Campaign highlight:

May Be Me campaign


Resource highlights:

Not Your Baby iPhone app

challengesexualviolence.org

OWJN

Family Law Education for Women

RePlay/ReJouer


Program highlights:

ReAct

THRIVE Coalition

Community Outreach and Education Program

Achievements

Participate

ReAct Facebook page

Become a fan of ReACt on Facebook

What It Is. Facebook page

Become a fan of What It Is. on Facebook

Projects

SchoolED project

Funded by Status of Women Canada, SchoolED is a youth-led, anti-violence mentorship and leadership project of ReAct. Youth Peer Facilitators are engaging high school students in the Greater Toronto Area to learn about and take action on violence against women and youth. Peer Facilitators are working with 15 students in up to six high schools between 2011 and 2013. Through weekly after-school sessions, Facilitators lead workshops about youth and gender-based violence, anti-oppression, leadership, advocating for change and influencing decision-making; provide mentorship support; help participants lead participatory research activities to identify pressing violence and safety issues and organize a school activity to address them; and discuss what participants, other students, the school and broader community members believe must be done to address and prevent violence against women and youth.

The video below features a youth participant with SchoolED. She describes why she cares about the issue of violence against women and youth and the impacts of being a part of the project.

Youth Alliance Project

Youth Alliance Project

The Youth Alliance is a youth-led collective. Originally funded by the Canadian Women's Foundation, the alliance advocated for changes to violence prevention strategies in the city to better support young women. In 2010 and 2011, the Youth Alliance was funded by Laidlaw Foundation to reconvene and address policing, sexual assault and gender-based violence against youth in Toronto.

Recommendations from the Youth Alliance's Improving the System: Police Policy and Practice on Sexual Assault against Young Women report were included in the Toronto Community Foundation's Toronto's Vital Signs full report (p. 48).

Improving the System: Police Policy and Practice on Sexual Assault against Young Women: PDF (1 MB)
Literature review, survey findings and youth demands: PDF (56 KB)
Youth Alliance poster: PDF (391 KB)
“Don’t Make me Repeat Myself” advocacy training for youth: PDF (164 KB)
Youth Friendliness of Non-Profit Boards Checklist: PDF (59 KB)

ReAct

Request a workshop, training, assembly or youth presenter

ReAct

Respect in Action: Youth Preventing Violence (ReAct) is a unique peer education program made of dynamic, diverse and skilled youth who facilitate interactive peer-to-peer workshops, trainings and speaking engagements on violence against women and youth. ReAct raises awareness, fosters discussion and introduces community resources to challenge and inspire youth. Since its inception in 2001, ReAct has delivered services to thousands of youth, educators and service providers. In 2008, ReAct's model was recognized as a promising practice in The Road to Health: A Final Report on School Safety report and reproduced with a group of South Asian youth through a partnership with Social Services Network in York Region. In 2009, ReAct curricula was adapted for The Achievers Project, a gang violence prevention and intervention initiative of San Romanoway Revitalization Association.

ReAct brochure: PDF (168 KB)
Note for teachers and educators bringing ReAct into the classroom: PDF (146 KB)
Frequently asked questions about ReAct: PDF (120 KB)

Contact ReAct Coordinator: 416-397-0258 | react@metrac.org

Contact ReAct Peer Youth Facilitators: youth@metrac.org

ReAct's impact

Of 896 youth workshop participants surveyed in 2010:

  • 56% said they learned "a lot" of new things and 38% said they learned "some" new things
  • 87% said ReAct Peer Facilitators did "great" and 12% said ReAct Peer Facilitators did "okay"
  • 86% rated the workshop "great" and 12% rated the workshop "okay"

Of the youth workshop participants surveyed, 41% were 15 to 19 years old and 47% were aged 5 to 14 years old.

Of 33 educators and youth workers surveyed in 2010:

  • youth participants' response to workshops was rated at an average of 8.7 out of 10
  • ReAct Peer Facilitator performance was rated at an average of 9.3 out of 10
  • 100% said they would bring ReAct back
  • 100% said they would recommend ReAct
  • an average rating of 8.9 out of 10 was given to the question, "How well were your needs met?"
  • an average rating of 9.1 out of 10 was given to workshops overall

In 2009, ReAct delivered 87 workshops, trainings and speaking engagements. Workshops and trainings were delivered to 1338 children and youth aged 5 to 19; 136 youth aged 20 to 24; and 274 adults. Speaking engagements and other community events were delivered to 1610 youth and adults, and 5554 materials on violence prevention were distributed. 94% of participants said they learned "a lot" or "something" during youth workshops; 99% of participants expressed that Peer Facilitators did "great" or "okay"; and 99% of participants gave workshops an overall rating of "great" or "okay".

In the words of youth:

  • "I’ve learned if I ever go through any violence with anyone, to always know where to get advice from, and how to handle those kinds of situations."
  • "I [learned] that there are other women who are fighting against violence."
  • "I learned that women do have a worth and should all be treated with respect."
  • "[I learned] why people are in violent relationships. It’s not just about insecurity."
  • "I [learned about] all the institutes or people you can turn to in a time of need – you’re never alone!"

