Our recent projects to prevent sexual violence and support survivors of violence. OCRCC leads short and long-term projects that prevent sexual violence, support the work of sexual assault centres in Ontario, and increase support options for survivors in the community. Learn more about our projects here.

Draw The Line is a bystander intervention campaign that engages Ontarians in an ongoing dialogue about sexual violence, and sexual violence prevention. The campaign challenges common myths about sexual violence, helps foster conversations about sexual violence prevention strategies, and equips bystanders with information on how to intervene safely and effectively. Draw the Line can be used in the education sectors (i.e. elementary, secondary and post-secondary institutions),in community-based settings, and in workplaces. Learn more about Draw the Line. Draw the Line is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (Ontario) under Preventing Gender-Based Violence initiatives.

BIPOC Frontline Workers’ Coalition aims to foster a community of Black, Indigenous, People of Color sexual violence support practitioners working in OCRCC member agencies. This project builds a space where BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) frontline workers can come together, share resources, learn from each other, and increase supports for racialized survivors of sexual violence. BIPOC members support one another, organize together and can build connections with peers doing similar work.

See the Project’s report and guide below:

Healing Our Ancestors, Ourselves And Our Communities: A Toolkit to Address Systemic Injustices in Sexual Violence Support Services.

This project was dreamed up from the seeds of our previous work through the ‘BIPOC Counsellor’s Coalition Building Project’, where we created and nurtured a space for BIPOC frontline staff working within OCRCC’s member sexual assault centres to gather in community, celebrate and support each other, share stories, wisdom, resources, grieve together and feel supported in unpacking experiences of systemic racism. Based on the voices, experiences and needs of the BIPOC folks who journeyed with us in our previous project, we have widened the scope of the tools and supports we can offer beyond our monthly Coalition gatherings.

The new project continues to centre the needs, experiences and brilliance of racialized folks working in OCRCC member agencies through:

• Building an online community of BIPOC practitioners to foster peer-to-peer support, and to celebrate the cultures, cosmologies and lived experiences of BIPOC frontline workers through holding regular online gatherings where we share resources and tools for: challenging systemic racism and oppression within the workplace, personal and collective healing, and re-centring pre-colonial traditional healing practices.
• Engaging white allies and leadership in member centres to bring about anti-racist, anti-colonial organizational change
• Further advocacy work by OCRCC, addressing the interaction of race and gender oppression on gender-based violence

The vision of the BIPOC Frontline Workers’ Coalition is to effect anti-colonial systems change through supporting and uplifting the voices of BIPOC sexual violence service providers, as well as educating white allies and decision-makers within the sector.

Our goal is to bring together a community of practitioners to address the following needs:

1. Increased support and decreased isolation for Black, Indigenous, People of Color frontline staff in OCRCC member agencies
2. Increased opportunities for anti-racist organizational and systems change within sexual assault centres
3. Increased support for racialized survivors of sexual violence

We aim to reach our goals by 1) scaling the BIPOC Frontline Workers’ Coalition (2022-2023) model to include BIPOC outreach, public education, and management roles in sexual assault centres in OCRCC member agencies, 2) creating an ongoing peer support model for BIPOC frontline staff, 3) deploying the Healing Our Ancestors, Ourselves and Our Communities Toolkit to enhance organizational change and 4) undertaking advocacy work to address the effects of racial and gendered oppression on gender-based violence support work.

Please reach out to Christie Adhikary, Project Coordinator at christie@sexualassaultsupport.ca for more information.

The Fostering a BIPOC community of practice Project is funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

In the last few years, the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements on sexual violence have become very active, highlighting the prevalence of sexual violence and its impacts on survivors. Yet little discussion has occurred about the sexual violence experiences of trans, genderqueer, non-binary, Two Spirit, and intersex people. The mainstream anti-violence movement, including sexual violence centres, has often excluded trans, genderqueer, non-binary, Two Spirit, and intersex survivors and their experiences.

In this project, OCRCC committed to creating safer and accountable spaces for trans, genderqueer, non-binary, Two Spirit, and intersex people in the sexual violence support services sector. OCRCC also provided support to its 30+ members to create safer spaces at sexual assault centres for trans, genderqueer, non-binary, Two Spirit, and intersex survivors. This work included: training, self-awareness work, discussion and dialogue, governance work and organizational policy work.

The Trans Solidarity Project is a part of OCRCC’s larger project, Fostering Capacity in Sexual Assault Centres in the #MeToo Era. It was funded by Women and Gender Equality (Canada) under its Capacity Building funding stream (2018-2023).

PRIMAL GLOW Communications is working with the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centre member centres to help build their capacity to use technology in frontline settings. The goal of the project is to test new and innovative strategies connected to technology to increase support to survivors of sexual violence and harassment—particularly those facing unique or unmet access needs.

Project objectives have included:

1. a) increasing understanding of digital tools that could be used in frontline outreach, crisis and counselling settings
2. b) identifying tools for frontline support
3. c) building the capacity of the OCRCC membership to implement these tools.

Using Technology to Better Support Survivors is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (Ontario) under Preventing Gender-Based Violence initiatives.

Working with the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE) the OCRCC develops and facilitates workshops to support Registered Early Childhood Educators in caring for their self and others while completing the CECE Sexual Abuse Prevention Program. These live, online, facilitated workshops on trauma-informed care are developed to help in understanding reactions that Registered Early Childhood Educators might have when engaging with the Prevention Program content.