Applications for Volunteer Training are OPEN!

The AVP team is so excited to announce that we will be offering our Volunteer Training program this fall for folks interested in volunteering with us!

Below is a brief explanation of our organization, volunteer training and commitments, as well as links to fill out the volunteer application form. This training is open to people of all genders, backgrounds and abilities who are students, staff and/or community members. Once you’ve read the following information and decided that you’re interested in joining us for the 2021/22 school year, please fill out the application form below, and submit it. You can print the PDF form below and write in your responses, or complete the digital google form. Either way, please drop it off at our office: Student Union Building Room B027, email it to or submit the google form by Friday, September 24th at 12pm.

About the Anti-Violence Project
The Anti-Violence Project provides sex-positive, anti-oppressive services that prevent and act
against gender-based and sexualized violence. Our services are open to people of all genders
whether you’re a UVic student, alumni, staff, faculty, or a community member. We provide
confidential peer support services to people who have been impacted by gender-based and/or
sexualized violence by: directly experiencing it, through causing harm to someone else, or
supporting or knowing someone who has experienced it. We provide resources and
information through our support hours, free workshops, lending library, free zines and free
safer sex supplies. Our education and advocacy initiatives on campus and in the community
include collaborative events and campaigns to raise awareness about gender-based violence.

Who can apply?
We encourage people of all genders, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. Our volunteer
training is open to all community members; you do not have to be a UVic student to apply.

Benefits of Volunteering
● Gain and utilize knowledge, analysis, and awareness of gender-based and sexualized
violence and the forms it takes
● Gain skills to support and empower survivors and allies
● Join a team of people committed to creating change on personal, community, institutional,
and systemic levels and form lasting friendships
● Learn about and utilize anti-oppressive and decolonizing practice in relation to
anti-violence work
● Experience personal development and growth
● Receive approx. 30 hours of training on topics including support, violence prevention, and
sex-positive education skills
● Participate in ongoing training sessions throughout the year
● Volunteer appreciation events
● A written reference on request
● Opportunities to be involved in campus life and community events as representatives of
the Anti-Violence Project
● UVic students can receive a co-curricular credit for completing the training

Volunteer Requirements
● Available approximately 30 hours in October/November for volunteer training (all dates on
next page)
● Commit to volunteering an average of 1-3 hours/week from November 2021 to April 2022
● Have an open and respectful attitude
● Have a curiosity or awareness of intersectional feminism and anti-oppressive practices
● Have willingness for self-reflection and accountability
● Have willingness to unlearn oppressive behaviours and challenge own assumptions
● Have good interpersonal skills and/or willingness to receive feedback
● Be comfortable working in a group setting
● Have supports available in your life, as volunteering can be challenging
● Be comfortable working with diverse populations (people of all genders and sexual
orientations, people from various cultural backgrounds)
● Respect people’s rights regarding contraceptive choice and reproductive freedom
● Review our “scent free” policy and be scent-free during training and while volunteering

Volunteer Training – An Overview
After reviewing applications we may interview/have follow up questions for short-listed
applicants as we only have 20 training spots available. We then invite successful candidates to
attend our extensive and informative volunteer training (approx. 30 hours). Our volunteer
training program is not an academic course, but the workload is comparable to a university
course; regular attendance is required and there are weekly readings. Topics covered in
training include: colonization, sexualized violence, consent, sex positivity, gender beyond the
binary, anti-racism, ableism, and self and community care. AVP’s training is done from an
anti-colonial, intersectional framework.
We will conclude the training with individual check-in meetings to confirm that the volunteer
and AVP’s work are a good fit. We ask volunteers to commit to working with AVP throughout
the Fall and Spring term for an average 1-3 hr/week in various available volunteer roles which
include: supporting survivors, allies, and people who’ve caused harm who are seeking support
and referrals, outreach initiatives that may include peer education, engaging groups through
activities and table displays, research projects, writing blog posts or book reviews, making
zines, art or buttons, helping with administration tasks, and facilitating workshops. We also
collaborate and volunteer with many groups to commemorate, celebrate, resist, and protest in
the form of marches, cultural events and gatherings, joint conferences or workshops, and
artistic events in the community.

TRAINING DATES for 2021:
The 2021 Volunteer Training takes place over 4-6 weeks in October/November. The first set of
trainings will be held on Tuesday & Thursday evenings in October, starting October 5th until
early November. Currently, our first and last sessions are scheduled as in person, but this will
be dependent on the comfort of participants, staff, and current public health recommendations.
We will have a break following the training period providing participants the opportunity to
reflect upon the training content, as well as think about their own goals and interests for
volunteering. During this time we will meet with each volunteer individually to chat about these
topics. For the third section, during the week of June 17th, new volunteers will be able to
attend more skill focused training sessions to learn how we run our peer support services and
facilitate workshops (we will decide on the exact dates during the first part of Volunteer
Training).This third section emphasizes ways we can take our learnings in section 1 and 2 and
apply them to volunteering at AVP.

DATES:
Tuesday, October 5th – Volunteer Training – In person (tentative) – 5-8 pm
Thursday, October 7th – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Tuesday, October 12th – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Thursday, October 14th – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Tuesday, October, 19th – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Thursday, October 21 – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Tuesday, October 26th – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Thursday, October 28th – Volunteer Training – Online – 6-8 pm
Tuesday, November 2nd – Volunteer Training – In person (tentative) – 5-8 pm
November 8-12 – Break/Check ins
November 15-26 – Support and Facilitation Skills Workshops, dates and times TBA

Accessibility:
AVP strives to be as accessible as possible but acknowledge we are far from being truly
accessible.
● Applications can be submitted online or in person
● Colouring, fidgeting, knitting, etc during workshop times encouraged if it’s helpful for you
● Self-care encouraged
● We invite you to inquire about content warnings prior to training if that would benefit you,
we strive to provide content warnings throughout the training process.
● The support line/room is open during training sessions for a quiet space
● Childcare upon request
● Zoom sessions include auto-generated subtitles
● Gender-inclusive washrooms
● Training rooms are large in size and are mostly quiet but can be echoey and have lower
levels of background noise including a fan
● There will be chairs without arms available in each of the rooms
● Wheelchair accessible training spaces and washrooms – please contact us for more
specific information such as door widths.
● The Student Union Building is a designated scent-free space, however we are using
shared spaces for training and cannot guarantee no residual scents will be present
● We strive to use only video with captioning
● Snacks will be provided by AVP at in person trainings- there is no requirement to bring
food
● AVP has volunteer tasks that can be done from home or in person, dependent on comfort
of volunteers, staff, and current guidelines.
● Many buses are close by and bus tickets available at each session and can be mailed
prior to first session

We’d love to know what your accessibility needs are and how we can make this training
accessible to you. Please contact Niko at 250-721-8080 or
with questions, comments, or concerns. Please contact us as soon as possible as some
accessibility services (such as transcription or ASL translation) will need to be booked far
ahead of training dates.

If you are interested in joining us for volunteer training, please download the PDF version of the application below or fill out the google form here. We look forward to hearing from you!