How to get Support

These dynamics may also arise in a one-off conflict, and our facilitators will try to support people from marginalised identities to participate and be heard without the process itself reproducing the hurt of the situation itself. This might be done, for example, by the facilitator taking on the responsibility of articulating some of the hurt and pain, so that the person impacted does not need to. Of course this is just an offer, and people are welcome to express and hear everything themselves if they want to.

In the situation where someone is repeatedly finding themself in conflict because their identity is marginalised, our best idea so far is to offer people from a marginalised group/social location the possibility that facilitators from our pool could take a role in having the dialogue with the people whose actions have impacted them. The facilitators would try to convey what the person who experiences marginalisation (Person 1) has experienced and would want heard by the person/s who has acted in ways that reproduce that marginalisation (Person 2). This could be done in a way that does not require Person 1 to try to explain their experience, putting in the energy and experiencing again the pain that they may have experienced multiple times in trying to explain such things in their life, or navigate the difficult emotions, disagreement and slow process of taking seriously and understanding their experiences that often arise in these kinds of conversations. We would however want anything beyond these that Person 2 wants Person 1 to hear to be conveyed and heard, so that the feedback that is contained within the conflict can flow in all directions, and that everyone is supported to take responsibility in relation to their role in a situation. In order to support this, the facilitator might also convey elements Person 2 want Person 1 to hear.