In the words of teachers and youth workers:

  • "Relevant, educational, got the attention of students, thought provoking."
  • "It allowed the young women to voice their opinions and solve their own problems."
  • "My students were very receptive of the information. The students were well engaged ... all of them were having fun!"

Youth and educator feedback about ReAct: PDF (108 KB)

RePlay

RePlay/ReJouer

Play RePlay/ReJouer now

RePlay: Finding Zoe/ReJouer: Où est Zoé? is METRAC’s award-winning online video game for youth 8 to 14 years of age. It was funded by the Government of Ontario and developed in partnership with Take Action Games. The French version of the game was developed in partnership with Centre ontarien de prévention des aggressions. RePlay/ReJouer materials for youth, teachers and parents and research about games can be found on the resources page.

In 2012, a partnership with Paz y Desarrollo was established to develop a Vietanamese-language version of RePlay/ReJouer for youth in Vietnam.

Contact: 416-392-4760 | outreach@metrac.org

Awards and features

Adobe MAX Award 2009

2011-2012: featured at Bronx Council of the Arts' Toys & Games with a Twist Exhibit at Longwood Art Gallery

2011: featured in "Power to the People: Anti-Oppressive Game Design", a chapter published in Designing Games for Ethics: Models, Techniques and Frameworks (IGI Global, 2011)

2010: featured in Euphrat Museum of Art's Learn to Play exhibit

2009: winner of Adobe 2009 MAX award, "Social Responsibility" category

2008: winner of Adobe-TechSoup’s Show Your Impact award

2007: winner of Changemakers’ Why Games Matter award

2007: finalist for Changemakers’ Ending Abuse in Intimate and Family Relations award

2007: presented at the International Emmy World Television Festival

Screenshots and media

RePlay/ReJouer Adobe Max 2009 vingnette clip
RePlay/Rejouer TAKE ACTION Games clip

What It Is quiz game

What It Is: A digital game challenging sexual violence

Play What It Is. now

Funded by TELUS and Department of Justice Canada, "What It Is" is a Canada-wide digital game in English and French that raises awareness about sexual violence and supports young people aged 12 to 25 dealing with issues of sexual violence. The game is available for play online and on mobile phones. It was created in partnership with diverse youth and launched on the Challenge Sexual Violence website on November 25, 2010 in honour of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

In 2012, a version of "What It Is" will be available for play on Facebook.

Project supporters include Assaulted Women's Helpline, Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres, Saskatoon Sexual Assault and Information Centre, Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton and Area) and Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region.

"What It Is" information sheet: PDF (88 KB)
"What It Is" media advisory: PDF (30 KB)
YouTube trailer

Challenge Sexual Violence public service announcement

Features actors Paula Brancati, Morgan Kelly and Joanne Vannicola (find more "What It Is" public service announcements).

Screenshots

Evaluation

In 2012, an evaluation of the effectiveness of "What It Is" and youth ideas about sexual violence was conducted.

Game Changer: Evaluating "What It Is", a Game Challenging Sexual Violence Against Youth (2012): PDF (1.03 MB)

Not Your Baby iPhone app

Not Your Baby iPhone app

Install Not Your Baby in your iPhone now

Not Your Baby is a free iPhone app to help people fight, prevent and deal with sexual harassment at work, school, transit, home or in public spaces. It's a "sexual harassment response generator". Once installed, the app allows users to input where they are and who’s harassing them – such as a boss, coworker, family member or fellow student. A possible response is generated “in the moment”, based on the input of people who've shared what they’ve done to deal with similar instances of harassment. Not Your Baby includes resources, information about the law, definitions, tips and stories, and it allows users to submit their own stories.

The app was funded by the Gift of Gertrude Milrod Gotlib and designed in partnership with TAKE ACTION Games and the valuable input of 238 survey respondents. We thank our project partners: Hollaback!; Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto ; and Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children.

Research Summary: Survey on Responses to Sexual Harassment: PDF (380 KB)

Media features

  • "Sexual harassment? There’s an app for that", Ottawa Sun (April 16, 2013)
  • "Newsmaker: Community response to downtown sexual assaults", National Post (October 12, 2012)
  • "Sexual Harassment: iPhone App 'Not Your Baby' Suggests Responses", Huffington Post UK (September 19, 2012)
  • "I'm not your baby! The iPhone app that gives women the perfect withering one-liners to answer embarrassing catcalls", Mail Online (September 17, 2012)
  • "Not Your Baby App: Phone App Gives Suggestions For Sexual Harassment Responses", Huffington Post Canada (September 14, 2012)
  • "Genius Canadian App Generates Snappy Comebacks to Street Harassment", Jezebel (September 14, 2012)
  • "New Mobile App 'Not Your Baby' Calls Out Sexual Harassment", Torontoist (September 13, 2012)

For a full listing of articles, visit our Press Room.

App demo

Screenshots