ts, training sessions, discussion cafes, film screenings, plays, and self-defense workshops. You can follow BAC on Facebook and Twitter or visit their website. For more information, please contact the Project Manager Reshma Dhrodia.
IT’S TIME to End Violence against Women on Campus!
Facilitated by the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area (SACHA), in partnership with the YWCA Hamilton and members of the McMaster University student body, faculty and staff, the IT’S TIME project has been up and running for the past year on McMaster University’s main campus in Hamilton. Aimed at addressing all forms of violence against younger women, the project seeks to engage students in outlining their experiences of gender based violence as expressed in the cultural norms and traditions of campus life, while also working to improve physical safety on campus and responses to disclosures of violence. Similar to the other projects funded by the Status of Women Canada, the IT’S TIME project has conducted focus groups with students and key informant interviews across the varying sections of campus life, along with a safety audit conducted by the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) to better understand the particularities of McMaster regarding initiatives that are working well and areas for improvement to VAW services, knowledge and resources. As September 2013 gets underway, the project is now moving to its implementation phase – putting recommendations into action. A key component will be the campus education and awareness campaign. Stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter! For more information, please contact the Project Coordinator Meaghan Ross.
RISE: React. Intervene. Support. Educate.
Using Technology to Address Gender Based Violence on Campuses
In March 2012, the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW), in partnership with the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre (ORCC), received funding from Status of Women Canada to address gender based violence on local university and college campuses. The project had three defined components which included research on student perceptions of violence against women, engaging stakeholders on campuses, and developing the social media application, RISE (React. Intervene. Support. Educate.). The RISE app provides users with tools to help prevent and respond to sexual assaults and intimate partner violence on campuses and in community settings. It includes education on the bystander approach, the continuum of violence, safe situational intervention tools, and local community resources. The content of the app was based on a year long process of collecting and reflecting upon ideas and experiences from diverse people who took part in research on campuses and in communities around Ottawa. Moreover, this app is based on the ideas and experiences from student and community led steering committees. OCTEVAW recognizes that this app will continue to evolve to reflect new scenarios and lived experiences of users; therefore users are encouraged to contact the Coalition to share their personal stories in order to further understanding, intervention and prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence. The overall OCTEVAW and ORCC project was overwhelmingly supported by Ottawa University, Carleton University, La Cité collégiale, and Algonquin College. Additionally the project engaged local community service members and campus students. For more information on the overall project or the RISE app, please contact the Coordinator Dillon Black.
The twenty-one organizations that received funding from Status of Women Canada – Engaging Young People to Prevent Violence against Women on Post-Secondary Campuses:
- Corner Brook Status of Women Council (CBSWC), Corner Brook, NL.
- Mount Allison Students' Union, Sackville, NB.
- Fredericton Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, Inc. (FSACC), Fredericton NB.
- Collectivité ingénieuse de la Péninsule acadienne Inc., Paquetville, NB.
Antigonish Women's Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association,
- Association chrétienne des je