December 6, 2009 - National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Montreal, November 30th, 2009
 

A World Without Violence Starts With…?

On December 6, we commemorate the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. The fact is that violence exists. Twenty years after the tragic deaths in Montreal, it is still a reality for our daughters, our mothers, our sisters, and our grandmothers. In our families and communities, violence is often so common that it is considered normal.

Yet, this is only part of the story. Girls and young women are not only experiencing violence, they are also doing something about it. They are courageous and resilient and they are responding to violence.

In Inuvik, where there is a high incidence of sexual assault, a simple and powerful workshop was created. “I and a volunteer at the elementary school started noticing a lot of stories about sexual violence in the community,” describes Joanna Lehrer. “We wondered how we could help prevent sexual assault and foster healthy relationships.” Local counsellors, volunteers, filmmakers, and youth centre staff collaborated on the project. A local girls’ group, Dreambuilders, made the compelling video used in the workshop that talks explicitly about sexual violence. The girls and adult facilitators present the workshop to Inuvik youth and travel to other communities throughout the Beaufort Delta Range, educating boys and girls about their rights.

The Just Girls group in Beamsville, Ontario, decided to do something about dating violence in their community. They organized an event on Valentine’s Day to raise awareness. “The community where this is taking place is a rural high school. There are limited local activities for youth and no public transportation,” describes coordinator, Paige Mowbray. “Little work is being done on dating violence in our community, which concerns the girls. They are extremely enthusiastic and their goal is to bring about awareness to other youth.” The Just Girls group set up an information booth at their school, providing resources and information (as well as Valentine’s treats). The girls also handed out a self-created bill of rights for dating relationships called, “If you want to be my Valentine...”

Women of Race Climbing it Together (WORC IT) is a girls’ group that empowers and educates young women in Toronto. “In our community, there is increased violence among youth. Young girls are exposed to this violence and are victims of it as well,” describes Natasha Burford, WORC IT founder. “Girls that have come out of our program are facilitating workshops on dating violence and starting their own projects. They are looking at themselves differently. Sometimes I get letters from their moms saying, ‘You don’t know how much you have changed my family.’ You know, not only are we affecting our daughters, we’re affecting our sons because they start to see their sisters differently.”

All-girls’ groups are one strong way to counter violence. By sharing their experiences and struggles, breaking their isolation, and learning from one another, girls feel connected and a part of something bigger than themselves. “Before I came here,” girls often say, “I thought I was the only one.” Girls’ groups and girls-only spaces offer an invaluable source of support and inspiration in every community.

Silence is a form of violence. An awareness of our tolerance of the violence in our communities, in our families, and on our televisions is an essential first step to challenging it. Naming violence is powerful and breaking the silence around violence is necessary.

Ending violence must include empowering young women. When we build girls’ positive sense of control and power, self-esteem and ability to advocate for herself, we lower her chances of experiencing violence. Doing this means using an approach that values each young women’s contribution and respects her experiences. It means finding solutions with girls and young women – and not for them.

Leaders of girls’ programs across Canada have found that some key actions can help reduce violence – and we can all take action:

1.    Listen to girls and young women. Don’t blame them.

2.    Understand that violence is rooted in discrimination, inequity, and isolation.

3.    Be a voice. Make the realities of girls and violence visible.

4.    Encourage discussion about responses to violence.

5.    Support girls’- and-boys’-only violence prevention programs.

 Watch the video : A young women is strong when....   

Tatiana Fraser is Executive Director of Girls Action Foundation, a national charity that leads and seeds girls’ programs across Canada, reaching over 60,000 girls and young women.

www.girlsactionfoundation.ca

March 8, 2010 - Why Girls? Are making a difference

March 8 is International Women’s Day: What are we doing for girls and young women in Canada?

“Sexting in Canada too!”
“Safe ‘sexting’? No such thing, teens warned”
“Fat thighs, bum may help you live longer”
“Growing up afraid to eat”
“Teen Sexual Promiscuity Linked to Children's TV Watching”
“The Myth of Rampant Teenage Promiscuity”
“Promiscuity: A Teenage Epidemic”
“Epidemic! The Growth Of Teenage Violence”
“Why parents must mind MySpace”
“How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children?”
“Girls gone raunch”
“Ugly truth is we are building a crass society”

As we can see, media messages about girls and young women are at odds. Girls are portrayed as passive victims or responsible for everything from an increase in moral depravity to the decline of civilization.

Unsurprisingly, girls tell another story. When it comes to media and pop culture, girls can be experts. Think about it: as the target of most media messages, they are uniquely positioned to understand and criticize the popular culture they are so much a part of.

Girls and young women are not passive consumers of the media: many critically read and actively subvert it. All over the Internet, young women are reinventing media and pop culture on their own terms, pushing the boundaries of what is conventionally offered.

For example, on Kickaction.ca, young women across Canada are redefining the image of girls as agents of change.

“[The media] gets freaked out about us talking about our bodies the way we want,” writes a Kickaction blogger. “Again and again, teenagers, who supposedly grew up with USB keys instead of house keys, are put up for leading a fad of telling too much and making stupid mistakes.”

There are many online spaces to talk about issues for young women, who are often also leaders within their communities. They are taking part in a global movement of social innovation, sharing their insights and practical experiences while working to improve Canadian society and conditions for girls and young women around the world.

Many of us know young women who are committed, fired up, interested, and engaged. How can we support them?

It is essential to validate and celebrate the success and social innovation of girls and young women who are already engaged. With access to resources and support, girls are connected, empowered, and better placed to make change in their own lives and their communities.

As leadership can be expressed in many different ways, supporting future leaders means recognizing critical thinkers, acknowledging girls with new ideas, valuing a diversity of leadership styles and skills, and supporting those who are on the cusp of speaking out. Also, connecting girls with mentors is a powerful way to light a spark for social change and positive intergenerational connections can have a meaningful impact.

All sorts of messages about being female bombard girls and young women. What’s important to remember is that there are tools we can use to sift through, understand, and deal with these conflicting messages, which is why supporting leadership for young women is so necessary.

In our work with girls, we’ve found again and again that young women are at the forefront of building solutions to address violence, advocating the prevention of sexual violence, and encouraging healthy sexuality and relationships. They are entrepreneurial and savvy and are creating solutions that support economic growth and break barriers to employment and education.

What is Girls Action Foundation doing for girls and young women on March 8? We are celebrating International Women’s Day with the launch the first in a series of resources called Why Girls? Intended to reframe the discourse, or “flip the script,” Why Girls? are easy-to-read tools designed to support people who work, talk, or live with girls and young women.

Tatiana Fraser is Executive Director of Girls Action Foundation, a national charity that leads and seeds girls’ programs across Canada, reaching over 60,000 girls and young women.
www.girlsactionfoundation.ca

Tatiana Frasier, Featured Panelist at `Feminism: the other ``F`` Word`, March 8th, 2010

Executive Director of Girls Action Foundation and Co-Founder of POWER Camp Tatiana Fraser and Author and Professor at the Institute of Women’s Studies at the University of Ottawa Dominique Bourque discuss their interpretations of feminism and where the feminist movement is today. (p.4)

Click on the attachment below to read the Amethyst Matters Spring/Summer newsletter.

Girl World Wide Project Report June 12-23, 2006

For two weeks this summer, twenty-five young women representing five POWER Camp National network member organizations gathered in Vancouver to get involved in shaping the future of our cities. The girls and young women expressed their experiences and concerns and discovered how urban sustainability is impacted by gender equity. They were joined by 400 youth from Canada and around the world for the World Youth Forum, and then by close to 7000 national and international delegates for United Nations Habitat's World Urban Forum III, "From Ideas to Action."

Download the report in pdf format