Young women’s conference being planned again

Dating violence. Bullying. Troubled homes.
Different types of abuse can be part of a young woman’s daily life but that doesn’t mean there isn’t support and prevention education out there to help.
The Rainy River District School Board is continuing to work hand-in-hand with the Atikokan Crisis Centre by delivering a second conference aimed at these and other issues at Quetico Centre on April 27-29.
About 50 young women (aged 12-19) will attend the conference, with each district school invited to send at least two students to it.
“We are to offer it first to new people, and then if there’s any spaces left, we go to the alumni and ask them,” noted Diane Ross, human resources administrator, who has been co-organizing the conference with Robert Moore teacher Dianne Thompson and Donna Kroocmo, executive director of the Atikokan Crisis Centre.
At the conference, board teachers and crisis centre staff will deliver presentations on topics such as cliques, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and media images with social stigmas.
The participants then will return to their respective schools to present an independent project related to a topic selected from the conference.
Students who attended last year’s conference reportedly are waiting to apply again. “I feel safer now because I know what happens with sexual harassment, and that it’s not my fault,” said one participant.
“I want to take what I learned from this conference and try to inform boys and girls in my school about the way the media shows body images and impacts on cliques,” added another.
Ross noted there’s one change to the conference to provide more discussion.
“We’re looking for extra facilitators for both the younger and older women this year. And then perhaps the year after, we may look at getting the extra funding to include young men,” she said.
“But right now, the young men do benefit from it directly because when the young women get back to their schools, they present what they learned to everyone,” Ross added.
Meanwhile, Thompson and Kroocmo are finalizing plans with a committee of key teachers and crisis centre staff, with final agenda plans soon to be released. All district principals will have more information for students following March Break.
The Young Women’s Conference is made possible through a $20,000 grant from the Ministry of Education.