A French perspective on community and empowerment
By / Hélène Bonvalot
Fulbright Fellow hosted by TASSC International and Director of the Primo Levi Centre in France
April 1, 2024
Since I have just completed my first month as a Fulbright Fellow at TASSC International, it is time for me to formally introduce myself and share my first insights. As you may know, I come from France and am hosted at TASSC for four months - from March through June 2024 - as part of a Fulbright NGO Leader Program.
Following an international career in the humanitarian field and the promotion of human rights, I have been supporting torture survivors seeking asylum in France since 2020, acting as an executive director at Centre Primo Levi, a healthcare center based in Paris. Drawing on this experience, I decided to undertake this trip and cross the Ocean for different reasons.
First of all, I felt the need to open up new perspectives and explore other models, getting access to the US-based torture treatment centers and gathering information on how the asylum process is dealt with overseas. Would asylum seekers face less obstacles in the United States than in Europe, in a country that was founded by immigrants, and which is commonly known as the “country of dreams and opportunities”? Where do asylum seekers mostly come? What is their field reality and what are the future perspectives?
Then, I was deeply interested in the survivor-based approach of TASSC International, a survivor-led organization aiming at ending the practice of torture and supporting survivors as they empower themselves, their families and their communities. One of TASSC’s main programs is the advocacy program, which relies on the voice of survivors in order to influence the way the US implements the asylum process, as well as its human rights policies toward countries where survivors have fled.
Building a community of survivors and promoting their empowerment are two fascinating principles when you are a French native, raised in a country which relies on a highly centralized system, where promoting communities may very quickly be perceived as threatening the Republican model based on individual citizenship as defined during the French Revolution. The same applies with the concept of empowerment, which is quite hard to translate in the French language and imagination, and therefore often misunderstood.
Having done part of my university studies in political science abroad, I was lucky enough to get access to different ways of thinking. In this context, I explored the predominant role that community organizations have played in mobilizing marginalized populations fighting for their rights in Latin America, and studied the community-organizing model theorized by Saul Alinsky in the 1940s. Throughout my international career, I have strived to explore and promote development models centered on the voices and needs of community members, as a means to achieve social justice, and could develop fruitful relationships with project leaders and local communities in different countries.
Coming back to France, I took part in a community-based project involving migrant women in marginalized neighborhoods of Paris, which provided me with a living experience of community and a clearer idea of empowerment. However, when it comes to working with asylum seekers and refugees, these principles are hardly mentioned or even considered by service providers. And, for obvious reasons, as in many countries, the latter tend to be very protective with their clients - that they generally call “patients” - and are hesitant about involving their clients with any activities that the providers believe could be re-traumatizing.
Being hosted at TASSC is therefore a unique opportunity to go beyond these limitations and explore a different model, which combines trauma-informed care with survivors’ engagement in advocacy and in the governance body. What being a survivor-led organization means is at the core of my research. How it contributes to the slow process of healing and recovery, and what the conditions are to implement such an approach are among the questions that are guiding my work during these four months.
Two weeks ago, I had the great chance to attend the research symposium held by the National Consortium of Treatment Torture Programs (NCTTP), which gathers annually participants from all over the United States. This event was an opportunity to learn from their different experiences. In line with my own thinking, promoting participation in social networks and building community were among the common guidelines that were highlighted to deliver adequate support to survivors of torture and promote their recovery process.
The United States, and in particular TASSC International, is a wonderful field of study for a French observer. We have a lot to learn from each other and I am grateful to have this opportunity to act as a bridge builder between our two countries. I would like to thank all TASSC’s staff members, as well as the Board of directors, for providing me with such an extraordinary experience. And thank you to Fulbright France for making it possible. ■