Brock Human Rights & Equity, Gender & Sexual Violence Support & Education, the Sexual Violence Prevention Committee, and BUSU are proud to present a series of events from November 25th to December 10th. They aim to open discussions, expand education, and commemorate the tragedies that these 16 days represent.
Significant Dates
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
This important day is supported by the United Nations, World Health Organization, Council of Europe, and many other international organization. It was created to create awareness surrounding violence against women and girls, “one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today [that] remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.” – UN.org
To view international initiatives, social media resources, and international gender-based violence support, visit the following websites:
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
Canada’s national day of commemorating and remembering the Polytechnic massacre in Montreal that occurred on December 6th in 1989. The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is about remembering those who have experienced gender-based violence and those who we have lost to it, and how to take action.
In Canada and around the world, women, girls, 2SLGBTQQIA+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, plus) and gender diverse individuals face unacceptable violence and discrimination. Gender-based violence in Canada has also been magnified and amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been reports from police services, shelters, and local organization of an increase in calls related to gender-based violence across Canada during the pandemic. – The Government of Canada
Additional websites and information:
International Human Rights Day
Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. – UN.org
International Human Rights Day information and resources:
Brock Human Rights & Equity, Sexual Violence Prevention Committee, and BUSU Events
Social Media Donation Contest- Share Your Activism
November 25 to December 10
Take part in Brock HRE’s first-ever donation contest! Share to your Instagram or Facebook page a post or story of you engaging in activism, or a post-in sharing your activist efforts. Be sure to tag @brockhre! For every activism image we are tagged in over the 16 Days, we will donate $5 with BUSU to Students for Consent Culture.
Reminder! There are so many forms of activism! Some examples are:
- Volunteering
- Research or writing term papers about social justice issues
- Attending workshops
- Talking about issues with friends
- Taking part in movements and marches
- Donating to or supporting loca BIPOC/QTPOC/Indigenous organizations and charities
- Calling people in during conversations
- The list goes on!
Unpacking Rape Culture in an Ableist World
December 1: 7pm-9pm
Join Brock HRE and the Sexual Violence Prevention Committee in hosting important conversations about gender-based violence and ableism in an intersectional world.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/unpacking-rape-culture-in-an-ableist-world-tickets-216416757347
Speaker bios
Lydia Collins: Decolonizing Sexual Health Education: Race, Disability, and HIV Prevention
Bio: Lydia Collins is an Author and Sexual Health Educator based in Montreal. She published her first chapbook of poetry Angry. Black. Woman. in January 2019, her second To Everyone We’ve Ever Been in September 2020, a free digital chapbook In Transit in February 2021, and produced a collaborative video project with UNILEARNAL, Joy Is Our Birthright in October 2020. Lydia is a co-founder of the grassroots consent education group Decolonize & Deconstruct, and has most recently entered her role as Learning & Development Specialist at the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS (Ontario). Lydia’s unwavering love for writing and community health are what keep her determined to continue amplifying marginalized voices.
Jiaqing Wilson-Yang: How Regulating Bodies and Defining Gender Based Violence Presents Barriers to Service
Bio: Jiaqing Wilson-Yang is a trans Chinese/Irish setter living in Tkaronto, in the Dish With One Spoon Territory. She works at X University at Consent Comes First, the Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education as a Sexual Violence Specialist. She has been supporting survivors of gender-based violence for 10 years. Outside of GBV work she is a writer of poetry and fiction. Her work can be found in Rice Paper Magazine, Carte Blanche, Maisonneuve, Poetry is Dead, and Room Magazine. Her first novel, Small Beauty, was published by Metonymy Press and won a Lambda Award for Best Transgender Fiction.
Sarah Mann: Crazy, Inappropriate, and Probably Lying: Harley Quinn vs the Mental Health Establishment
Sarah Mann is an academic, activist, and artist living in Sudbury, Ont. She writes and teaches about poverty, sex work, harm reduction, mental health, and feminism. Her writing can be found in This Magazine, Briarpatch, rabble.ca, the Hamilton Spectator, and more. Sarah is working on a community arts project to build solidarity among poor people, and with a group of Anishinaabe families on a storytelling project related to their experiences with the children’s aid system. She blogs at autocannibalism.wordpress.com .
Film Screening & Discussion: Dating and Disability
December 3: 6-8pm
Join Brock HRE and student activist Aleah Graff for a screening of half of the film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, followed by a discussion about dating and disability. Let’s engage in critical conversation about why dating and disability are rarely talked about, and how that can contribute to larger acts of gender-based violence towards those who identify as disabled.
Brock student Registration for Co-Curricular Credit: https://experiencebu.brocku.ca/event/194153
General population registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dating-and-disability-film-screening-discussion-tickets-216134593387
**This film will be screened VIA Netflix. If you’re a Brock student who needs access to a Netflix account to view the film, please email Talia at tritondo@brocku.ca
International Day for Persons with Disabilities Webinar
December 3: 11am-1pm
On December 3 of each year, we recognize the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. This annual event acknowledges the humanity, inherent value, and rights of persons experiencing disability and reminds us that all citizens of the world have a stake and a role in authentic inclusion. This year’s event is co-hosted by the Anti-Ableism and Mental Health (AAMH) working group of PACHRED and the Brock Niagara Center of Excellence in Inclusive and Adaptive Physical Activity.
This year’s event will feature a guest speaker, Dr. Jay Dolmage, from the University of Waterloo, presenting on Academic Ableism, that is, actions, deliberate and conscious or otherwise, that contribute to barriers for and discrimination against members of disability communities in their experience of teaching, learning, research, service, and any other aspects of campus life. He will also suggest ways to participate in anti-ableism.
We will also be recognizing Brock student submissions to the national Innovative Designs for Accessibility (IDeA) competitions and the recipients of the Brock Inclusion and Accessibility Recognition Award.
Pop-Up GSV Support & Self-Care Drop-In
December 6: 12-7pm
Location: Mackenzie Chown Block E, Room 205
Join our Peer 2 Peer Support team in our drop-in room to have a safe and comfortable space to relax, seek support, and de-stress before exams. We are ready to talk if you need any support regarding gender & sexual violence. We will also be handing out self-care goodie bags for you to start exam season off in a peaceful headspace. Come drop in!
Niagara Community Events
Beyond December 6
On Sunday Dec 5th, Brock Human Rights and Equity is encouraging students, staff and faculty to attend the First Ontario Preforming Arts Centre’s A Film House presentation of BEYOND DECEMBER 6. The film follows NathalieProvost a survivor of the shooting at the engineering school as, she opens up about the tragedy, feminism, racism and sexism. And, above all, about life, which must go on beyond December 6.The film will be followed by a discussion on if after 32 years, how far have we come in eliminating violence against women, particularly for racialized women?
Gillian’s Place Lunch & Learn
On Nov 25thfrom 12 –1:30 PM EST Gillian’s Place has invited the Brock community to join an education session on Intimate Partner Violence(IPV): Recognizing and Responding. This will be livestreamed to their Facebook and YouTube channel. The Brock Community is invited to watch the livestream to learn and ask questions on recognizing warning signs and patterns of behaviour, talking to someone you think might be experience IPV, and making an appropriate referral to community services.
No registration required, watch live on the Niagara Region Facebook Page.
Niagara Falls Illumination
Niagara Falls will be illuminated Orange on Nov 24 for the 16 days of activism! for December 6th. Niagara Parks welcomes the Brock community to visit the falls to kick off the 16 days. To learn more about this please visit https://www.niagaraparks.com/events/event/falls-illumination.