Over the past ten years, the Leadership department has worked hard to continually improve the effectiveness of their work with girls. Our aim is to encourage girls to develop leadership skills, to prevent the manifestation of potentially violent situations in which they could be implicated, and reduce the social inequalities with which they are often confronted.
We conceive of leadership as a dynamic set of technical, social and learning skills that encourage personal growth in girls and women and their participation in society. This set of skills is acquired and developed through a continuous, cyclical process not through sporadic linear learning. Along these lines, we don’t, properly speaking, develop leaders who are women and girls; what we do is support women and girls who want to develop their leadership skills by offering a safe and stimulating environment in
which to do so.
In the Leadership Department we work collectively and cooperatively in many different areas to ensure a safe and healthy lifestyle for women and girls. Our main areas of focus include prevention of violence, promotion of physical activity and a healthy diet, personal development, promotion of peer, education and prevention of sexualization.
Our approach is reflective and draws on the multidisciplinary backgrounds of our team. We are engaged in performing research, building partnerships, organizing conferences and trainings, mobilizing the community, developing theoretical and pedagogical content, as well as prevention intervention through group workshops.
Contact:
Lilia Goldfarb
Director of Leadership Department
514.866.9941, extension 429
lgoldfarb@ydesfemmesmtl.org
Through its school and community partners, the YWCA offers various programs which encourage personal growth in girls and young women by exploring their identity, value system and interpersonal relationships; developing their leadership skills; social conscience and their spirit of solidarity, as well as cultivating physical and creative expression. More specifically, these programs aim to prevent violence in the lives of girls and young women, strengthen their self-esteem, counter early sexualization and promote active citizenship, healthy life habits and sensible attitudes towards food.
A multitude of physical activities related to these themes can be offered such as dance, yoga and kickboxing. A bilingual day camp composed of a broad spectrum of different activities is offered to girls between the ages of 10 and 15. Two sessions of the camp are offered ; one in July and the other in August.
Contact:
Jade Goldfarb
Coordinator of Youth programs
514.866.9941, ext. 426
jgoldfarb@ydesfemmesmtl.org
The Leadership Department is happy to announce the creation of two new workshops on the social and societal (civili) engagement of girls and young women :
Girls Leading Change is a series of workshops designed for girls and young women from diverse communities. The workshops offer a creative, practical and hands-on approach to learning about and tackling social issues, role playing real-life scenarios, exploring how power works, practicing communication and public speaking and much more!
If you work for a community organisation or a school interested in offering this program, please contact Marie-Françoise Sitnam
514 866 9941 ext. 310
The Action Council
The Action Council is a group of young women aged 15 to 21 who meet weekly at the YWCA Montreal to build their leadership skills, gain awareness on women-related issues and overall personal growth. Through various activities such as volunteering, organizing bake sales, and recruiting they have become active members of their community, developed team work abilities and learned about various cultures.
Contact Carlye Watson 514.866.9941 ext. 414 or Marie-Françoise Sitnam 514 866 9941 ext. 310 for more information
YOUTH AND SEXUALISATION PROJECT: INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO INTERVENTION.
In Quebec, as elsewhere in the world, the media is constantly sending sexual messages through advertising, music, magazines, etc. Together, these messages create a “sexualized culture” that is often called “hypersexualization”.
Sexualization is a process that gives a sexual connotation to something that wouldn’t necessarily have it otherwise. It results from the trivialization and overwhelming presence of sexuality in the messages children and youth receive from the media.
Our research project on sexualisation aims to develop pedagogical tools and training programs to counter its effects.
So far, we have developed a training, edited an activity kit as well as a guide and collaborated to produce the film Sexy Inc. Our children under influence (adult version and youth version with a facilitation guide). We have also collaborated to produce the new documentary of the NFB Staying Real: Teens Confront Sexual Stereotypes (to be released September 2010).
The training tour has enabled us to meet over 500 people and more than 220 organisations throughout Quebec between 2009 and 2010. During the trainings and the projections in schools and community organisations, the film Sexy Inc. Our children under influence was an essential tool for prevention and sensitising people to the phenomenon of the sexualisation of youth and young adults throughout Québec.
2010-2011: New Tour of Training Workshops on Sexualisation
The tour of training workshops on sexualisation will be continuing for 2010-2011 everywhere in Quebec. Three workshop trainings are available both in English and French.
