Multicultural Centre for Women's Health

With the year drawing to a close, MCWH staff members will be taking a well-deserved break. We'll be back on the 2nd of January, ready to keep advocating for migrant and refugee women in 2025!

Topics like perimenopause and menopause are often overlooked in sexual and reproductive health education, leaving many women without the information they need to navigate these important life stages. Health in My Language is here to change that, providing free health education in multiple languages to support women with accurate, culturally tailored information on topics that don’t get discussed enough. This month, our Cantonese speaking Bilingual Health Educator delivered a session on menopause and created a space for learning and reflection, empowering participants to better understand their health. Our bilingual health educators, deliver free health education sessions in over 20+ languages in every state and territory in Australia, to ensure everyone has access to vital information. To learn more about Health in My Language visit: https://lnkd.in/gdKPauSM Alt text: A speech bubble is in the middle of an orange background. The Health in My Language logo is at the top. Text reads: “ “I had heard of menopause but didn’t have a clear understanding of menopause. I didn’t know that there is perimenopause and menopause.” “Even though we are already past that stage, it’s important to know about this as we never got a chance to talk about how we got through it.” Participants from a Cantonese Health in My Language session on menopause’

This December you can unwrap the gift of knowledge! We partnered with with Safe and Equal and Equal to create five practical, evidence-based resources as part of the Connecting Communities program. This program supports prevention practitioners who work with multicultural and faith-based communities across Victoria to address violence at its roots. The resources we’ve developed share valuable tools, strategies, and insights from real-world practice within the Connecting Communities network. Here’s a quick look: 📚 Curious about community-led prevention? Dive into our guide, Improving Our Approach to Community-Led Prevention. 🛠️ Need strategies for engaging men? Check out Engaging Men from Multicultural and Faith-Based Communities in Primary Prevention. ☕ Prioritising wellbeing? Learn practical tips in Supporting Wellbeing for Prevention Practitioners. 💡 Want to use messaging that resonates? Discover the power of Communicating for Connection: Values-Based Messaging for Primary Prevention. 🤝 Interested in collaborative partnerships? Read the Together for Impact case study for insights into working together effectively. Start exploring! https://lnkd.in/gKff8zA9 Alt text: An illustration of 8 people of various ages and ethnicities is in the left corner of a light blue square. On the right side are the images of five covers of the Connecting Communities resources. Text reads: “5 brilliant resources brought to you by Safe and Equal & MCWH”

MCWH CEO Adele Murdolo was proud to stand alongside her follow committee members on the Victorian Women's Health Advisory Council, as they reflect on their progress to date, at their final committee meeting of 2024. The Advisory Council leads the rollout of the Victorian State Government's investment in women's health. It gives independent, expert advice on how to improve women's health outcomes, reduce gender health disparities, enhance research, and strengthen the safety and quality of care provided in Victoria. It is led by women, for women, to guide reforms that support an integrated and equitable Victorian health system. Find out more at: https://lnkd.in/ef4BuMsk Alt text: A group of 10 women are standing on Astroturf on a rooftop with various skyscrapers in the background. They are all smiling at the camera.

What a way to wrap up a fantastic year for the PACE Leadership Program! ✨ Migrant and refugee women came together at the “Your Voice, Your Community” PACE Network Event to connect, share, and learn about navigating local resources and engaging with local councils. We heard from a brilliant panel of former and current PACE participants: ✨ Sara Mohsen shared how she turned isolation into connection by creating a playgroup for Arabic-speaking families and working with the local council to bring it to life. ✨ Faiza Asid encouraged everyone to find their own way and shared her experience organising multicultural events for her community to come together and celebrate. ✨ Revathy Sembuganathan emphasised the importance of self-care in advocacy, reminding us that “advocacy without self-care is counter-productive.” ✨ Farhat Firdous inspired us with her journey into local government and her advice on joining advisory groups as a pathway to engage with local councils.  We hope to continue creating spaces like this in the incoming year—spaces that connect, empower, and amplify the voices of migrant and refugee women, non-binary and gender diverse leaders. If you want to learn more about PACE Leadership Program, visit https://lnkd.in/gc7D-SSX #PACELeadershipProgram #MigrantWomenLeaders #PACENetwork #MCWH #MigrantWomenLead #MigrantandRefugeeWomen 

