May is Sexual Violence Awareness Month (SVAM) in Alberta, and to bring to light the importance of consent within our community, the University of Calgary, Bow Valley College (BVC) and Mount Royal University (MRU) collaborated to build a new workshop that focuses on creating communities of care. Rethinking Consent: Creating Communities of Care,
is a two-part workshop that aims to promote the necessity of consent when forming all of our relationships, not just intimate ones.
Carla Bertsch, UCalgary’s sexual violence support advocate, spoke with the
Gauntlet on the new workshop she’s been working on and the collaboration UCalgary has had with the two other Calgary based universities.
CALGARY In recognition of sexual violence awareness month in Alberta, three Calgary post-secondary institutions will be hosting consent workshops for students, staff and faculty members. The University of Calgary, Mount Royal University and Bow Valley College are offering the Rethinking Consent program in an effort to raise awareness to the issues of dating violence, domestic violence and sexual and gender-based violence. According to the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, 45 per cent of adults in Alberta say they have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime. On post-secondary campuses, prevalence rates of sexual and gender-based violence are concerning, said Bertsch in a statement released Monday. Sexual Violence Awareness Month is an opportunity to flip the conversation from messages of shame and blame, to messages that offer love, support and compassion.