- Youth and Sexualisation workshop: Innovative approaches in youth intervention, 1 or 2 days of training available.
- Community Mobilization workshop.
- Violence Prevention for Girls.
As promised, the Leadership Department is now offering a second day of training on the topic of sexualisation!
As of September 2010, the Leadership Department will be offering a second day of training which further explores the theoretical and practical aspects of the early sexualisation of youth. This training is entitled Sexualization: origins, components and intervention.
The first part of this training deals with the problem of sexualisation from a systemic point of view. By taking a systemic approach, we are able to bring to loom more closely at the relationship between consumerism and patriarchy which we believe to be the main driving force of sexualisation. In the second part, the training focuses more closely on youth intervention by reflecting and sharing experiences as well as exploring new intervention methods.
For your information: It is not necessary to do both days of training. Depending on your needs and those of your team, you are welcome to do one or both days of training, and in whichever order you prefer.
More detail please contact Sophie de Cordes 514.866.9941 ext.223
Sexy.Inc Our children under influence
(Adult version)
This documentary, made by Sophie Bissonnette and produced by the National Film Board (NFB) in 2007, is reputed for inciting a strong response from youth educators who become eager to contribute to countering the phenomenon of sexualisation. Now used as a reference tool, the film allows professionals to deepen their understanding of early sexualisation and build on their own intervention practices.
As we receive many requests for it we would like to specify that you can order a copy of the film or download the accompanying facilitation guide by clicking on this link.
The guide was made as an aid to educators who have seen the film to deepen awareness on the subject of early sexualisation and how it affects young people. The objective of the guide is to incite discussion, reflective sharing, and to help identify courses of action to counter the phenomenon.
(Youth version) A new facilitation guide is now available!
Moreover, a youth version of the film has been created in order for youth to also become aware of the sexualised environment in which they evolve and reflect on their own behaviour and attitudes. As of recently, a new facilitation guide accompanies the new version! To order the film or download the guide for free, click on this link.
Staying Real: Teens Confront Sexual Stereotypes.
The YWCA of Montreal has renewed its collaboration with the NFB and Sophie Bissonnette in order to produce a new documentary film titled Staying Real: Teens Confront Sexual Stereotypes.
It is destined for young people in grades 6 through 8 and addresses sexual stereotypes and sexualization circulated by the media, and marketing strategies targeting youth. This documentary film presents numerous strategies that will help young people make enlightened choices and recognize their own self-worth. Slated for opening in September 2010, the film will be accompanied by a facilitation guide created by the YWCA Montreal Leadership Department.
Sexualization: a new article has been published!
“Fillettes, mode hyper sexualisée et capitalisme”, an article written by the Leadership Department has been published in the journal Éthique de la mode féminine, published by Michel Dion and Mariette Julien, Presses universitaires de France, 2010 (pages 97 to 110).
Youth, media and sexualization conference
- International Conference Youth, Media and Sexualization, May 2009
Conference Proceedings
OTHER ACTION-RESEARCH PROJECTS
« TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE ACTION »:
PROJECT FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE RECRUTEMENT OF YOUNG GIRLS INTO STREET GANGS FOR THE PURPOSE OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION.
In accordance with the Quebec street gang intervention plan, the three year action-research project « Tools for Effective Action » seeks to increase our capacity of municipal and community sectors to prevent the recruitment of girls into street gangs for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Following our preliminary work (review of literature and existing services, interviews with community workers and other implicated persons) presented during McGill University’s annual feminist Symposium on May 14th 2010, the sexual exploitation of young women revealed itself to be a complex issue and demonstrated that the coercive factor does not in itself explain the affiliation girls make with street gangs, but that it is appropriate to reflect on this phenomenon in terms imaginary constructions, strategies as well as individual and collective beliefs. Moreover, thanks to financing from the Ministry of public Security and the Greater Montreal Foundation, we are developing a series of tools (trainings, activity kit, workshops, games, videos…) which broaches this phenomenon and links it with others such as sexualization, economic violence, or emotional dependency. Through « Tools for Effective Action » professionals will further understand realities relative to street gangs, will be able to better identify the risk and protection factors for girls; they will also learn a preventative, tried and true method.
(An article on the topic will soon be published and the Quebec training tour will take place in2010-2011)
For more information this subject, contact Carole Boulebsol
Research and development Coordinator
cboulebsol@ydesfemmesmtl.org
514.866.9941, poste 350
Adult Programs are presently being reviewed.