Woman of Action: UTM valedictorian and colleague create resource guide for sexual assault survivors
U of T Mississauga alumna Habon Ali, the 2020 class valedictorian, isn’t the type of person to sit idly by when there is a way to contribute to her community, whether locally or globally.
Ali, who graduated in June with an honours BSc in biology and environmental science, is the daughter of Somali-Canadian parents who immigrated to Canada in the 1990s. The Somali community in North America is small, but tightly knit. When a young, Black, female activist was murdered in Florida earlier this year after speaking out about being sexually assaulted, it sparked discussion in the Somali community. Ali realized there was a knowledge gap among women in the Somali community when it came to accessing resources for sexual assault victims.
Ali’s response? Fill that gap. As she noted in her valedictory speech to her UTM classmates, “We have a responsibility to contribute to the social good. … It’s our responsibility to step up.” So, step up, she did.
Ali joined forces with Asmaa Ali, a Somali-Canadian and 2020 nursing graduate from the University of Alberta. The two online friends decided to put together their own online sexual assault resource guide for their Somali community. After a week of research, they launched the guide, Basic and Immediate Sexual Violence Resources for Somali-Canadians. The guide focuses on resources in provinces where there are significant populations of Somalis: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
“It’s not an issue just in our community, but our community is thankful for the resource,” Ali says. “It’s an immediate need we saw. People needed help. We found the places people could seek out immediate support and compiled a guide.”
The two women launched the guide on both Instagram and Twitter.
“With COVID-19, online is the way to reach people,” Ali says. “We shared it with our community and our networks. It’s an issue for all women, but there are additional barriers for Black and Indigenous women and people of colour.”
They’ve had lots of feedback and have made connections with groups, including Platform and the Young Women’s Leadership Network.
“We hope to see how we can expand on the guide,” Ali says. “The attention surrounding it shows there is a need. We hope it can lead to more resources and services.”
It’s also a nice project to list on her resume, although that’s not something that worries the recent graduate at the moment. She is heading – virtually, of course – to McMaster University this fall to pursue a master’s degree in global health, one of her passions along with youth engagement and public health.
However, this recent endeavour, the resource guide, is an excellent marriage of interests for a woman who describes herself accurately as “action-oriented.”
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