Halloween is a fun-filled time usually celebrated by dressing up and going out for drinks with friends. We love Halloween, but we also recognize that the conversation on consenting to sexual activity might get lost between the generous amounts of alcohol consumed during Halloween festivities and the misconceptions about sexy costumes. We want to keep the consent conversation alive during Halloween, but keep it fun and sexy in the spirit of this awesome holiday. CASE launched our Halloween campaign throughout this past week with a cheeky "Zombie Sex Tips" awareness poster emphasizing the ability to recognize when a potential sexual partner is rendered incapable to give consent. We also have a striking information display on the topic of sexy costumes and consent featured in the University of Calgary student residences. VP External Emily Leedham and CASE members Erica and Natalia designed the display, busting myths on how wearing a sexy costume does not imply consent to engage in sexual activity. Do you want to share our Zombie Sex Tips poster in your community? Contact us here to ask us how!
0 Comments
CASE VP External Emily Leedham chats with Sean Willet on The Gauntlet Radio's October issue about CASE's mission to educate, how men can get involved in feminism and the club, and why the Men's Rights Movement is counterproductive. Listen here.
CASE President Ellen Bolger was asked to comment on the recent Men's Rights group in Calgary for an article in the Gauntlet. “I think it’s sad. The people who are joining [Men’s Rights Edmonton] might have good intentions because there are many issues that men do face,” Bolger said. “But I think that the outlet that they are going through is almost dangerous because it is based on facts that aren’t true. It is important for other groups to speak out so that the public can hear the truth instead of just believing what these groups say.” Joe Campbell from Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse also shared some excellent words: “Sexual violence is an issue that matters to many Albertans,” Campbell said. “When opinionated groups come forward dispelling nothing more than harmful and misinformed beliefs, those messages really hurt those who have been impacted by these crimes and serve to deepen those opinions and beliefs of people who don’t truly have an understanding of this issue." Read the full article here.
On July 22, our VP External Emily Leedham conducted an interview on Calgary's only feminist radio show Yeah, What She Said with Jody Raphael, author of Rape is Rape: How Denial, Distortion and Victim Blaming are Fueling a Hidden Acquaintance Rape Crisis. Jody is a professor of law and specializes in the area of violence against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault and the sex trade industry. The episode is now available as a podcast, which you can listen to here.
You can also order her book online here. The University of Calgary Consent Awareness and Sexual Education Club is curating a creative exhibition on campus in the winter semester entitled Consent is a Conversation. We are looking for a vast array of creative entries: paintings, photos, videos, theatre sketches, music, dance, sculptures, spoken word, written entries – you name it.
We are looking for submissions from people from every walk of life – different genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, etc. You do not have to be an “artist” to submit an entry; we think every voice is important. Your entry can be about any kind of consent – it does not need to be about sex – so children are welcome to enter. Consent is defined as: permission for something to happen or agreement to do something. In your entry you can explore: • What is consent? • What does consent look like? • How do you feel when consent is not asked for or not respected? (I.e. when someone does something without your permission) • What would a world where consent is asked for and respected look like? Deadline has been extended to January 20, 2014. Email: case@ucalgary.ca with the subject “Consent is a Conversation Submission" *Spread the word!* Make this your Facebook cover photo! View PDF flyer here. Ending rape culture requires more than just banning offensive chants, but a critical look at the way we construct gender and the values in our society. CASE VP External Emily Leedham wrote an article in the University of Calgary's independent student newspaper, the Gauntlet, highlighting the more nuanced ways to approach the issue. Here's an excerpt: "In fact, according to the Statistics Canada report cited earlier, 58 per cent of sexual assault victims did not report their experience to the police because they did not feel it was important enough. What we really need to end is not simply rape chants, but trivialization of women’s everyday experiences: the microaggressions, the jokes, the calls for women to calm down and not take things so seriously." Read the rest here.
Friday, September 20th was a busy day for CASE! We spent the day at our Clubs Week booth and were so excited to see the positive responses and students who became members. Later in the evening we held our first event, a potluck-picnic at Shaw Millennium Park before Take Back the Night! We're so thankful for the members who came out, old and new. Each person's presence matters when it comes to showing solidarity at public rallies, so we are very proud that CASE members did their part to create such an amazing turnout for Take Back the Night. Photos by VP Events Tonie Minhas. Our club president Ellen Bolger had the opportunity to talk with David Gray on the CBC Calgary Eyeopener this morning about CASE and our mission to provide consent education to students in Calgary, both secondary and post-secondary. We are thankful the CBC gave us the opportunity to go into detail about our goals and why we believe our work is so important. Check out the interview here.
CASE was recently featured in the Calgary Metro newspaper. While we are excited that the mainstream media is talking about rape culture, we are also a little disappointed the focus was on short snippets of rape culture evidence instead of focusing on positive activism, which is what we are all about. We believe that sexual assault prevention should focus on creating a culture where consent is asked for and respected instead of "he said, she said" arguments. Hopefully the Metro article will draw more people's attention to the positive work we are trying to accomplish.
You can check out the article here. Orientation Week 2013 has come to a close and we're thrilled for the many positive responses we received at the Orientation Week Resource Fair. We had a bucket full of buttons and completely ran out of them so we're excited to see students wear them around on campus. We also handed out flyers that explained what consent is and why it is essential in sexual relationships. The dessert images were created by the talented illustrator and animator Morgan Shandro for our "Consent is Sweet" campaign. We would also like to thank the Calgary Sexual Health Centre for lending us their button maker! We had a largely positive response - except for a small handful of young males who openly laughed at our display. This is discouraging and we hope this attitude quickly changes. Considering the recent news that students from Saint Mary's University in Halifax and across the country at the University of British Columbia have been documented chanting endorsements of sexual assault, campus safety is an issue all students should take seriously.
If you have encountered any chants, activities or slogans that perpetuate rape culture at the University of Calgary, please get in touch with us. Email us here so we can work together to make campus a safe space for everyone. We're looking forward to a great year! We have plenty of events planned so follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up. You can also subscribe to our mailing list for volunteer opportunities here. |
Archives
July 2016
Categories
All
|