November is DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH Domestic violence and abuse do not discriminate, but they do often escalate. It can be physical, emotional, sexual, or verbal and is often used as a weapon of control and intimidation by a spouse, partner, boyfriend/girlfriend or ex-spouse. Domestic violence can happen even after a relationship is over.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact us. P: 250-372-0179 or email: ksacc@ksacc.ca
KSACC WELCOMES A NEW TEAM MEMBER!
KSACC is very excited to welcome Serena. She has joined the Centre as a SAIP counsellor and is registered as a Canadian Certified Counsellor through the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Her clinical practice has included counselling support for children, youth, and adults who have experienced trauma.
Serena works from a trauma-informed lens to empower and connect with others in their healing journeys. Her approach to helping and healing children and youth is guided by holistic and strengths-based practices that foster creativity, curiosity, and self-compassion.
SAIP COUNSELLOR - Permanent Part-Time (21 hrs/wk)
KSACC is currently looking for a qualified SAIP Counsellor. The successful applicant will provide assessment and support services to children and youth ages 3 to 18 who have been sexually abused, sexually assaulted, and/or sexually exploited. The SAIP Counsellor will also provide support services to non-offending family members or caregivers as required. For a detailed description and how to apply, please click on the link, SAIP Counsellor. Deadline to apply is Monday, March 25, 2019 at 4 pm.
Membership cost is only $5 and dues are used for programs and services directly related to client services.
KSACC is currently seeking volunteers for the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Response Team. Click on the link below for more information. If you have any questions, please contact Alix at dvsart@ksacc.ca. Deadline to apply is March 4, 2019.
DV/SART Application March, 2019
The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre is hosting an Open House and extends an invitation to all community agencies, partners and members of the general public to join us on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 between 3:00 pm and 6 pm. We have wine and cheese planned, as well as a silent auction and other 'goodies'. So come and enjoy some time with us at our office, #601-235 First Avenue, as we honour 35 years of supporting individuals who have experienced sexualized/domestic violence.
We hope to see each of you at our 35th anniversary get together.
KSACC is growing its team and we are pleased to introduce several new staff members.
Has joined the KSACC team as the Domestic Violence/SART Coordinator. In this role, Alix will be responsible for volunteer coordination for the SAR Team as well as working closely with the Y Women's Shelter on the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Program.
Is our new Youth Advocate. Mel will be offering workshops for youth, 13 years and up, around consent, self-esteem and peer support, and training volunteers to support youth needs as well as offering presentations and training to community partners.
SEXUAL ASSAULT/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESPONSE TEAM COORDINATOR
The Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Response Team Coordinator will be responsible for the coordination and training of volunteer personnel and the provision of emergency response support to clients of the Centre. For more information, please click on the link, Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Response Team Coordinator . Deadline to apply is Friday, June 15, 2018 at 4 pm.
saip counsellor 2018
KSACC is currently looking for a qualified SAIP Counsellor. The successful applicant will provide assessment and support services to children and youth ages 3 to 18 who have been sexually abused. The Counsellor may be responsible for providing support services to non-offending family members or caregivers as required. For a detailed description and how to apply, please click on the link, SAIP Counsellor. Deadline to apply is Friday, June 15, 2018 at 4 pm.
March, 2018
KSACC Board of Directors invite qualified applicants for the position of AGENCY COORDINATOR. For a full description of the position and required qualifications, please click on the link below. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
KSACC Job Agency Coordinator Description_.pdf
1. LGBTQ2S+ 2. INDIGENOUS STUDENT 3. INTERNATIONAL STUDENT 4. MALE "CHAMPION"
We are excited to be involved in a collaborative project between the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre (KSACC) and Thompson Rivers University (TRU). The goal is to work with communities of students around sexualized violence prevention and education.
BY STUDENTS, WITH STUDENTS, FOR STUDENTS
This project recognizes that communities of students have differing needs around the topic of sexualized violence. This project will be guided by the unique needs identified by students specific to each community. We are therefore looking for student participation to define and create sexualized violence education and prevention tools that make sense to students and their unique community or communities. Our aim is to help facilitate the creation of positive and realistic tools that engage and inspire each identified group of students. We are also looking for Male "Champions" who can be role models in promoting safety for all TRU community members.
We are looking for student volunteers to participate in this exciting project. If you are interested in being a part of this project or want more information, please contact us at SVPEF@ksacc.ca or call/text 250-299-8792.
Thanks to everyone that participated and/or supported the March. When we stand together, we will end sexualized violence and domestic abuse.
Friday, September 15th
Join us as we march together against sexualized violence and domestic abuse. 5:30 pm. Riverside Park Band Shell
The Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) has been reinstated after a 13-year hiatus. Listen to the CBC news interview with Charlene Eden, the Agency Coordinator on July 31, 2017.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kamloops-reintroduces-sexual-assault-response-team-after-13-year-hiatus-1.4229284
KSACC is looking for more volunteers for the Sexual Assault Response Team. For more information, check out the links below.
