Exit Victims Support

[Jason-Herman]

NOTE: View the guidelines for projects here

What is the idea

Build a platform to support folks find resources and local community support and relevant information when coming out in a hostile environment. Use cases could be for people coming out as LGBT with a disapproving family and support structure or people leaving religious cults. The ultimate goal is a community-agnostic platform that allows champions to spin up a support network with no technical background.

Why

Coming out in a hostile environment is hard. When a member of a family comes out as LGBT or a member of a religious cult decides they want to leave, they can end up feeling like they've lost everything -- their family, their friends, their support structures, and financial support.

In the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, 30,000 members are shunned per year, with about 2/3's of those members choosing to permanently leave. These individuals are left without their family and friends, but also without a sense of how to operate outside of a cult in the real world. Depression, victimization, and suicide rates are well above the norm for these individuals.

Many times members of the particular community (LGBT, ex-Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, etc.) want to help others thrive when they come out, as part of their personal healing process and community contribution. While there are some grass roots efforts to get these folks coordinated, they are typically bound to the level of message boards and forums, where helpful connections are sparse and chaotic.

Potential Partner(s)?

The project idea was originally posed by Shana Tubio, who recently appeared on Leah Remini's recent documentary covering abuse by Jehovah's Witnesses. She is well connected in the community of ex Jehovah's Witnesses. I also have a good friend that is one of the top moderators on the largest support network for ex Jehovah's Witnesses (r/exjw) and has personally helped hundreds of folks successfully exit and land on their feet.

Additional Background Context

No explicit deadline.

Details

Champion: [To be filled out during exploration stage]
Repo: [To be filled out during exploration stage]
Waffle Board: [To be filled out during exploration stage]