Violence Prevention Toolkit
This Toolkit project was made possible with the generous support from federal departments like the Status of Women Canada (SWC) and Heritage Canada. It has experienced a high rate of success due to contributions and support from community organizations and other partners across the country.
NWAC youth developed the Toolkit in 2007 and officially launched it later that same year. Originally a three year initiative, it was geared toward youth and service providers in a “Train the Trainer" type workshop series. Workshop participants were offered training on five components of violence:
- Domestic Violence
- Sexual Assault
- Date Violence
- Emotional Violence
- Bullying
The toolkit includes a facilitator guide, fact sheets, a feedback form, and a Community Action guide that details ways to get involved in violence prevention.
To date, NWAC has trained over 440 participants and promoted the Toolkit at conferences, gatherings, and events nationally and internationally. The feedback received has been overwhelmingly positive; many have identified it as one of the most innovative and easy to use violence prevention tools available.
The Challenge
Young Aboriginal women are proven to be at higher risk of experiencing and witnessing domestic and other types of violence compared to mainstream society. For many years now, NWAC has tirelessly raised awareness of the differential impacts experienced by Aboriginal women and girls. The challenge is mobilizing shifts in societal attitudes, in counteracting the trends, and placing Aboriginal women and girls at the forefront of change in their communities.
The Program
The NWAC youth have repeatedly stressed that the most effective violence prevention projects for youth are those created, championed, and delivered by youth. For that reason, NWAC youth have played a leadership role in the development of this Toolkit. This project enables participants to recognize the early signs of violence, to know who or what type resource they can turn to, and feel empowered and motivated to take action in the prevention of violence in their own communities.
The Opportunity
The Toolkit is currently undergoing evaluation intended to support future opportunities for continuing beyond 2010. An exploration of successes and lessons learned is being conducted and every participant who received training on the Toolkit will have an opportunity to contribute their opinions and stories. We need to illustrate that the Toolkit achieved what it set out to do, that youth learned new skills related to violence prevention, and used them in their communities. The evaluation plan includes peer review, participant surveys, and a comprehensive evaluation conducted by an external expert. This evaluation will determine also, what Phase II of the Toolkit might look like.