The world has watched on with outrage and horror as the crisis in Ukraine continues to unfold. Last week, Russian forces invaded the sovereign eastern European nation, resulting in thousands of civilian and military casualties and a devastating refugee crisis.

Women, children, people of colour, and those from the LGBTQIA+ community have unquestionably been impacted heavily. “The fighting has compelled displacement on a massive scale, forcing many civilians to flee their homes, including to neighboring countries,” Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, warned in a statement. “Unless the conflict ceases, thousands of additional families will be forcibly displaced, dramatically escalating the scale of the already dire humanitarian situation, and increasing the risk of sexual violence and exploitation. I… call for unhindered humanitarian access to those in need, especially women and girls.”

While we are watching the crisis unfold from afar, there are many organizations to support and donate to in order to help the people of Ukraine.

UN Women

The organization has launched an emergency appeal for women and girls in Ukraine. Its team in neighboring country, Moldova, is planning targeted interventions and developing a humanitarian response for Ukrainian refugees.

Save The Children

This org works to support the needs of children in war-torn areas of Ukraine with access to food, shelter, and medicine. Its teams are currently working with asylum seekers in refugee camps in northeastern Romania as the crisis unfolds.

Insight Ukraine

The Ukrainian human rights public organization brings together people from the LGBTQIA+ community and provides psychological, legal, and medical support to queer and trans people in Ukraine. It is currently collecting donations “to cover needs in shelter, relocation to safer places, food, basic needs.”

OutRight Action International

Advocating for queer and trans human rights, OutRight Action International is collecting on behalf of local organizations that are “preparing to receive LGBTIQ people in search of shelter, safety and security.”

The Coalition to Support Black People in Ukraine

This GoFundMe fundraiser aims to help Black people who have faced racism at the borders while trying to flee. Funds will help cover relocation fees, food, warm clothes, blankets, heating pads, phone lines, and other essential supplies. The coalition is made up of more than 10 organizations including The Mandela Legacy Foundation, The African Canadian Association, and Equal Chance, which supports women and Black communities.

American Red Cross

The Red Cross is working with its partner teams on the ground providing food, shelter, and hygiene items to local families, as well as first aid, medicines, and health equipment.

United Help Ukraine

They’re accepting donations to help provide medical supplies and humanitarian aid.

UNICEF

Mobile aid workers on the ground are delivering water and emergency supplies for children and their families.

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders

Supporting through surgical care, mental health support, and emergency medicine for displaced people, they have teams helping out in Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia, and Belarus.

CARE

CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund is offering aid including food, water, hygiene kits, support services, and direct cash assistance, and is prioritizing helping women, families, and the elderly.

Voices of Children 

This organization has been assisting in the evacuation process, and offers emergency psychological support, helping kids fleeing Ukraine better understand and process their circumstances.

Sunflower of Peace

Their team prepares and distributes first aid medical backpacks for paramedics and doctors on the front lines, equipping them with life-saving supplies such as anti-hemorrhagic medicine and bandages. Word of advice: They’ve recommended folks only donate through the website to avoid scammers.

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Everybody may very well be talking about drag-loving teenager Jamie New in the film Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, but his best friend Pritti Pasha isn’t a character to be ignored.

Lauren Patel portrays Pritti in the Amazon Prime Video flick, and while much of the film explores her on-screen bestie’s desire to be a drag queen, Priti has an important and uplifting role to play.

Speaking to Refinery29 Australia over Zoom, 20-year-old Patel opened up about how proud she was to call this her first major acting role where representation was front of mind, and her British Indian character wasn’t just defined by her appearance.

“I think the thing I loved about Pritti and a reason why I felt comfortable taking this role is because as much as she is a hijabi Muslim, she doesn’t have to be,” said Patel.

“It’s not even really addressed in the film, it’s not mentioned. She just is in Jamie’s life and happens to be wearing a hijab.

“There’s obviously elements of her faith that help resonate and add to the story but if you took that back, she was still the same character and it would still be the same story.”

The movie does make religious and cultural references related to Patel’s character throughout, but in a subtle yet powerful way.

For example, at one point Pritti tells Jamie, “I’m a Muslim girl with a Hindu first name… the looks they’d give me at mosque.” In another scene the school bully, Dean Paxton, calls Pritti a ‘spaki’ – a derogatory term insulting Pakistani people with a disability.

Patel said “there’s obviously elements of her faith that help resonate and add to the story”, but if they weren’t there, she’d still be Pritti, she’d still be “the same character and it would still be the same story.”

“I think it’s important to have representation on screen where it’s not just about the thing that makes them a marginalised group,” she explained. “We can just exist in wider stories, the same way we exist in real life.”

Speaking of Patel’s real-life experiences, the rising star sent through an online video audition for the role when she was 17 and “putting off doing my homework”.

“Twenty days later I found out I got the job, and then a month after that was my first day on set, so it’s just been an absolute whirlwind of an experience,” she gushed.

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Growing up, Patel struggled to see many people who looked like her in the entertainment industry.

“Thankfully, [there was] slightly more on British TV, but I genuinely thought there were no Asian American people,” she said.

“I didn’t realize that was a thing because the only people I saw on American TV who were Indian were thick, stereotypical Indian accented people. I didn’t realize that there were Asian Americans.”

When she eventually learned the truth, Patel was “quite angry” that Asian Americans weren’t seen on screen in authentic roles.

“I’d like to think it’s improving, but I think that even though we’re on the screens, we need to also be behind the cameras,” she said of the industry’s progress towards greater representation. “We need to be in the rooms making the big decisions.”

Along with discussions about representation often comes talk of racism too. For Patel, the experience of facing adversity isn’t foreign, but she also acknowledged that she benefits from having a fairer complexion.

“Especially in the UK, there’s a lot of subtle microaggressions and systemic issues that need to be broken down and I feel like everybody is influenced by that,” she said.

“I also have a lot of privilege being very, very light and there’s a lot of colorism that goes on. So I have [faced racism], but I have also been very very fortunate and a lot of people have dealt with things that I couldn’t even imagine. It’s terrible.”

Since the film’s premiere, Patel is cherishing her newfound platform and the start of a promising acting career.

“It’s just surreal and I feel so lucky every day to just be a part of this because everybody loves this story and these characters and this film so much,” she said. “I feel really privileged to be a part of it.”

Inspired by the 2011 TV documentary Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, Everybody Talks About Jamie was also a West End musical before being turned into a movie. It’s now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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