抖阴APP导航

Thanks to campaigns like #MeToo, we are increasingly aware of issues regarding sexual violence, yet there鈥檚 still a lot of uncertainty and confusion surrounding the topic. For Kevin Vowles, the clear path ahead is twofold: education and emotional intelligence.

鈥淚t might not be the intention of a young man to commit sexual violence, but they may do just that without even seeing how their actions are wrong,鈥� Vowles says. 鈥淒igging into gender norms, having conversations about consent and building emotional intelligence sets the bar higher.鈥�

With a career centred on addressing gender-based violence, Vowles' 15-year journey as a sexual violence educator began as a personal one.

鈥淚 experienced and witnessed a great deal of violence in my own life growing up. In my 20s, I started to really understand the impacts of inter-generational trauma and sexual violence, and began to take an interest in trying to end the cycle of violence,鈥� Vowles explains.

鈥淕ender expectations are a big factor in violence against both men and women. I was socially isolated before going into high school and I lost a lot of friends because I wasn鈥檛 interested in unhealthy gender norms and wasn鈥檛 fitting in. Later in my life it helped me recognize the devastating impacts toxic masculinity can have on young men and how it can lead to self-harm, addiction and suicide, and may even go on to shape their future relational lives.鈥�

Workshop digs into complexities of sexual violence and paves pathway forward

On March 4, in partnership with 抖阴APP导航鈥檚 sexual violence support advocate Carla Bertsch, Vowles鈥� interactive workshop Deconstructing and Moving Past Sexualized Violence will take a deeper look at the root causes of sexual violence. In addition to unravelling the complexities of gender norms and the problems posed by the bro-code, the pair will also offer strategies to address gender-based violence in our daily lives.

鈥淭he first thing we all need to do is engage in emotional intelligence,鈥� Vowles says. 鈥淲hen I ask what emotion men are allowed to express, the answer is always anger. If that鈥檚 men鈥檚 default emotion, of course we see violence. If we can shift that pattern over to expressing emotions in a productive way, there鈥檚 potential to decrease violence and improve the health of relationships.鈥�

In addition to advocating for any students, faculty and staff who have experienced sexual violence, a key aspect of Bertsch鈥檚 role is to educate the campus community and start meaningful dialogue about sexual violence, prevention, consent, gender equity and socialization.

鈥淢y work includes drawing attention to harmful attitudes, values and behaviours that support systems of oppression. Even though they may be less visible in our daily lives and are often perceived as normal, like gender roles, they help maintain systemic issues like sexism, racism and homophobia,鈥� Bertsch says.

鈥淏y educating our community through an intersectional lens, I hope to provide people with the tools they need to step in and disrupt more subtle acts of violence, within ourselves and others, whether that鈥檚 the words we use, the jokes we tell or how we treat others, so we can prevent more serious acts of violence from occurring. Kevin brings a lot of valuable insight to the conversation and I鈥檓 excited to be collaborating on such an important initiative.鈥�

This workshop is a partnership between the Office of Diversity, Equity and Protected Disclosure and Ask First. Ask First is a three-year project launched in Fall 2015 by the Women鈥檚 Resource Centre in collaboration with the Consent Awareness and Sexual Education Club. The project is funded by .