Safety With Community: Technologies of Care, Connection, Collective Safety, and Mutual Aid for Transgender Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (TBIPOC)

Paper Title

Safety With Community: Technologies of Care, Connection, Collective Safety, and Mutual Aid for Transgender Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (TBIPOC)

Publication Info

• Topic area: Community-centered safety technologies for marginalized groups, focusing on TBIPOC individuals.
• Keywords: TBIPOC, safety technologies, mutual aid, community care, trans safety, intersectionality, systemic violence, collective resilience, HCI, design justice.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing safety technologies narrowly focus on preventing violence and often rely on institutional interventions like police involvement, which fail to address the unique safety needs of TBIPOC individuals. These technologies overlook the importance of community-centered approaches and the intersectional challenges faced by TBIPOC individuals.
• Significance: Addressing safety for TBIPOC individuals is critical due to their disproportionate exposure to violence, systemic discrimination, and exclusion from critical resources like housing, healthcare, and employment. Effective safety interventions could improve their well-being and resilience.
• Motivation and related work: Prior work in HCI and related fields has explored safety technologies and community resilience but has largely neglected TBIPOC-specific needs. Intersectionality and mutual aid practices have been underutilized in designing safety interventions for these communities. This paper builds on these gaps by centering TBIPOC voices and experiences.

Solution

• Proposed approach: Community-centered safety technologies and practices that integrate mutual aid, collective care, and joy to address the systemic challenges faced by TBIPOC individuals.
• Novelty:
  1. Empirical insights into the intersectional challenges faced by TBIPOC individuals, including systemic violence and exclusion.
  2. Redefinition of safety as encompassing trust, connection, and joy, not just the absence of harm.
  3. Identification of community as a critical safety infrastructure, emphasizing mutual aid and collective care.
  4. Design implications for inclusive, affirming technologies tailored to TBIPOC needs.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Conducted 22 semi-structured interviews with TBIPOC individuals in the U.S.
  • Used reflexive thematic analysis with an intersectional framework to identify patterns in participants' experiences with violence, safety, and community care.
  • Explored participants' visions for safety technologies and community-driven interventions.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • TBIPOC individuals define safety as deeply tied to community, mutual aid, and joy, rather than solely the absence of harm.
  • Participants highlighted systemic barriers such as violence, criminalization, housing discrimination, and lack of access to healthcare.
  • Mutual aid practices, such as financial support and emotional care, were central to their survival and well-being.
  • Participants proposed safety technologies like trans-specific apps, buddy systems, and community-driven platforms that prioritize privacy, consent, and inclusivity.
• Advantage over baselines: Unlike mainstream safety technologies, the proposed approaches emphasize community-driven, culturally specific, and non-punitive solutions that align with TBIPOC realities and values.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • 22 participants were interviewed, with demographics including 50% trans women, 10% trans men, and 50% non-binary individuals. Racial identities included 68% Black, 14% Indigenous, and 36% Asian.
  • Data collection involved qualitative interviews averaging 55 minutes, with iterative adjustments to the protocol based on emerging themes.
• Limitations and future work:
  • The study focused on TBIPOC individuals in the U.S., potentially limiting generalizability to other regions.
  • Future work should explore scaling community-driven safety technologies and integrating them with broader structural and policy reforms.

Summary

This paper investigates the safety challenges faced by TBIPOC individuals and proposes community-centered interventions that integrate mutual aid, collective care, and joy. Through 22 qualitative interviews, the study highlights systemic barriers like violence, criminalization, and healthcare inaccessibility, while emphasizing the role of community as a critical safety infrastructure. Participants envisioned safety technologies that prioritize privacy, inclusivity, and cultural relevance, such as trans-specific apps and buddy systems. The findings underscore the need for participatory design approaches that center TBIPOC voices and lived experiences. By combining technology with grassroots mutual aid practices, the study offers a pathway toward more affirming and resilient safety solutions for marginalized communities.