Service providers in the Foothills can learn more about the prevention of family and domestic violence on June 21 as the Strong Voices Together conference returns two years after the highly successful first event.
The conference aims to bring leading edge research, learning opportunities and new resources with a focus on violence against women and domestic violence, emphasizing on men, boys, and the LGBTQ2S+ community.
The event is a partnership with the Town of Okotoks, Foothills Regional Victim Services, Rowan House Society, Okotoks FCSS and Foothills FCSS, and will run at the Okotoks Best Western Plus Inn and Suites from 8:30-4 p.m.
Debbie Posey, Okotoks community wellness manager, said the partners plan regional events as a group and were able to offer the second Strong Voices Together conference after Victim Services received a Community Initiatives Program project-based grant from the Alberta government.
Rowan House Society and Victim Services are strong partners in the event, said Posey, and both offer significant support to domestic violence survivors.
“Violence against women is an issue in every community,” she said. “The reason we had this conference in the first place was Okotoks and the Foothills region, the statistics had risen with domestic violence responses. We know that any time there is economic stress and other factors it affects domestic violence. I think in every community, and particularly in Alberta with the economic downturn, domestic violence can increase when there is family stress.”
The speakers include: Lana Wells, Prevention of Domestic Violence at the University of Calgary leading Shift; The Project to End Domestic Violence; Jennifer Gardener, M.Sc. psychologist; Carrie McManus, director of programs with Sagesse; and Dr. Monica Knight, of Shosholoza EDUtainment.
Angela Koenig from the Rowan House Society will host the conference.
“It’s focused on preventing violence and bullying, with a particular focus this year on men and boys which we also had in the first one, and we’ll also have a speaker come talk about the LGBTQ2 community,” said Posey.
“(The conference) is targeting service providers and people that may be supporting someone who’s had domestic violence. We’ve got some excellent experts coming in to speak and we expect that participants will leave with new information and tools to help their service delivery.”
Expanding the focus of conversations around domestic violence to include men and boys is a necessary part of preventing violence, said Posey.
“It’s important to engage men and boys as advocates and allies and as part of the conversation,” said Posey. “There’s been a ton of awareness initiatives that go around about violence towards women and domestic violence. One of the reasons that we include men and boys is because we need their voices. We need to include them in the conversation.
“…Even in the playground, with normalized behaviour, it’s the same with any bullying situation: it just takes one or two boys to speak up and say ‘that’s not okay’ and things change.”
Bringing the additional focus to domestic violence within the LGBTQ2S+ community is similarly important in helping to prepare service providers on appropriate responses through providing new information, language, tools and techniques.
“(Violence in the LGBTQ2S+ community is) something we don’t talk about very much, and it is different,” said Posey. “Violence often looks different in that community, (and it can be) less easy for the community to talk about it. It often complicates issues of violence and domestic relationship abuse, so it’s important to bring that out in the open and talk a bit more about it and also why it is a bit different than other types of abuse.”
The conference coincides with both Pride Month and National Indigenous Awareness Day.
“We’re not focusing (on that) but we certainly want to acknowledge that it is National Indigenous Awareness Day and certainly there is abuse and bullying that has systemically been going on for years in that community.”
Posey said National Indigenous Awareness Day ties into a speaker that will speak about trauma informed practices, which focuses on recognizing trauma and understanding a person’s behaviour through a trauma-based lens. Tickets can be purchased online or through okotoks.ca for $75.
