As part of the development of the Réseau d’échange et de soutien aux actions locales (Network for exchange and local action support, RÉSAL)’s community of practice, of which ICPC is a member and the coordinator, a second training session in a series of activities planned this fall, was held on October 28. It focused on the prevention of sexual violence and aimed to explore the importance of language and of certain concepts in sexual violence prevention and review legal aspects and helpful attitudes for field workers.
The activity was hosted by Katherine Lapierre, project manager for the sex education programme and counselor for L’Anonyme, a RÉSAL member that works to promote safe behaviour and egalitarian relationships among youth.
Among the highlights of the workshop, there were:
- The importance of inclusive language in prevention and interventions among youth to create a safer environment and to limit stigmatization.
- The many shapes and forms in which violence can appear in day-to-day life without necessarily being recognized as such by the victims or by the perpetrators (sexual coercion, harassment, stealthing, etc.).
- Despite a common misconception, around 2% of complaints around sexual assault are false accusations. This fact contrasts with a common vision that tends to easily question the account of victims.
- Lastly, although a number of tools exist to accompany youth on this topic, how workers react to the disclosure of violence (listening, interest, trust) remains key for the following procedure with victims.
More information about other training sessions offered:
Violence prevention in street gangs
Street work and youth intervention
These training sessions were carried out with the financial support of the City of Montreal.