia and sanism marginalize survivors of violence, their experiences and their ability to access support.
Harm reduction (HR) is about health promotion and human rights. It is a spectrum of strategies that reduces the negative impact of health, social and economic outcomes associated with realities such as substance use, behaviours typically associated with “self-harm” (cutting, eating habits, etc.) or any other coping strategy associated with trauma and violence. At its core, HR is about non-judgement towards these behaviours and supporting folks with the skills, tools and information to increase an individual’s safety. We understand a direct link between violence and trauma and a need for a Harm Reduction approach that recognizes that individuals are not homogenous and therefore require a variety of different support strategies to increase safety and reduce harm.
Colonialism is the invasion, dispossession, exploitation and subjugation of a people and their lands that results in long-term institutionalized inequality in which the colonizer benefits at the expense of the colonized.
This commitment draws on a deep history of intersectional feminist anti-colonial thought, learning and sharing that promotes respect and explicit recognition of Indigenous knowledge, of lived experience and of accountability for our settler privilege. This commitment to decolonization of knowledge and of systems extends beyond modern colonial borders, and acknowledges the many diverse Indigenous people who are not indigenous to this treaty territory but who have migrated and settled in Peel Region and the Greater Toronto Area (e.g., Inuit, Metis and First Nations, but also: Amazigh, Kurdish, Mapuche, Palestinian, Maori, etc., etc., etc.).
Embrave acknowledges that every individual has the right to self-identify their gender, which may or may not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth. 2SLGBTQIA+ people are at equal or higher risk of experiencing intimate partner violence when compared to their heterosexual counterparts (Langenderfer-Magruder et al., 2016).
It is common for people to think of disability as an individual flaw or problem, rather than something created by the world we live in. Disability Justice acknowledges the experience of disability as a political experience that encompasses a community full of rich histories, cultures and legacies. Disability justice activists are engaged in building an understanding of disability that is more complex, whole and interconnected. It pushes for an understanding of how ableism affects all of our movements of justice. It draws connections between ableism and other systems of oppression and violent institutions (Mia Mingus “Changing the Framework: Disability Justice”).
Ableism is the normalization of able-bodied persons resulting in the privilege of perceived “normal ability” and the oppression and exclusion of people with disabilities.
Recognizing that individuals may experience visible, invisible or both types of disability and we are committed to supporting them by:
To learn about our organization accessibility plan, contact sharon@embrave.ca.
Decriminalization is a necessary step to protecting the safety and rights of sex workers by ensuring that they have full access to health, safety and human rights. All sex workers deserve to have their choices respected and be able to work safely, without fear of violence, discrimination and social stigma.