The New Yorker magazine’s recent cover photo is of thirty-five women who allege that they were sexually assaulted by actor Bill Cosby over a period of decades. Some of the alleged victims have come forth on their own for years but their claims were hushed up, silenced...
I find that definitions can be limiting and problematic, and I’d like to see if I can encourage you to think for yourselves about what this word, or movement, or ideology might mean to you. Instead I’ll start by providing a few different definitions I’ve come across...
“They are a generation whose whole education has been under the diabolical design of the racists to poison the minds and brainwash our children into docile subjects of apartheid rule.” -Nelson Mandela Thirty-nine years ago and yesterday, South African...
On May 25th girls from the Salish Sea Girls' Leadership Project and recruits from grade 12 at GISS (Gulf Islands Secondary School) entered the high school to talk to the grade 11 students about sexual health and consent. In my own experience, and in speaking with...
Sparkfest is the annual SWOVA fundraiser that the youth from Pass It On organize. This year on April 30, they really outdid themselves: Music by Ashleigh Ball from Hey Ocean, Tara Maclean & Suzanne Little, spoken word from Morgan Klassen, and the GISS imrov team....
As the last months of Pass it On pass by, I am confronted with the word commitment. We all practice commitment in our lives, more often unconsciously. We are the most committed to our lovers, children, friends and habits, following through in our support without...
Good News! Sparkfest is weeks away, and we are all getting very excited for our 5th annual Pass It On benefit. Sparkfest will be held on April 30th at the Harbour House Hotel. This year’s generous performers are Ashleigh Ball from Hey Ocean; the Brony documentary;...
Feminist: Adjective – of relating to or advocating for equal rights for women; advocating for social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men. Noun – An advocate for such rights; a person who advocates for equal rights for women. ...
Technology use is now intertwined with our lives so much that we live in a culture where we are constantly being bombarded with messages from the media at an alarming rate. Our love of media is not a new one. According to the Halifax Insurance Digital Home Index,...
Youth, just like adults, face many stressors. Stress can have negative impacts on individual lives and create obstacles in relationships. In my experience I see youth as young as 13 years old feeling stressed out and overwhelmed on a daily basis. Stress affects both...
We ended 2014 reeling from the allegations of violent sexual assaults and drugging victims against Jian Gomeshi and Bill Cosby, sexual improprieties on Parliament Hill and sexually violent threats by Dalhousie University dental students. We had a break over the...
The question is - how do we talk about the prevalence of violence against women in our communities without blaming and shaming the boys and young men in the room? Just the other day I was approached by a member of our community who felt strongly that boys are being...
Pssst! We’ve received $5,000 in funding from @Coast_Capital ...Pass It On Girls! Our sincere gratitude to #CoastCapitalSavings for their generous support of the Pass It On Girls #MentorshipProgram. In this program, high school young women provide structured group and...
We are delighted to share news of recent funding from #SaltSpringIslandFoundation in the amount of $26,250! Funds will be used to update and re-redesign the award-winning #RespectfulRelationshipsProgram which has served more than 10,000 youth across the Southern Gulf...
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women We invite everyone to attend a Candlelight Vigil Centennial Park Wednesday, December 6th, 2017 **4:30-5:00pm** To honour and remember all women who have been killed by violence. We will meet at the...
A blog post by Kate Nash Often the effects of a program like Pass It On are not ones you can easily quantify or even see. Yes, there are responses to surveys or the positive comments the girls shout out on the last day about missing the program or loving the time...
In the Fall of 2016, SWOVA’s Pass It On - Engaging Boys & Young Men Project set out to find out about the needs of boys and young men (cis- trans- & non-binary inclusive) in the Salt Spring Island Community and ways to address these needs. Surveys and focus...
SWOVA’s ‘Pass It On - Engaging Boys and Young Men Council’ is soliciting input from boys and young men 13-19 years (cis- trans- & non-binary inclusive) in our 5- minute online survey (link provided here). This is a project coordinated by David Norget and...
Position Title: Male Facilitator, Respectful Relationships Program ("RR") Contract: November 1, 2016 - May 30, 2017 The successful candidate will have education, job skills and training in the areas of youth violence prevention, social justice, community organizing...
Winter seems to be a time of great change and learning for me. My mother passed away this year on January 1st. For anyone who has lost a parent, the mixed emotions and loss will be familiar. When a parent dies we flounder between our adult selves and the child inside...