November is Women Abuse Awareness month, and does the Guelph Wellington Action Committee have some promotional material for people.
The committee decided this year it wanted to involve youth in its campaign to end violence against women.
Jennifer Davies, of the education committee for the group said the idea is that people should “Be the solution.”
The committee approached the media classes of two high schools and asked them to compete in public service announcements for radio and video.
John F. Ross Collegiate did the radio spot and Bishop MacDonell students worked on the video.
Davies said in an interview, “I did education around these concepts and they’ve rounded them out.”
The students had a appreciative audience when the spots were introduced to the public at John F. Ross on Monday. Guelph Police Chief Ron Davie and County OPP Inspector Scott Smith were both on hand to congratulate the winners and support their message.
Upper Grand District School Board Director of Education Martha called the event “a celebration of a very important campaign.”
She recounted how she, too, suffered through an incident when she was in university.
“Education and awareness are two key steps in ending violence against women,” she said. She said research shows that at least half of Canadian women are victims of at least one violent incident in their lives, and that 29% of Canadian women have been assaulted by a spouse or partner.
She said it is not only women who suffer, but often their children are exposed to violence in the home and many of those kids become bullies themselves, or suffer depression. She said school authorities see it most in high school, but it can be seen in children in elementary schools, too.
Rogers said, “The PSAs are a powerful message delivered by students.
She concluded, “Violence against women is absolutely unacceptable.”
Sly Castaldi, the chairman of the Guelph Wellington Action Committee on sexual assault and domestic violence said, “Adults sometimes miss the mark,” when trying to reach youth
Castaldi read a letter from Ontario Minister responsible for Women Laurel Broten, who was pleased “youth took part in making sure that women abuse must be stopped.”
Davies noted that the committee could have spent lots of money hiring well trained and well educated people to create the PSAs, or “We could have saved a fortune and sent it to these kids.”
She said she was pleased with the final choice.
Nicole Morrison, the social worker at J.F. Ross introduced Caitlyn Frost, Emma Loree, and Thea Greisnan, and then played their PSA, which will be broadcast throughout the month on radio station Magic 106.1. It starts with a collage of young girls’ voices talking about experiences with various forms of abuse, and how they feel about it. The powerful message is then concluded with an announcer telling people where they can get help.
Greisnan (and all the other girls involved in the winning PSAs) said that she was surprised to learn how many types of abuse there are. She said the collage of voices can represent people from all walks of life.
Loree said their work was designed to teach others, but they also learned a lot.
Frost noted that hearing an adult message about adults would tell youth that it is a problem only for adults, but a message coming from teens will be heeded by teens.
The group then watched the winning video PSA that will be played throughout November before every movie at the Cineplex Odeon in Guelph.
It shows a woman doing some dishes in a home, then cuts to a man walking up the steps to that home. The woman turns and reveals a blackened eye, the man yells, and she drops a dish that shatters on the floor.
Amanda Cunningham said she and Francesca Starr wanted to inform people that they should never have to be afraid in their own homes while doing simple tasks. The video ends with information on where to get help.
“People do get scared … We need to be aware of these things,” Cunningham said.
Davies called their video work “a ridiculously great job.”
For more information, visit www.theactioncommittee.com. The Sexual Assault Centre of Guelph Crisis lines operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For help call 519-836-5710, or toll free at 1-800-265-7233 (TTY/TTD accessible.)
The Rural Women’s Support Program has offices and a number of local contact numbers:
– Central Wellington, 519-843-6834;
– Mount Forest, 519-323-3638;
– Palmerston, 519-343-5192, or call toll free to 1-800-661-6041;
– Rockwood, 519-856-2191; and
– Erin, 519-833-2301.
