5. Practices for effective relationship-building and engagement

This section sets out some good practices in engaging with victims/survivors and with community members of the four communities of interest: Black and racialized, Indigenous, violence against women and youth. Many of these are relevant for creating medium- and long-term councils or committees, while some are more applicable to specific consultative activities.

  1. Survivor safety: In consulting with survivors, “The overall focus should be framed around meeting the needs of participants and providing safe spaces for survivors of sexual violence” (Fifeld et al, n.d.). This includes having mental health supports available when consulting with victims/survivors, such as counsellors and peer support workers. The effects of violent trauma can endure and talking about their experiences can re-traumatize survivors (Fifeld et al, n.d.; Women’s Aid of Northern Ireland et al, 2024; Taylor and Otiende, 2024).

  2. Use a trauma and violence-informed approach. Providing a respectful and safe environment for victims/survivors who are part of the engagement mechanisms, including community members who may or may not disclose their personal history of trauma, includes ensuring a trauma and violence-informed approach at all times.

    “Trauma-informed practice is a strength-based framework that is responsive to the impact of trauma, emphasizing physical, psychological and emotional safety” (Women’s Aid Federation of Northern Ireland et al, 2024).

    Ponic et al highlight the importance of a trauma and violence-informed approach, given that trauma may result from many different kinds of experiences and the traumatic effects of experiencing violence can be distinct from other forms (Ponic et al, 2016).

    “The traumatic impacts of violence have long-term effects on victims, whether the violence is ongoing or in the past. When systems and the service providers who work with victims of violence lack an understanding of the complex and lasting impacts of violence and trauma, they risk causing further harm” (Ponic et al, 2016).

  3. Provide a culturally safe environment. Another aspect of safety in engagement mechanisms is the importance of cultural safety, in particular as this applies to Indigenous people, although it also has relevance for all marginalized cultural communities. This is a concept which originated in New Zealand through nurses working with Maori communities. It goes beyond cultural awareness (the recognition of cultural differences) to changes in practice that embed respect for differing worldviews and acknowledgement of one’s own biases and assumptions.

    Cultural safety is underpinned by communication, recognition of the diversity in worldviews (both within and between cultural groups), and the impact of colonisation processes on minority groups. Cultural safety is an outcome of nursing education that enables a safe, appropriate and acceptable service that has been defined by those who receive it. (Nursing Council of New Zealand, 2011)

  4. Remember that for many communities, and the Indigenous and Black communities in particular, the circle of interactions with the criminal justice system often blurs the lines between the roles of immediate victim, secondary victim, historical victim, offender, witness and helper. Those in marginalized communities who have lived experience with crime have often also lived with the impacts of several of these roles. The engagement function needs to be sensitive to the complexity of the relationship of community members with each other and with the criminal justice system.
  5. Recognize the breadth and complexity of each community. For example, the Black and racialized communities is, in fact, many communities, each with their own leaders, community organizations and ways of working. Sometimes engagement mechanisms that bring together different groups will work well and in other cases, consultations or working groups with each community are more appropriate. Be guided by community leaders in this respect.
  6. Factor in the principles of structural inequality and understand the formal and informal power at work in the discussion.
  7. Use a strength-based approach: It is important to apply a strength-based approach at both an individual and community level: This is an element of trauma-informed approach, in that it sees the survivor or community member not simply as someone who has experienced violence or intersecting forms of discrimination, but also as someone who has demonstrated strength and resilience in responding to those experiences. This approach acknowledges and builds upon these capacities, both in the individual and in the community, as each community brings their own expertise, relationships, history, cultural strengths, and other characteristics.
  8. Co-design the engagement process or the collaborative or advisory body with the community and bearing in mind the contextual considerations discussed earlier in this report. These considerations are always impacting discussions and relationships with each of the four identified communities.

  9. It is often helpful to have engagement activities hosted or co-hosted by trusted organizations in the community. Thus, an organization in the Black community would host the session with Black community members. It can also be more than one organization if that makes sense in the context. This is most effective when the trusted organization co-designs the activity, to ensure it is done in a way that community members feel comfortable and welcome. This includes jointly deciding with the trusted organization the location of the consultation, the format and process, and the facilitation of the session. Involving the trusted organization brings expertise to the design of the event, enhances the credibility of the event, and has the potential to reach more community members than an event hosted solely by the police or government body.

    Consulting with victims/survivors in these communities makes the role of a trusted organization even more critical.

    “Given the harms associated with formal institutions, engagement processes must be survivor-led, take place in community, and involve community organizations that reflect the populations they serve” (Fifeld et al, n.d.).

  10. Consider having co-chairs for the gathering or for the long-term entity being created. One co-chair would be from the community and one from the police/government institution.
  11. When seeking members of an engagement body or inviting community members to engagement events, use an intersectional lens and seek a balance of participants in terms of gender, language, age, racial and cultural background and other factors.
  12. Use facilitators from the community. This means facilitators familiar with providing a safe space for survivors and/or facilitators from or chosen by the community being consulted. Pay attention to the specific community, e.g. for a meeting with the Inuit community, an Inuk facilitator or a facilitator known and trusted in the Inuit community would be important. Survivors report feeling more comfortable in forums facilitated by an individual from their community, as they are more likely to share certain lived experiences of culture and community, including experiences of discrimination. This same guidance applies to facilitators for medium- and long-term engagement mechanisms (Catalyst Research and Communications, 2022).
  13. When choosing the location of meetings or events:
    • Ensure accessibility of the venue and the format of the session.
    • Identify neutral location – for example, the Community Equity Council meets at City Hall, not at the Ottawa Police Service building.
    • When engaging community members, use familiar, safe and welcoming locations.
  14. Youth engagement often benefits from a tailored approach that includes: social media, highly interactive activities, team-building, sports, games and social activities, in addition to the considerations noted in other points (Komel, 2018).
  15. Recognize that exploring complex issues from diverse perspectives takes time. Make space for full consideration of ideas and building solutions together.
  16. Provide food. Food keeps the participants energized throughout their meetings. More importantly, it can act as a bonding mechanism among members of the consultative body or event and encourages relationship-building.
  17. Consider compensation for community participants. Compensation can be a way to recognize the expertise that victims/survivors bring to the discussion and also can help offset expenses that may been incurred, such as childcare and transportation (Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, n.d.; Taylor and Otiende, 2024).
  18. Although in-person discussions are preferable for relationship-building and for in-depth consideration of challenging topics, there may be times when input from a wider range of the general public is desirable and in these instances it is helpful to use multiple methods to gather information, including (Office of Federal Ombudsperson, 2024; Department of Justice Canada, n.d.; Azzopardi et at, 2024, Bargen et al, 2019):
    • Individual interviews;
    • Online tools of various kinds, including surveys, interactive tools, social media, etc.;
    • In-person online discussion forums, including town halls, community-based meetings, focus groups, talking circles and others; and
    • Written/email submissions.