SART description 2.pdf SART Application.pdf
After a 13 year hiatus, KSACC has reinstated its Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). The Team will once again provide immediate support, information and advocacy to survivors who attend Royal Inland Hospital on the weekends. Our mandate is to attend once someone has gone to RIH and has provided consent for us to be called. As we build capacity and train more volunteers, this service will expand!
We are now turning to the community for support in helping us create what we are calling "Comfort Cases". Click on the link below to find out more about what a comfort case is and why it is so important that we provide these cases to survivors who attend the hospital after a sexual assault.
We are hoping that our amazing community will come together to fulfill this need for survivors. For more information, please contact Charlene Eden, Agency Coordinator at 250-372-0179 or charlene.eden@ksacc.ca.
Comfort Cases
KSACC is currently looking to fill 3 part-time counselling positions. Click on the links below for more information. Closing date for applications is April 7, 2017 at 4 pm.
SAIP COUNSELLOR 2017.pdf
STV COUNSELLOR Logan Lake.pdf
STV CWWA COUNSELLOR Chase.pdf
#BeBoldForChange. March 8 is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. internationalwomensday.com.
Wear red in solidarity, do not engage in paid & unpaid work, avoid spending money
No matter how you choose to acknowledge IWD, KSACC sits in solidarity with all women!
www.childrenofthestreet.com/awareness
KSACC is once again looking for volunteers to join our SART team. SART members will provide immediate support, information and advocacy for individuals who have been sexually assaulted within the past 7 days.
If you think this might be of interest to you, please click on the links below for a description and application form. Deadline to apply is March 20, 2017.
ksacc.ca/docs/sart_description_-_2nd_intake.pdf ksacc.ca/docs/sart_application_-_2nd_intake.pdf
These guys are the best!. Thank you New Gold CREW C for participating in the Moose Hide Campaign. Your donation will help KSACC raise awareness and work to prevent violence against all women and children.
Remember that kindness is one size fits all.
Join the march and rally on Feb 14, 2017 at 5 pm at Spirit Square, North Shore, Kamloops.
KSACC is so very grateful to be part of such a generous and caring community! Thank you to all the supporters of the KTW Christmas Cheer Fund 2016.
A very big thank you to Jim Motokado, staff and customers of the Valleyview Shoppers Drug Mart. The "Love. You." boxes and financial support is so very much appreciated!
January 25, 2017. Let's talk, text, tweet and share to help end the stigma around mental illness.
Everyone is invited to attend Kamloops' very own version of the Women's March on Washington to be held on Saturday, January 21st at 10 am.
Thank you to the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #3453 for their generous donation to KSACC and other community organizations in Kamloops.
Thank you to the Kamloops Blazers and the community for including the Centre once again in the 2016 teddy bear toss.
December 6th at St. Andrew's on the Square.
Remember. Reflect.
4 weeks until the deadline! Everyone is encouraged to donate a personalized, gift-filled shoebox. All shoeboxes are donated to local women. Check out their website for more details. shoeboxproject.com/kamloops
KSACC is currently looking to hire a Stopping The Violence (STV) Counsellor for the community of Logan Lake. This position is permanent, part-time. Please click on the link below for more information about the position and how to apply. Closing date for applications is October 3, 2016 at 4 pm.
STV COUNSELLOR.pdf
The annual Take Back the Night rally and march will be held on Friday, September 16 at Riverside Park in Kamloops. The event will start at 5:30 pm with opening prayer, speakers and drumming by Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Society. The march will begin at 6:00 pm from the Riverside Park band shell, travelling down Victoria St. and returning to Riverside Park. Refreshments will be provided and everyone is welcome to attend. Let's march together against sexual assault and domestic violence!
The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre is looking to hire a Sexual Abuse Intervention (SAIP) Counsellor. If you think this might be of interest to you, please click on the link below for a complete description of responsibilities and qualifications. Please submit cover letter and resume to Charlene Eden, Agency Coordinator. Email address: charlene.eden@ksacc.ca.
SAIP Counsellor - job description
Volunteers needed!
KSACC is in the midst of creating a volunteer-based Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) that will provide immediate support to survivors of sexual assault. If you think that you might be interested in applying to be a volunteer, please click on the links for a SART description and SART application. Deadline to apply is September 23, 2016 by 4:00 pm.
http://www.ksacc.ca/docs/sart_description.pdf http://www.ksacc.ca/docs/sart_application.pdf
It has been an exciting year at KSACC and one we intend to build on in the coming months. We cannot do the work that we do without our community supporters and one way to support our organization is by becoming a member.
Membership cost will remain at $5 for the year and we invite all members to attend our upcoming Annual General Meeting on June 28th. If you wish to be a voting member at the AGM and have a voice in our Agency, your membership must be paid by May 13th.
Members will receive updates on the work that we do as well as the events that we are planning. Complete the membership form and choose one of the three ways to pay your membership fee.
EMAIL: Complete the membership form and return via email to ksacc@ksacc.ca. Drop off the membership fee at the office or send cheque via post.
