Sexualized Violence 101: What is SV?
Sexualized violence is an all-encompassing term that includes sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual harassment. The word violence does not refer to physical violence but includes emotional and psychological harm as well. Read more about sexualized violence here.
Sexualized Violence 102: What is Rape Culture?
Sexualized violence is promoted and supported by rape culture. Rape culture is the images, language, laws and other phenomena that we see and hear every day that validate and perpetuate sexualized violence, like victim-blaming, “locker room talk”, and jokes based around gender-based violence. Read more about rape culture here.
Sexualized Violence 103: Rape Myths
Believing rape myths is dangerous and damaging—so long as society believes these myths, survivors of sexualized violence face difficulties coming forward and seeking the help they need. Read all about rape myths here.
The Effects of Sexualized Violence
There is no “normal” way to cope with the aftermath of sexualized violence, but there are many common short and long-term effects. Keep in mind that everyone reacts differently, and all reactions are normal to the abnormal circumstances. Read more about the effects here.
Consent 101: The (Sexual) Basics
Consent isn’t exclusively about sex, but we know that it is a necessary element of sex. Consent is just another way to say permission to cross someone else’s boundary. Read more about what consent means here.
Triggers: What Are They?
A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback, transporting the person back to the event of the original trauma and causing the individual to experience overwhelming emotions, physical symptoms or thoughts. The individual will react to this trigger with an emotional intensity similar to the time of the trauma. Read more about how triggers impact survivors here.
Child Sexual Abuse
While child sexual abuse is not new, it has evolved over the years to utilize new online exploitation tactics. It is more important than ever to educate both yourself and your children about abuse and safety plans just as you would with fire safety. Grab some new strategies for learning with your young ones here.
Grooming
Grooming is a process of manipulation and trust-building that a perpetrator will use to create an atmosphere where they can exploit a child. Grooming is often very subtle and difficult to name by other adults; typically a perpetrator will seem like a loving and attentive adult in that child’s life. To read more about this process, click here.
Sextortion
Sextortion is a type of blackmail used to describe an individual threatening to distribute one’s sexual images or videos unless they provide more sexual images or videos, send the blackmailer money, or do what the blackmailer says. Read more here.
Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
If you’re an adult who experienced sexual abuse as a child, you are not alone. In Canada, 1 in 3 females and 1 in 6 males are sexually abused before they turn 18 years old. Read more here.
Male Survivors of Sexualized Violence
If you are a male adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse, you are not alone. 1 in 6 boys will be a victim of sexual violence before the age of 18. Read more here.
LGBTQ2S+ Survivors of Sexualized Violence
SSAIC recognizes that folx from the LGBTQ2S community face additional barriers when accessing or seeking support from community services. Read more here.