What is it like to volunteer with AVP?
As you may have heard, AVP’s annual volunteer training is beginning in May this year instead of September! If you are thinking of applying to volunteer with AVP, you may have already checked out the…
The Blog
Thinking About Healing
After a very long process of collaboration, creativity, and care, we have a new zine! This zine is thinking about healing. Healing – The restoration and balancing of our bodies, minds, energies, spirits, communities, identities, of ourselves…
*Closed* We’re hiring a Support Coordinator
We’re hiring a new Support Coordinator to join our fabulous team! It’s a 20 hour a week position that pays $24.39/hr plus vacation pay, has a pay increase each year, and sweet benefits like medical/dental…
Volunteer Training…. May 2018!
Volunteers play a huge role at the Anti-Violence Project. They run workshops, organize events, host drop in hours, and many many other amazing things. With our limited paid staff hours, volunteers are essential. This is…
Volunteer with us in 2018!
Are you interested in volunteering with AVP? Here is your chance! We’ve been hard at work planning an exciting volunteer training program for 2018. This year, the training will cover topics such as consent, care,…
Harm Reduction and Consent
Humans are messy creatures. Interacting with each other, especially in vulnerable ways, comes with risk. Although usually unintentional, we hurt each other often. In this current society we are taught entitlement to bodies from a…
6 Ways to Support Sex Workers in Your Community
written by Peers Victoria, posted here with permission Sex workers are part of many communities, and there are people in the sex industry in your communities. Sex workers come from diverse backgrounds and there are…
“Can I take your picture?”
While taking a picture of someone can seem like a fun and insignificant act, these daily acts of entitlement to people’s bodies are some of the things that keep bigger acts of non-consent as the norm. It is easy and significant to ask if it’s okay if I take your picture, to listen to your answer, and respect it, to respect your self-determination. In asking for consent I am holding you as the expert of your own self. I am working to decolonize our relationship. Learning about and practicing consent is a threat to colonialism – when all bodies are valued it is no longer just white, straight, able-bodied, cisgendered bodies that are deemed worthy, valuable, and important. Practicing these small daily acts can have a big impact.
How dress codes reinforce systemic violence
Dress codes are messed up in many different ways. Schools, gyms, and businesses often use dress codes to encourage what they call “professionalism” in their spaces, and to limit distractions caused by outfits that some…
Disposability and distancing from collective complicity
In October 2017, two major media outlets simultaneously published statements by dozens of famous actresses naming that they had experienced sexual harassment and assault by powerful Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Since that time many survivors…
Cops are not mental health workers
To: City of Victoria Mayor and Council Re: City of Victoria Draft Financial Plan and 2018/2019 Budget Dear Mayor and Councillors, The Anti-Violence Project (AVP), located at the University of Victoria, provides support, education, and…
Red Umbrella Day
This Sunday, December 17th, an event for Red Umbrella Day is happening downtown from 2 to 4 p.m. Beginning in Bastion Square, there will be a gathering and march to Victoria City Hall for performances…
Why voting “Yes for AVP” matters to me
I first heard about AVP 20 years ago, when a co-worker told me about a study that estimated between 17-25% of women attending UVic would experience sexual assault during their time as a student. This…
Racist, anti-Jewish, white supremacist posters on campus
Recently there have been posters put up on campus expressing racist, anti-Jewish, white supremacist messages. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. There is a long history of racist, anti-Jewish, white supremacist graffiti and postering…
Eight ways you can support “Yes for AVP”
On November 8th and 9th, UVic undergraduate students have the chance to vote for an increase in financial support to the Anti-Violence Project. Voting yes for AVP means more resources for support, education, and advocacy…