Today Canadians learned the outcome of one of the most high profile and widely discussed sexual assault trials of the decade. Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted of four charges of sexual assault and one charge of overcoming resistance by choking. “The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre wants to make it known that we stand behind the survivors in this case; we believe them; and we walk with these three courageous women and all survivors of sexual assault,” said Charlene Eden, Agency Coordinator of the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre.
It takes courage to report a sexual assault to the police. Some survivors choose to report. Yet most do not. In fact, 97% of sexual assaults go unreported in Canada and sexual assault is the most under reporting of all violent crime in Canada. Of those that are reported to police, most do not lead to charges, let alone convictions. Out of every 1,000 sexual assaults in Canada, 997 assailants walk free. (Source: Johnson, “Limits of Criminal Justice Response: Trends in Police and Court Processing of Sexual Assault,” in Sheehy, Sexual Assault in Canada: Law, Legal Practice and Women’s Activism, 2012).
The complexities of sexual assault need to be considered. It’s not always simple to fully understand the short and long-term impacts of this particular kind of trauma – not simple for survivors themselves nor others. There may or may not be visible physical injuries, but in every case there will be psychological impacts that can last a lifetime. The impacts can stem from the terror of experiencing a dehumanizing attack on one’s physical bodily integrity; the humiliation that ensues from heinous sexual acts being perpetrated by someone victims often thought they knew; blame and judgment from friends, family, the police and others; and the self-blame that most survivors struggle to come to terms with.
Focusing on the behaviour of victims doesn’t help us to understand this violent crime nor does it help us to hold perpetrators accountable for the crimes they commit. Within the criminal justice system, the burden of proof is extremely high. The Defense does not have to prove the accused is innocent; the Crown has to prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. So a not guilty verdict or acquittal in any sexual assault case does not mean the accused is innocent or that sexual assault did not occur; it means there was not proof beyond reasonable doubt to convict. Sexual assault in dating relationships, like the ones described by the complainants in the Ghomeshi case, need to be understood within the context of intimate partner violence. Seventy-five percent of sexual assaults are committed by somebody known to the survivor (Statistics Canada, Prevalence and severity of violence against women, 2013).
This outcome also raises the question as to whether or not our judiciary has been adequately supported in understanding the impacts of trauma. People impacted by trauma may behave and respond quite differently from what others might expect. So very often in a sexual assault case a victim’s presentation is not the straightforward step-by-step recounting of what happened that would be ideal for courts, but rather something much more fragmented and confused. Traumatized victims may also appear to be lacking in emotion, which may seem at odds with the experiences they are describing and lead to mistaken impressions. It is our hope that the judiciary get the training they need to deliver trauma-informed justice.
“We hope that our community and our country as a whole will realize how difficult it is for any survivor to be placed under the microscope of public scrutiny; applaud these women for their courage to come forward; and work with us to create a safer environment for others to come forward”, said Charlene Eden.
The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre provides free, client-centered support services to victims of sexual assault, child sexualized abuse, domestic violence and sexual harassment.
Thompson/Nicola BCASW presents a movie screening of "Highway of Tears". The movie is about the missing or murdered women along a 724 kilometer stretch of highway in Northern B.C. None of the 18 cold-cases since the 1960's had been solved, until project E-Pana (a special division of the RCMP) managed to link DNA to Portland drifter, Bobby Jack Fowler with the 1974 murder of 16 year-old Colleen MacMillen. Aboriginal women are considered abject victims of violence.
Viewers will discover what the effects of generational poverty, residential schools, systemic violence, and high unemployment rates have done to First Nations reserves and how they tie in with the missing and murdered women in the Highway of Tears cases.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Thompson Rivers University Clock Tower Theatre 6 pm - 8 pm Cost: $5 ($10 with pizza & beverage - first come, first serve) Everyone is welcome to attend.
RSVP to Jennifer Friend: thefriends@outlook.com
December 6, 2015 A Canadian day of mourning for women who have met with a violent death has been declared a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Everyone is invited to St. Andrew's on the Square, 159 Seymour Street from 2:00 - 3:00 pm.
www.shoememorial.com facebook.com/Kamloops.Annual.Shoe.Memorial
Each pair of shoes on display represents a woman who was murdered or missing. After the memorial the shoes are given to the Women's Shelter for women in need. You can commemorate the lives of women who have been killed by violence by donating women's/girls shoes to the Kamloops Shoe Memorial. Shoe drop-off zones are:
Runners Sole 74-1395 Hillside Dr. Kamloops, BC
YMCA/YWCA Downtown 400 Battle St. Kamloops, BC
We are very excited to be partnering with the 1st official Shoebox Drive in Kamloops!
The Shoebox Project is a charitable organization that provides shoeboxes filled with little luxuries to women living in shelters or using outreach programs. The goal is to deliver 300 personalized gift-filled shoeboxes to local women in need before December 10, 2015. Making a box is easy and it is an experience that you can do yourself or share with family, friends and colleagues.
Check out their website www.shoeboxproject.com/kamloops or https://www.facebook.com/kamloopssbp1 for more information.