Where research meets community building: ARWDO, CEVAW & ANU

Each year Australian Rohingya Women's Development Organisation (ARWDO) holds their annual event in Lakemba, NSW, Australia, bringing together Rohingya women and children for a picnic.

This year, the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW: Project number CE230100004) research team, led by Chief Investigator Professor Bina D’Costa, Dr Zoe Bell, and Michelle Godwin of ANU were invited to join the celebrations.

Engaging in partnerships like this, between ARWDO, CEVAW and The Australian National University (ANU), enables the research to be community-based and participatory. CEVAW's research project is looking at the lived experience of Rohingya women and girls and their experience in displacement, of extreme vulnerability and violence. The annual get together is a particularly important event, because the Rohingya are a persecuted minority. They continue to experience statelessness and displacement, even in Australia. So, coming together to celebrate a culture and an ethnicity that is persecuted is really important.

We are hoping that the outcomes of this research project not only addresses violence against women, and contributes to the elimination of such violence, but also addresses the needs and priorities of the Rohingya community, both in Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.