Blog

  • Posted February 13, 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day

This Valentine’s Day, let the important folks in your life know how much you C.A.R.E.! Give ’em a personalized anti-violence valentine’s day card. Designs are courtesy of Vancouver Community College’s (VCC) Digital Graphic Design students and Madison Reid, and developed in 2014 for WAVAW’s C.A.R.E. (Campus Allied Response Effort) About Gendered Violence Program. Download your […]
  • Posted February 7, 2014

Moving Women

At WAVAW, we love hearing about and connecting with local businesses who integrate a feminist or anti-oppressive philosophy and practice in the service of building a society where all women are free from violence. These relationships and contributions to anti-violence and woman-valuing work are essential and appreciated! Guest post by Nicole Pichette Sexualized violence undoubtedly […]
  • Posted January 31, 2014

Rape Culture in Politics

Speech from the January 29th “Is Rape Culture in Politics?” panel. My name is Irene-Tsepnopoulos-Elhaimer and I am the Executive Director at Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre, WAVAW. I came to feminism by way of my being a student at Concordia in Montreal in 1989 during the Montreal Massacre. This event changed my […]
  • Posted January 29, 2014

Creating Connections: WAVAW’s Support Groups

Written by Sharon, WAVAW Counsellor Many of us have seen support groups on TV and have an idea that they’re a space where one explicit group leader puts participants on the spot to share their deepest thoughts, without much choice. This is not what WAVAW’s groups are like. Not at all. As a counsellor at […]
  • Posted January 20, 2014

Thinking Outside the Consent Box

Written by WAVAW Relief Staff, Caity Goerke The recent rape chants at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Saint Mary’s University (SMU) have prompted many public conversations about sexual violence. Specifically, they’ve inspired conversations about consent, many of which seem to assume that widespread misunderstandings about consent are the central issue of concern regarding […]
  • Posted January 9, 2014

Reclaiming Consent : Resisting Individualism

WAVAW’s speech at the November 22nd March to Reclaim Consent We’re here tonight to Reclaim Consent.  Let’s first Remind ourselves to acknowledge that historically consent has been an important tool of feminist legal reform.  We also want to acknowledge that consent cannot be the only response to sexualized violence.  Consent must happen in the absence of […]
  • Posted January 3, 2014

Volunteer Profile – Madison Reid

Every year amazing feminist women volunteer their time and talent to WAVAW, without which we could not offer the level of services and outreach that we do.  One of these women is Madison Reid, WAVAW’s graphic design volunteer. We caught up with her recently to talk to her about volunteering, challenging stereotypes, and feminist design.  […]
  • Posted December 20, 2013

Fighting Patriarchy is Hard Enough

When Beyoncé’s album first dropped, the internet blew up with articles, blogs, and discussion critiquing whether or not Beyoncé is a feminist. Naturally, as feminists, we joined in and began to critique Beyoncé’s new album as well. The critiques ranged from pointing out the explicit glamorization of intimate partner violence shown in “Drunk in Love”, […]
  • Posted December 13, 2013

Memo to the BC Human Rights Tribunal: Sexual Banter Does Not Equal Consent to be Harassed

By Alana Prochuk These days, judicial victim-blaming isn’t just for the criminal courts – the BC Human Rights Tribunal is getting in on the act, too.  Apparently, the Tribunal thinks that women who banter about sex with their colleagues can’t possibly experience workplace sexual harassment. Their joking manner must indicate that they are fine with […]
  • Posted December 11, 2013

Birthing and Labour Support

Guest post by Nicole Pichette Giving birth is something that a woman will remember for the rest of her life. Some women have positive birthing experiences: they feel supported and feel that their wishes for the birth were heard by their health care professionals. Others, however, have negative birthing experiences, where they may feel isolated, […]