The Institutional Support Program supports organizations in developing their own infrastructure and capacity to prevent and appropriately respond to sexual violence, and to build a culture of consent where respect and safety are afforded to everyone.
Training Frontline Service Providers
Offering specialized consultation, education and policy review, this year the Institutional Support Program was delighted to continue aiding our community in creating and fostering cultures of consent. The team took particular pride in our work supporting multiple, varied groups of frontline professionals. In partnership with Edmonton’s UN Safe Cities Initiative to make public spaces safer for femme, trans, and non-binary people, we created four customized 4.5-hour training sessions for 122 Edmonton City Peace Officers. The training was developed in collaboration with the City of Edmonton Community Services, Community Standards Peace Officer Training Department, which allowed us to tailor our content to their specific roles and learning goals, and to incorporate trauma-informed information related to the unique, intersectional identities and lived experiences of the communities they work with. The training was successful and well-received, with most participants surveyed in post-session evaluations indicating that they felt better equipped to respond to sexual violence as a community social issue.
The Institutional Support Program facilitated two training sessions for a diverse cross-section of frontline professionals who support military personnel and families at the Edmonton Garrison Base Military Family Resource Centre. In these sessions, we helped enhance social workers, school support workers, and military police and chaplains’ knowledge of, and responses to, sexual violence, while also addressing the unique context and barriers faced by military families.
Another highlight of the 2022-2023 year was the delivery of two sessions for labour and delivery nurses at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital. Both sessions yielded incredibly rich and fruitful discussions. Several participants indicated in their feedback that they found the training profoundly valuable in improving their practice. Many participants also said that this training was so insightful and necessary that it should be made mandatory for all frontline hospital staff. Working with frontline service providers and first responders provides SACE with an opportunity to exponentially increase the number of people who receive a supportive response after disclosing an experience of sexual violence.
Dark Matters: The Science of Sex at the Telus World of Science
We contributed to the Sexual Exploitation Workers Group (SEWG) Knowledge Exchange, and we partnered with the Institutional Support team to create and facilitate a presentation for a speaker series at Dark Matters: The Science of Sex at the TELUS World of Science. We also partnered with Concrete Theatre for a third time as they toured their play, CTRL-ALT-DEL, which addressed the issue of non-consensual photo sharing among youth. While on tour, our educators facilitated a question-and-answer for students who had seen the play while also responding to disclosures of sexual violence from youth.
Bystander Intervention Training
The Institutional Support Program has continued supporting our community while businesses, community groups, and festivals return to more in-person service provision post-pandemic. This transition has resulted in an increased demand for our 5-Minute Friend Bystander Intervention Program. Taking this as an opportunity to revitalize the program, Institutional Support added new learning activities and content adjustments. We provided 5-Minute Friend training to festivals and bar and nightlife establishments, including three sessions facilitated to the River Cree Resort and Casino’s security team. The River Cree Resort and Casino is one of largest liquor servers in the province, and an incredibly complex facility with multiple event venues operating simultaneously. Equipping their security personnel with essential intervention and responding skills will help ensure alcohol-facilitated sexual violence is interrupted.
Additionally, we facilitated two 5-Minute Friend sessions for volunteers responsible for fostering safer spaces at Purple City Music Festival, a youth-inspired arts event self-described as a forward-thinking music festival of the future. All our 5-Minute Friend post-session evaluations indicated a high level of participant learning, with several sessions resulting in 100% of participants indicating they learned new information about how to support someone who has experienced sexual violence.
Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Consultation
As organizations and nightlife establishments adjusted to providing in-person programming again, we responded to an increase in requests to support organizations with developing trauma-informed policies to prevent and address sexual violence. Several organizations contacted us while initially developing their policies, re-evaluating existing policies or, occasionally, while in the process of responding to disclosures of sexual violence from staff or patrons. We provided consultations to 26 organizations as they navigated unique, context-specific approaches to preventing and addressing sexual violence.
Looking ahead the Institutional Support Program eagerly awaits another year of rigorously responding to our community’s evolving needs related to sexual violence response and prevention. We also aim to continue expanding our reach, supporting new and diverse groups and organizations in dynamic ways.
“Very informative, respectful and professional presentation! I…appreciated the presenters calm and patient approach, their inclusive language, and how they offered warnings prior to potentially triggering topics.”
“I loved the bluntness and vulnerability of the presentation. The presentation was very inclusive and I feel as though I would be able to apply the knowledge provided right away in a situation where it is required.”
“This feels like an “updated” session that goes beyond what any corporate/career structure has provided me in the past. Thank you.”
“Despite the heaviness of the topic, the presenters ensured care of the audience, acknowledging the subject, inviting self care from the participating audience when needed, suggesting a number of options for same, and repeating this throughout the presentation. Given the percentage numbers of sexual assault, knowing the audience may also be the person personally impacted provided the practice of listening (while teaching), supporting, validating and encouraging (while presenting). This was a fascinating observation to me of the knowledge in practice throughout the presentation.”
Fringe consent training
Additional organizations we supported in the 2022-2023 year:
