Waterloo region organization aiding Hockey Canada with sexual assault training workshop
Hockey Canada has turned to the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASCWR) for help in training its athletes and staff to end sexual violence.
The move comes following revelations of how Hockey Canada has handled allegations of sexual violence involving players.
“There’s a huge need for these conversations to happen,” said Jacob Pries, project facilitator of male allies program with SASCWR. “Giving guys the tools to understand their role in preventing sexual violence… how they can call out their teammates or coaches.”
The two-hour training program comes with the goal of ending sexual violence in sports culture.
Hockey Canada reached out to SASCWR in June to provide mandatory training for all of its players and staff; one part of Hockey Canada’s commitment to address challenges facing the organization and sport, as laid out it in its Action Plan meant to address toxic behaviour on and off the ice.
Pries said they’ve been working with Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse to offer “leading by example” workshops to Hockey Canada over the summer.
They’ve had 19 sessions so far with about 380 athletes, including those part of the national junior hockey team ahead of the world championship set to start in Edmonton this week.
“[It’s] doing things like making jokes about rape in the locker room how that helps normalize sexual violence, and why it’s important to call that out,” said Pries.
It’s not the first time the support centre has worked with sports organizations. They’ve been educating athletes through their male allies program and the Ontario Hockey League onside program for years.
“We know a lot of the players haven’t had a lot of conversations about consent or how they can be leaders in their community to prevent sexual violence, so I think they’re looking for more conversations about these things,” said Pries.
Pries says while this training is a powerful tool there is still more that needs to be done.
“In the short term it’s a good first step, but again, the stuff we’re covering with the athletes is very much the introduction. There’s so much more we need to unpack with players,” said Pries.
He said everyone has a responsibility to be allies in the work to end sexual violence.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.