RISE Study - “Resist, Intervene, Support, Empower”: Addressing violence against lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women in Brazil

The “RISE: Resist, Intervene, Support, Empower” study, led by Dr. Monica Malta (IMHPR/CAMH), is sponsored by Grand Challenges Canada and was initially designed to connect LGBTQ2S persons from Brazil surviving violence with supportive services. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic domestic violence survivors were trapped with abusers, shelters were closed and most social/health services were unavailable in the country. The research team then partnered with the Brazilian Ministry of Health and several local NGOs to develop an app, ‘Rainbow Resistance. Until mid September it had over 12,000 downloads, allowing app users to report abuse, receive crisis support, and find services open near them. In close collaboration with researchers from Duke University and with a grant from NIMH/NIH, new features are being developed to provide mental health screening, counseling, crisis support and referral for those with higher scores for PTSD, suicidality, generalized anxiety and major depression.

Dr. Malta also serves at the leadership board of ‘500 Women Scientists’, a grassroots organization supporting over 19,000 women and gender minorities working in STEMM fields from 100 countries. Between 2020/21, one of the key activities of this organization was to develop the Gage search platform. That is the world’s first and largest directory of women and gender minorities working in STEMM fields. The platform is a valuable resource for people seeking the expertise of underrepresented voices in STEMM.

During the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Malta also joined the COVID Task Force organized by ‘Women in Global Health’ and published several manuscripts at the Lanced journals discussing the impact of COVID-19 in low and middle income countries. In 2020 Dr. Malta was selected to participate at a Roster of Experts for UN Women, in a program entitled ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ and in 2021 she received the award ‘Women of Inspiration’ for her work to address gender inequality in low and middle income countries, together with other 99 female-identified persons from all over the world.