I attended a lot of events for the 16 days of activism against family and gender based violence this year. I was also lucky enough to talk at one! A big thank you to Karla Reardon and Sonia Vignjevic from SSI for hosting this panel that focused on the role of community and faith leaders in the prevention of family violence. A privilege to talk alongside some of the best: Tania Farha, Khayshie Tilak Ramesh, Scott Holmes, Dr. Khaldoon Fahmi, Malavika Kadwadkar and Paula Fernandez Arias, PhD I spoke about the specific role of religious and faith leaders in the prevention and response of violence, and what skills the workforce needs to support this work. If you’re a teacher, nurse, lawyer, social worker, paramedic, doctor, or so many other professions, you’re prescribed under MARAM to respond to violence. You receive training and support and are recognised as a key professional progressing this work. Religious and faith leaders are often a safe point of contact for women, and play a vital role in keeping people safe and instilling positive community values like respect, kindness and inequality (no matter what faith). From prevention, to disclosure, referral, support and recovery, faith has the ability to create positive community change for women and children. There needs to be more recognition, conversation and funding for this important work, including support under MARAM. It’s about meeting community where they’re at, in places that are safe for them. A huge thank you to my amazing team (pictured below) for their support, advocacy and solidarity this 16 days. Even amongst the craziness of our own events, including the amazing PACE event at Parliament House organised and facilitated by Feifei Liao 👏🏼

🌟 Highlights from the 2024 AMES Retreat 🌟 The MCWH Health Education Team joined the annual AMES Women’s Retreat to empower migrant and refugee women with vital health knowledge. For over 10 years, MCWH has collaborated with AMES to deliver in-language health education in a safe and supportive environment. At this year’s retreat, our educators facilitated engaging sessions on contraception and healthy relationships in Arabic, Assyrian, Dari, Farsi, and simple English. These culturally sensitive discussions sparked important conversations and shared knowledge. 💬 “I feel much more confident in walking my family members through the contraception methods!” 💬 “I discovered that there isn't a single form of contraception that works for all women, and it's important to discuss the best option with your doctor.” 💬 “The session was clear and in my language. I was given resources translated to Arabic. Thank you for coming today!” A big thank you to AMES Australia for hosting this empowering event and to our dedicated educators— Huda, Madina and Luna —for their impactful work. Together, we continue to foster healthier, more informed communities. 💜 Alt text: Four images of women at the AMES retreat are separated by a purple line. The images show women of various ethnicities sitting on a couch or around a table, reading an information booklet or talking and smiling. There is a Health in My Language logo and the bottom reads ‘Multicultural Center for Women’s Health’

Our 2024 end-of-year digest edition of the WRAP newsletter brings you 22 thought-provoking articles which center migrant and refugee women’s perspectives around the themes of justice and equity in healthcare, workplace advocacy and gender equity, gendered violence and prevention, and migration, identity, and advocacy. Whether you’re new to these conversations or have been an advocate for intersectional feminism for years, we invite you to explore this special digest edition of the WRAP newsletter —brought to you with care by the Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health. 🔗 Read it now here: https://lnkd.in/gUGCFEnF 📬 Sign up for The WRAP newsletter at www.mcwh.com.au to have it delivered to your inbox every month. #TheWRAP #WomensResearchAdvocacyAndPolicy Alt text: 6 women look out into the distance with a determined look on their faces. Text reads: #140 2024 WRAP A round up of our 2024 WRAP articles on the issues we face and the solutions we offer, centered around the themes of justice and equity in healthcare, workplace advocacy and gender equity, gendered violence and prevention, and migration, identity, and advocacy.”

This year, MCWH led the Screening Saves Lives campaign, a national campaign to improve migrant and refugee communities’ access to life-saving cancer screening. We partnered with seven organisations and worked with 35 bilingual health educators to deliver vital screening information in the communities' preferred languages, and break down barriers to screening literacy, participation and service navigation. We’re proud to share that our campaign reached over 30,000 people through community engagement events, social media, community radio, and bilingual health information sessions. Hear from bilingual health educators, community participants, and our dedicated partners as they share powerful stories about how culturally tailored, in-language information empowers communities to make informed decisions about their health ▶️ https://lnkd.in/eGb_QS9Y STARTTS | NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors - Australian Red Cross - Ishar Multicultural Women's Health Services - Women's Health Matters - True Relationships & Reproductive Health

As we recognise International Human Rights Day and conclude the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, let’s celebrate the power of partnerships. Equitable, strong, sustainable partnerships are essential in prevention work, building lasting community impact through open and transparent communication, mutual goals, and collaboration. That’s why we’re excited to share our new resource, Together for Impact: Connecting Communities Partnership Case Study, created with Safe and Equal. https://lnkd.in/gTAEBqCF This resource demonstrates how multicultural organisations and mainstream services can work together to encourage innovation, reflection and learning that extends to impactful prevention work. When we collaborate in meaningful and equitable ways, we take significant steps toward a future free from violence. #16Days #StrengthinUnity Alt text: A black and white photo of three women of different ethnicities standing and smiling at each other is on a purple background. Text reads: “Strength in Unity, 16 Days of activism, Innternational Human Rights Day, ““…I’ll never forget the shared power and genuine care I felt in our moments of solidarity, where we validated each other’s experiences and showed up for each other with love and rage.” From Together for Impact Case Study: Sangwon Lee, former Advisor at Safe and Equal