Supporting Survivors: A Skill-building Workshop for Students During COVID-19

 

Note: This session has passed. Click here to view recordings and other resources from this event.

As we face the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many sexualized and gender-based violence support services such as helplines and shelters are receiving an influx of requests for support. Students may be further impacted by campus closures resulting in limited access to on-campus mental health, advocacy, and peer-support services.

In response to this current reality, the aim of this webinar is to build our collective skills in supporting survivors and those impacted by sexualized violence. We will:

  • Provide best practices for supporting the survivors in our lives
  • Introduce basic considerations for the ongoing safety of survivors (safety planning) 
  • Direct folks to information and support resources 
  • Have staff available to support you during and after the workshop via phone
  • We encourage all members of our campus communities in B.C. seeking these skills and resources to take part in our webinar. Together we can work to support survivors during this difficult time, and beyond.

Facilitators:

Paloma Ponti (she/her) is the Education Coordinator at the Anti-Violence Project, the student-funded sexual assault centre at the University of Victoria. She is a white presenting ‘mixed-race’ settler born and raised on the unsurrendered territory of the Lkwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Paloma is a UVic student in the final semester of her undergraduate degree in Gender Studies and Social Justice Studies. For the past 9 years, Paloma has been facilitating workshops related to gender, sexuality, power, and privilege and working on projects aiming to dismantle rape culture and build communities of consent and care.

Kenya Rogers (she/her) has been a volunteer support worker, staff member, and workshop facilitator with the Anti Violence Project since 2016, and has delivered sexualized violence prevention programming throughout BC. She is a white-presenting settler of mixed-race ancestry, and grew up on the territories of the Syilx peoples. Kenya is a graduate student in the UVic Department of Political Science currently finishing her Master’s thesis examining grassroots activism and campus sexualized violence policy. As a survivor and an advocate, Kenya is dedicated to ending sexualized and gender-based violence on campus and within our communities.

This event is free. To ensure we have an inclusive and welcoming environment for all, we’ve added registration to our online office sessions. Please note that it will close two hours before the event and that participants can join anonymously.

Please note that this webinar will discuss topics related to sexualized and gender-based violence that may be triggering to those who have experienced trauma. There will be support services available throughout the workshop via telephone and for sometime after the workshop as well. If folks have any questions about content in advance of the session please email Paloma at education@antiviolenceproject.org