Program Description

Gender Based Violence Prevention Program: Cultivating a Culture of Change & Impact on Campus & in the Community

The GBVPP is a campus- and community-wide education initiative designed to increase campus and community awareness, education, communication, inclusion and safety.

The program is designed to give participants the teaching, tools and skills necessary to educate themselves and their peers in gender based violence and bystander intervention. We use the term ‘Gender’ to describe male, female and the LGBTQ+ gender identities and we use ‘violence’ to denote any act of hate or abuse against any one of the preceding terms, including homophobia and transphobia.

GBVPP training engages participants in skill-building and analysis, focusing on fostering authentic relationships, personal connection and mastery of skills and knowledge necessary for effective communication. The program focuses on real life scenarios that help individuals to recognize abusive behaviour, and develop the confidence and skills to interrupt those negative behaviors that perpetuate a culture of violence within our communities.

The project will deliver innovative approaches to engaging young men in working to end violence against women and girls, men, and individuals who identify outside the gender binary. GBVPP will identify issues of violence affecting individuals on campus and in the community and will deliver approaches that will empower individuals to address these issues.

GBVPP will target the University Campus and broader Edmonton area we serve. GBVPP will work with its university colleagues and students, community youth mentoring programs, and leaders in male engagement to develop processes and tools to engage young mentors to end violence against all gender identities. Working specifically with student leaders such as athletes and fraternity council members, gives us powerful entry points for prevention strategies on campus/community with these individuals taking a key lead roles on campus and in the community to influence change amongst their peer culture.

Individuals leading by example will directly influence others who will then become mentors themselves. Mentors and leaders within our community will receive training on the issue of gender-based violence. A promising practice model has been developed and adapted for engagement of existing mentors to provide mentorship and tools to shift attitudes and beliefs that support controlling, abusive and violent behaviours.