Empowering girls Archives - Page 22 of 33 - Canadian Women's Foundation

Safe Passage: A Girl’s Journey Through Adolescence

Safe Passage: A Girl’s Journey Through Adolescence

Diane Hill2017-12-19T17:11:09+00:00March 22, 2016|Empowering girls, Gender-based violence, Sexual abuse, SHE Magazine|

In an office building not far from the bleak industrial wharves in the northern Ontario town of Thunder Bay, social worker Karen Slomke is clicking through a curious set of Powerpoint slides.

Her audience sees photos of zebras being chased by lions, cartoon illustrations of the human brain, and lots of flowcharts with coloured arrows. Though some of her slides are lighthearted, most are deadly serious. This presentation is designed to save lives.

Karen works for Children’s Centre Thunder Bay and her audience is primarily Aboriginal girls in their early teens. All have experienced physical or sexual abuse, or both. Karen recently worked with Sherry, a young teen who has been sexually assaulted four different times by four different adult men. The first assault happened when she was 12.

Inspire Body Positivity with the Body Confidence Canada Awards

Inspire Body Positivity with the Body Confidence Canada Awards

Jill Andrew2017-12-19T17:11:45+00:00March 18, 2016|Empowering girls, Guest bloggers, Women in media|

Almost four years ago our lives changed for the better when we decided to create the Body Confidence Canada Awards (BCCAs) – and we haven’t looked back!

Inspired by outstanding body image awareness initiatives taking place in the United Kingdom, namely their Campaign for Body Confidence (2009) and the inaugural Body Confidence Awards (2012), my partner Aisha Fairclough and I decided it was time to create a likeminded platform in Canada. We created the BCCAs to acknowledge and celebrate people for whom their personal and professional lives embodied and inspired body confidence, body positivity, and body diversity in our communities.

11 Ways Dads Can Help Raise Strong Daughters

11 Ways Dads Can Help Raise Strong Daughters

Mike Reynolds2016-03-16T13:00:17+00:00March 16, 2016|Empowering girls, Guest bloggers, How to|

This post was originally published on Puzzling Posts.

Six nights out of seven, our oldest daughter, now a very proud “five and three quarters,” will fall asleep with a book on her chest. The book often changes—sometimes it’s about Christmas carollers, sometimes it’s a book about Barbie becoming a doctor. Sometimes she reads the same books about animals that I read when I was growing up and sometimes she reads stories she’s helped write herself.

Her mind, at this point, is incredibly fertile, and it’s an amazing privilege for us to be able to watch the many plants start to grow in that amazing young mind of hers. But it’s also terrifying how easy it is for seeds we didn’t plant to take root.

How Girls’ Group Mentoring Makes a Difference

How Girls’ Group Mentoring Makes a Difference

Samantha Cochrane2016-03-14T13:05:34+00:00March 14, 2016|Empowering girls, How to|

How do we know that mentoring programs make a big difference in girls’ lives?

Because the girls tell us:

“For once, I feel like I belong somewhere.”

“It makes me feel happy because I am with people I know, and I know everyone there has something different to share every time, and I feel like I have a whole second family.”

“My mentors taught me that it is OK to be me. They also taught me to love myself.”

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