Nicholas Fung, 2nd year Community and Justice Services student and Rochelle Punit, 2nd year Community Worker- Outreach and Development student, open up the March for Violence Awareness event.
On April 4th, 2018, despite blizzard-like weather conditions, the Faculty of Applied Health and Community Studies welcomed over 70 Sheridan students, faculty and staff to the Davis Den to learn about different types of violence and how they could be allies to people impacted by violence. The event opened with the following statement by Community Worker, Outreach and Development student, Rochelle Punit: “This event means so much because violence is a prevalent social issue that affects us all, since it spans various areas of culture, race, age, gender, sexual identity, and more. Violence affects many people on many levels and has impacts that are life changing. We acknowledge that there are many kinds of violence, and it would take us a long time to cover all of them in one event. We have chosen to highlight three different types of violence that impact our communities in the event tonight with speakers addressing the issues of Violence against Indigenous communities, Human Trafficking, and Sexual Assault.”
Sheridan welcomed a number of guest speakers to help understand the specific issues that vulnerable communities deal with, and the impacts of violence. Little Brown Bear, an elder and Metis healer from the Aboriginal Healing Program in Toronto was the first to speak. He discussed the different issues facing Indigenous communities, and the role that violence has played historically and continues to play. He offered hope through sharing stories about the holistic healing and therapy approaches that he uses in working with Indigenous peoples. Next to speak was Tricia Sampson from the Elizabeth Fry Society of Peel-Halton. Tricia is the worker for the Empowering Against Exploitation program, specializing in the topic of Human Trafficking and building resilience in female youth. She provided important information about the different elements of human trafficking and the impacts that it has on its victims, with a particular focus on the Peel Region.
Tricia Sampson from Elizabeth Fry Society of Peel-Halton discusses methods of recruitment in human trafficking with participants in the March for Violence Awareness event.
The final two guest speakers, Constable Justin Vandenbrink and Constable Jessica Innes were from the Peel Police Special Victims Unit discussing both the legislation that plays a role in sexual assault and harassment cases and the role that their unit plays in these cases. Following presentations by guest speakers, students, faculty and staff were joined by children who had been participating in a special children’s program and set out on a lantern-lit march around campus.
Students, staff and faculty march through C-Wing as part of the March for Violence Awareness.
Along the march, four stations were set up where participants stopped and a facilitator shared a short text which included information about the particular type of violence that was being acknowledged. Participants held a moment of silence to remember those who had lost their lives to violence. Participants were reminded that by attending this event, they were standing with survivors of violence, a physical representation of standing up against violence in our communities.
Tricia Sampson from the Elizabeth Fry Society of Peel/Halton reminds Sheridan students, staff and faculty about the victims of human trafficking at one of the stations on the march.
Although the march needed to be moved indoors because of the weather, organizers were overwhelmed by the number of people who braved the weather and came to stand together against violence. Student leaders from the Community Justice Services program and the Community Worker – Outreach and Development program worked together with support of their faculty. The march was initiated by student leaders and peer mentors Rochelle Punit, Nicholas Fung and Lisa Picano and involved the efforts of many more students and faculty through a series of community engagement events in the weeks that led up to the event. A special thanks goes out to Lee Weare, Associate Dean, The School of Public Safety and Mary Louise Noce, Associate Dean, The School of Community Studies for their support of the event as well as Michaelann George, Program Coordinator of the Community Worker – Outreach and Development program and Jacinta Goveas, faculty member in the School of Community Studies for their support in planning and hosting the event. We also want to acknowledge the important support of Sunand Sharma, Dare to Care, and Kathryn Cameron through The Women’s Campus Safety Fund. This was our inaugural event and we hope to hold it every year. Come and join us next year (rain or shine!)
Davis students support the march through making lanterns at one of four lantern making events held in the two weeks prior to the event.
Davis students support the march through making lanterns at one of four lantern making events held in the two weeks prior to the event.
Submitted by Julie Dempsey and Bethany Osborne, Faculty Organizers
Faculty of Applied Health and Community Studies