For this RAN meeting of the Families, Communities & Social Care Working Group, we are presently looking for P/CVE practitioners working with families and communities who support individuals who perceive (institutional, social or interpersonal) discrimination, such as social and youth workers, community workers, local authorities, and/or community police officers.

Practitioners who can provide concrete examples from daily practices, who experience challenges with this topic and/or who have solutions for these challenges, are invited to respond to this call for participants.

Background and aim of the meeting

In recent years, societies in the EU see a profound division of opinions over certain issues, such as adopted COVID-19 measures or immigration and refugee flows from Ukraine compared to flows from  non-European countries. The polarisation and conspiracies that have emerged over these developments serve as a catalyst for discrimination against certain minority groups experiencing isolation, anxiety, or public embarrassment. The societal fear of terrorist attacks and the securitisation of counter-terrorism measures (and with this an intensified suspicion, discrimination and surveillance) could in some cases lead to certain communities or individuals experiencing a feeling of stigmatisation and discrimination by other groups or institutions.

They may perceive discrimination through situations of harassment, prejudices or ethnic profiling. In addition, Foreign Terrorist Fighters and their families returning from conflict zones are also likely to face stigmatisation and hostility from the receiving communities and society at large, which may gravely undermine efforts for their successful reintegration. For example, families can feel discriminated by the state when their family member loses his or her nationality because of engagement or suspected engagement in terrorist activities, or when they constantly receive visits from the authorities.

For practitioners supporting individuals who perceive (institutional, social or interpersonal) discrimination, it can be challenging to address the profound lack of trust and confidence in the public authorities, police and other communities in general. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to build the cooperation needed for a successful approach. Even though changing these circumstances can lay outside of the power of the practitioner, we are curious to know if there are practitioners who have solutions for these challenges and are still able to successfully support  families and communities.

Therefore, the aims of this meeting are to 1) take stock of how discrimination affects families and communities and how it contributes to drivers for radicalisation 2) to explore the challenges that practitioners are encountering when the individuals they are dealing with feel stigmatised or discriminated against; and 3) exchange on practical methods, tips and practices for practitioners and institutions to identify these issues and address and talk about them. Deliverable will be a conclusion paper with guidance for practitioners on what to do in cases of (perceived) discrimination.

Practitioners and initiatives we are looking for are:

• P/CVE practitioners working with families and communities, such as social and youth workers, community workers, local authorities and/or community police officers.
• Participants should have experience in supporting individuals who perceive (institutional, social or interpersonal) discrimination.

In order to find the best suited participants, we would like to ask you if you could answer the following questions: 

• Who is the target group of your work and do you work with a target group that perceives (institutional, social or interpersonal) discrimination? Please elaborate.
• Does this perceived discrimination influence the effectiveness of your interventions? If so, how?
• What challenges do you encounter when dealing with discrimination, that you wish to exchange on during this meeting?
• How do you cope with these challenges, do you currently use any methods/approaches on this topic that you wish to present to the group? Please elaborate.
• Could you share a case (anonymous) that we may address during the meeting?

Deadline

If you are interested in attending this meeting, please register here and give an answer to these questions. We will invite participants based on this information. Please keep in mind that we only have a limited number of places available for this meeting to foster exchanges, so participation is not guaranteed.   

Please note, the meeting will be held in English.

If you have any further questions, please don´t hesitate to contact Esther Zuiderveld, Mirjam Konings and Fenna Keijzer.