Tour

A tour around Quebec
to empower LGBTQ + women

Empowerment

To offer the necessary tools to create a sense of belonging

Self-defense

To help women resist sexual assaults by teaching them basic wen-do moves

Networking

Allow women to meet in
a safe and favorable context for exchange

History & education

Recount LGBT women’s history and enable them to get to know their past

The program

During the tour, the QLN will share some of the tools of the EAAA (Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act) Program, an educative program to resist sexual assault

 

Established in many universities worldwide, it will be offered in French in Québec universities in 2020, under the title BÉRA (version bonifiée du programme Évaluer, Reconnaître, Agir).

The Audience

Even though the EAAA program is primarily aimed at first year university students, who are the population most at risk to experience sexual assault, the Empowering LGBT Women Tour, is aimed at all female university students, regardless of age. We want to gather the community of LGBT women and their allies.

About the EAAA program

The educational program Flip the Script ™ / EAAA

is a 12 hours long empirical intervention, taught in small groups, and specifically conceived for first year university students. Based on theory, research evidence and best practices to help women resist sexual assault committed by acquaintances, this program is dispensed by the SARE Centre, from Windsor, Ontario and financed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Conceived, reviewed and tested by Dr Charlene Senn of University of Windsor, over a decade, the Flip de Script TM/EAAA is the only program tested in a clinical trial that has demonstrated that it significatively reduces the incidence of rape and other forms of sexual assaults. It is a key element in a global strategy to fight against the high number of rapes and sexual assaults on university campus.

The tour

University of Quebec in Montreal

2 october 2019

University of Sherbrooke

9 october 2019

University of Quebec at Chicoutimi

16 october 2019

University of Quebec in Outaouais

13 november 2019

University of Laval

20 November 2019

University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières

27 November 2019

University of Montréal

To be confirmed (2020)

Sharing knowledge

2019 marked the 50th anniversary of two milestones for the LGBT movement: The Stonewall Riots in the U.S. and the adoption of Bill Omnibus in Canada. But what do we know about the women who fought for our rights? Not enough, and what little we know is rarely consigned in the history books. The QLN wants to bring to light their history in the feminist and LGBT movements in Québec. We hope giving a voice to their struggle will inspire younger generations. Knowing where we come from, helps us define where we are going. Sharing knowledge creates dialogue.

Meeting LGBT women's communities

Many LGBT women have grown accustomed to share social spaces with women of all ages and sexual orientations because places specific to LGBT women are very rare. By creating a safe space for LGBT women of all ages, we promote strength in numbers and the sharing of diverse experiences.

Providing tools for LGBT women

By offering the basics of an educative program on resisting sexual assaults, including a section on self-defence, the QLN wishes to provide LGBT women with tools while helping them gain awareness of their body, their strengths and their value in society. Wen-do, a self-defence technique specially created for women, seemed to be the perfect tool. These moves, taught in a feminist perspective and based on different martial arts, were created in Canada by Ann and Ned Paige at the beginning of the seventies.

Networking

After the training day, participants will be invited to a party organized by QLN and Lez Spread the Word (LSTW), an LGBTQ+ organization, which dedicates itself to creating contents by and for LGBTQ women since 2012. LSTW gathers LGBTQ women on the web and in print, as well as at its monthly gatherings Où sont les femmes? in Montréal. The QLN and LSTW are proud to join forces for the Empowering LGBT Women Tour.

THIS PROJECT IS MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE PROGRAM TO COMBAT HOMOPHOBIA AND TRANSPHOBIA

Partners