Saskatchewan Sexual Violence Education Initiative

Preventing & Addressing Sexual Violence & the Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 through Education & Awareness

This initiative is designed to prevent and address sexual violence and the gendered-impacts of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan through an evidence-based, trauma-informed, and intersectional sexual violence education program(s) supported by a provincial framework for sustainability including diverse platforms for information dissemination, resource sharing and skill-building.

Objectives

1. Research to determine Saskatchewan-based sexual violence educational needs.
2. Develop and implement an evaluation plan for the Saskatchewan sexual violence education initiative.
3. Develop evidence-based, trauma-informed sexual violence education program(s), reflective of Saskatchewan intersectional complexities. The education will include the lifespan, sectoral and pandemic analysis of sexual violence and it will be designed with virtual adaptations for remote/rural learning.
4. Develop a training guideline for new facilitators to ensure that helping professionals in communities across Saskatchewan can access the education to assess, screen, and respond effectively to disclosures of sexual violence and the gendered-impacts of COVID-19.
5. Pilot the Saskatchewan sexual violence education program(s), reaching both urban and rural/remote communities and utilizing the newly trained facilitators.
6. Host a Leadership Forum as a platform to launch new resources developed, for skill-building and collaborative leadership for service providers and community members. The forum will serve as a platform for improving the caliber of sexual violence expertise in Saskatchewan through sharing of relevant research, emerging best-practices, new understandings of trends and patterns. The forum will also serve as an opportunity for networking, development and capacity-building throughout the targeted trainings and engagement with organizations serving marginalized groups including but not limited to Indigenous Peoples’, newcomers, 2SLGBTQIA+, seniors and those living with disabilities.

Project Partnership(s)

Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is SASSs’ key partner for this project. FSIN Women’s Advisory and the Project Advisory (representative of subject matter experts inclusive of intersectional complexities) will support core activities throughout the project. It is our intention that the guidance of these robust advisory’s, will best support the affected populations sexual violence educational needs.

Project of Rationale

Saskatchewan needs comprehensive education programming that addresses the intersectional forms of sexual violence experienced in Saskatchewan by Indigenous Peoples’, newcomers, 2SLGBTQIA+, seniors and those living with disabilities, including complex neocolonial dynamics that contribute to their continued, and disproportionate victimization and to ensure the appropriate training is available. The development of a grassroots, intersectional, evidence-based, and trauma-informed educational programming will address the gaps identified by survivors, service providers and volunteers, including training and resources that reflect the realities of violence perpetration in Saskatchewan. The evaluation of this initiative will be a critical asset to ensure the efficacy of the sexual violence educational program(s) developed.

Secondly, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for training designed for remote delivery and a training guideline that ensures facilitators are adequately equipped to safely manage inevitable trauma triggers and potential participant conflicts during a virtual presentation. Our members (front-line agencies) have also, become increasingly aware of the surge in cases and the emerging trends and patterns of sexual violence perpetration and victimization during the pandemic. This has generated unusual ways for survivors of sexual violence and service providers to effectively deliver and receive support. In Saskatchewan, agencies are faced with providing services remotely to clients across the province and many survivors have fallen through the gaps due to poor infrastructure. Restrictions, isolation orders, and reduced safe shelter capacity have contributed to increased mental health challenges and increased victimization incidents for adults and children. The pandemic has exacerbated systemic barriers and intensified inequality; based on gender, ability, race, income, immigration, and citizenship status, education, and employment.

The education program(s) developed, and the Leadership Forum event will increase the competency of helping professionals and community members who work or live alongside sexual violence survivors. The Saskatchewan-based sexual violence training will be adaptable for online delivery and will include new understandings of the shadow pandemic. This will increase our capacity to support Indigenous Peoples’, newcomers, 2SLGBTQIA+, seniors and those living with disabilities, by ensuring that helping professionals and community members are provided with tools and resources designed to evolve with changing trends and patterns, and limitations imposed by the pandemic guidelines.

For more information, please contact:

Jenna Ives
Lead Program Coodinator
Email: jenna@sassk.ca
Phone: 306-757-1941

Funders: