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Public Education
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hours of public education facilitation
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learned something new about how to support someone impacted by sexual violence
0%
learned about resources available to help those impacted by sexual violence
0%
have a greater understanding of the impact of sexual violence within their community
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have a greater understanding of how to address sexual violence within their community

The Public Education Program builds community capacity to address, prevent, and to supportively respond to those impacted by sexual violence.

Year after year, the Public Education Program empowers individuals and communities to take action against sexual violence and to support those who have been impacted. Our presentations, workshops, online courses, and attendance at community events are all geared toward this goal. By providing accurate, non-victim blaming information about sexual violence and its impacts, the public education team works to undo the normalization of sexual violence in our community and leave in its place a culture of consent.  

Throughout the past year, the Public Education Program was exceptionally busy facilitating in-person and virtual education sessions, participating in community events, providing community consultations, and developing new education resources. 

Two SACE educators stand smiling behind an information table filled with SACE resources, next to a stand-up banner featuring the words "SACE: Lets move forward together".
Lillian Osborne High School oversized novelty cheque is held up by two SACE educators and two students, made out to SACE for $398.80.

Youth and Adult Education 

In total, our public education team facilitated 552 presentations for 23,768 unique participants this year. These presentations included sessions that were uniquely tailored to meet the needs of various professionals across Edmonton organizations, including medical, legal, military, and social support professionals. A significant number of public education participants each year are youth, and this year was no different: over 20,000 youth participated in our sessions. Many of these youth were junior and senior high school students in Edmonton schools, but we also facilitated education sessions for students in many surrounding communities, as well as youth accessing support services through community agencies.  

Our team developed a number of new education sessions to address the unique needs of specific demographics and communities. This included a session for service providers working with seniors and older adults, as well as a multi-part series for Indigenous youth, which was developed with the help of the SACE Indigenous Liaison. We also created and facilitated a presentation for newcomers on healthy relationships and boundaries, and a workshop for members of the Student Senate at W.P. Wagner School that supported youth in their efforts to address sexual violence in their school community. 

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presentations
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participants

Some of the organizations we supported:

WWPT - Workshop West Playwright's Theatre
Audrey's Books
College of Alberta Dental Assistants
Concrete Theatre
Catholic Social Services
Concordia University of Edmonton
Edmonton Catholic Schools
Edmonton Public Schools
Farrow
Esquao Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women
John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
MacEwan University
My Path
Norquest College
North Central Edmonton FRN
NexGen Men
Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre
Purple City Music Festival
Southgate Dental Centre
Stony Plain FCSS Youth Centre
YESS youth empowerment & support services
Zebra Child Protection Centre

Online Courses 

The Public Education team continued to offer two online courses to the public, entitled Information for Partners and Supporters and Recognizing and Responding to Sexual Violence. Participant feedback for both continued to be excellent. We also created two new courses, Racism and Sexual Violence, and Sexual Violence and the 2SLGBTQ+ Community, which provide essential, nuanced education on the intersections of sexual violence and race, and sexual violence and sexual and gender identity. Alongside these online courses for the public, our team facilitated the delivery of 58 tailored, cohort-style online courses to over 1,500 youth in schools. 

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online courses
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online course participants
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of participants indicated they learned something new about sexual violence
“I liked the story, because it showed different sides of what the word ‘no’ could mean. Whether it’s through body language, physical state or hesitation. If it isn’t an assertive and certain ‘yes’ then it means no! I also liked the fact that they mentioned coercion and how it’s extremely normalized in our society.”

 

– Youth public education participant

“I learned that gender stereotypes can really harm people.”

 

– Youth public education participant

This should be mandatory education for our staff in our department.” 

 

– Adult professional public education participant

“It was very inclusive and direct to our workplace. Both presenters were awesome and kind! Very knowledgeable and educational! We should have had you present years ago! We should do this yearly. Thank you for the space to learn and educate us <3”

 

– Adult professional public education participant

“I liked the visual of the pyramid [of sexual violence]. It made it clear that by changing attitudes and beliefs we can eliminate sexual violence.”

 

– Adult professional public education participant

“I am very interested in having you come in again as few people produce quality conversations as well as you.”

 

– University fraternity public education participant

“I enjoyed the inclusion of men’s experiences as victims of sexual assault, and also the inclusion of queer people.”

 

– Public education participant

A tall masculine person touches the brim of his hat with one hand and looks to the distant right while his other arm is thrown around a long-haired feminine person who is facing forward. The girl's hand is holding the boy's arm wrapped around her shoulder.
A tall masculine person touches the brim of his hat with one hand and looks to the distant right while his other arm is thrown around a long-haired feminine person who is facing forward. The girl's hand is holding the boy's arm wrapped around her shoulder.
Colour graphics made of circles illustrate the statistical fractions.
A simple pyramid shape split into 4 layers illustrates how each concept is built on the foundation of the preceding one.
Alt=””
Alt=””
Ten stylized illustrated individuals of diverse genders and backgrounds stand casually in a row as if waiting for a bus.
Two people sit on a low wall alongside a garden, drinking coffee and talking casually.
A tall masculine person touches the brim of his hat with one hand and looks to the distant right while his other arm is thrown around a long-haired feminine person who is facing forward. The girl's hand is holding the boy's arm wrapped around her shoulder.Colour graphics made of circles illustrate the statistical fractions.A simple pyramid shape split into 4 layers illustrates how each concept is built on the foundation of the preceding one.Alt=””Alt=””Ten stylized illustrated individuals of diverse genders and backgrounds stand casually in a row as if waiting for a bus.Two people sit on a low wall alongside a garden, drinking coffee and talking casually.

WiseGuyz 

This year SACE WiseGuyz Public Educators created a new, two-part workshop to engage Grade 8 and 9 students in sexual violence prevention. This workshop, entitled Gender Stereotypes and Sexual Violence, explores intersections between gender stereotypes, consent, and sexual violence, and it supports students in identifying the attitudes and beliefs that uphold sexually violent behaviours. Students also learn how to intervene safely in sexual violence, and practice consent communication in different types of relationships. 

On top of creating and delivering this workshop, the WiseGuyz team facilitated seven successful full-year programs, engaging 84 boys and masculine youth in five Edmonton schools in healthy relationships education. Alongside this success, the WiseGuyz team noticed trends of harmful behaviour amongst some students. One emerging trend is harmful behaviour around Nazism, with some students frequently referencing Nazi memes circulating on social media. The WiseGuyz team has consulted with a deradicalization organization to address this highly concerning trend. Another emerging trend is that some boys enrolled in the program have disclosed that they caused harm with sexual violence. In these situations, the WiseGuyz team has consulted with both SACE clinicians and school staff to ensure SACE is maintaining high standards of reporting and safety while providing these boys effective consent education so they can unlearn internalized myths around sexual violence.

Beyond that, one of our WiseGuyz educators is continuing to develop and coordinate a three-session workshop for fraternities on masculinity, sexual violence, and consent, and facilitated a presentation on this topic to a University of Alberta fraternity in spring 2023. 

Overall, SACE is constantly working to expand the WiseGuyz program by maintaining continuous programming with current partner schools, expanding into our waitlist as capacity allows, and by implementing other creative strategies for growth. Some creative ideas implemented include a SACE-branded WiseGuyz brochure, as well as an email campaign for schools, organizations and parents to advocate for more funding from local government officials. 

Your donations help SACE offer no-fee services and support to thousands of individuals affected by sexual violence in Edmonton every year.

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