On this page you will find a detailed outline of our schedule for the forum and descriptions about all sessions. To learn more about the speakers for each session, you can visit our speaker profile page.
Day 1 — September 24
Opening (7:30 am – 12:00 pm)
Registration for our Annual Training Forum will take place on the Lower Lobby. At registration our EVA BC staff will welcome you and you will receive a name-tag, a participant program, and a special ATF souvenir.
Then head down for buffet breakfast outside the Grand Ballroom.
- Josie Nepinak, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), and
- Dr. Lori Haskell, clinical psychologist, researcher and writer in trauma informed practice.
The plenary session will be available for all participants. More information coming soon.
Lunch (12:00 – 1:30 pm)
Lunch will be served buffet style just outside the Grand Ballroom. The Grand Ballroom will be open for seating. During lunch please also consider visiting the display tables, therapy dogs and other participant supports. If you have dietary restrictions you were asked to share those details on registration and there will be a separate lunch for you; if not, please reach out to EVA BC staff.
Workshops (1:30 – 3:00 pm)
Please note that these are concurrent workshops (will all happen simultaneously). You can select your workshop of choice during registration.
Presenter(s):
- Noemi Rosario Martinez, Community Engagement at VAFCS, and Research fellow
- Grace Kwan, Research fellow
This workshop will share key insights and research findings from the community-based research report and action plan Frontline Workers on the Back Burner at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society. This project, housed in the Vancouver Aboriginal Violence Prevention Program (VAVPP), gathered insights from interviews with frontline workers and anti-violence sector leaders to learn about barriers and challenges facing frontline workers at the systemic and organizational levels–particularly underfunding and its consequences–and the impacts that these factors have on individual workers. The project also makes recommendations for improving working conditions for frontline staff who support survivors of GBV. Such efforts are crucial to supporting survivors, particularly multiply marginalized survivors such as Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQ+ people, who are disproportionately affected by GBV Sectoral reform would support workers and survivors alike.
Presenter(s):
- Allison McKee, Stopping the Violence and PEACE Counsellor
- Jolene Hammermeister, Stopping the Violence Counsellor
Using a feminist perspective, this workshop explores how media and culture shape attitudes, norms and behaviours that contribute to the prevalence of gender-based violence. Participants will be invited to examine how their individual and collective engagement with media influences the social climate in which violence occurs.
The workshop content will reflect on the impact of anti-feminist narratives in media and consider how these messages affect our work as anti-violence practitioners and the lived experiences of those we support. Emphasizing prevention as a pathway for change, this workshop will explore practical ways we can challenge harmful narratives, support clients within a discriminatory social context and contribute to cultural shifts that work to prevent gender-based violence
Presenter(s):
- Novia Shih-Shan Chen, Researcher for the Enhancing Wellness M4Y Research Project
- Rajee Kanagavel, Project Coordinator for the Enhancing Wellness M4Y Research Project
Enhancing Wellness – M4Y is a government-funded community-based research initiative addressing the challenges faced by
immigrant women and youth in British Columbia who experienced violence or abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an intersectional mixed-methods approach, the project informs the development of an interactive web application focused on safety, wellbeing, and equity. This workshop will share key findings that center the lived experiences and coping strategies of immigrant women and youth, while exploring how the app in development can support collective action in mental health and violence prevention. Participants will gain practical insights to strengthen individual and organizational resilience, and improve access to safety, resources, and pathways to self-empowerment within diverse immigrant communities.
Presenter(s):
- Alex Peel, Manager of Public Legal Education and Information at Legal Aid BC
- Ram Sidhu, Manager of Clinic Operations at Parents Legal Centre and the Family Law Clinics
This session provides an opportunity to explore the full spectrum of legal aid services available to people navigating family law issues. It aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how we support clients throughout their legal journeys, emphasizing our
commitment to accessible, equitable, and trauma-informed care.
We’ll cover a high-level overview of the various legal services offered, including the innovative, multidisciplinary approach of our trauma-informed Family Law Centres. These centres were specially designed to serve survivors of family violence, addressing both their legal needs and essential non-legal support to promote overall well-being. This holistic approach ensures that clients receive not only legal assistance but also the comprehensive supports necessary to rebuild their lives in a safe and sustainable way. Join us to gain a deeper understanding of how our services are designed to meet the diverse needs of families, promote healing, and foster meaningful stabilization through coordinated, trauma-informed care.
Presenter(s): Nicole Marcia, MA, MC, RCC, C-IAYT
Human service professionals often face emotionally demanding situations that can build up over time, making it harder to care for ourselves and stay connected to others. Chronic stress can impact our nervous systems and lead to burnout, emotional fatigue, and unhealthy coping.
This workshop introduces trauma-informed chair yoga—a gentle, accessible, body-based practice rooted in trauma theory, chair yoga, and neuroscience. Using breath and mindful movement, this approach supports your well-being at work and at home.
Benefits include:
- Improved sleep and digestion
- Lower stress levels
- Greater sense of safety and connection
Join Nicole Marcia, Clinical Counsellor and Yoga Therapist, for a supportive, interactive session. Learn simple tools to calm your nervous system, increase body awareness, and reconnect with your resilience.
You’ll also be guided through an all-levels, chair-based practice. No yoga experience or special clothing required—just come as you are.
All movements are optional.
- Moira Aikenhead, Lecturer, JD (UVic), LLM (Allard), PhD (Allard)
This workshop will engage participants with the current state of legal regulation of sexual deepfakes in Canada. The creation and nonconsensual distribution of sexualized deepfakes is a growing problem in Canada and elsewhere, as applications allowing the creation of such images are becoming increasingly accessible and user-friendly. Legal remedies for the sharing of sexual deepfakes are inconsistent across Canadian jurisdictions, and the creation of such images is (at the time of this proposal) unregulated. The Federal government has attempted to address this issue through Bill C-16, which would encompass some sexual deepfakes within the Criminal Code’s definition of “intimate images” but exclude others. This workshop will canvas the current legal landscape and flag issues relevant for victims and survivors of this form of technology-facilitated violence considering legal remedies.
Networking Activities (3:30 – 6:00 pm)
These dedicated networking sessions are an opportunity for anti-violence workers in the programs EVA BC supports and leaders in the anti-violence sector to come together, connect and learn from each other. If you are attending our ATF and are not a frontline worker in one of our programs, or an anti-violence sector leader, we invite you to register for our open networking session where you can meet participants from across BC, including many of our community partners.
- Community-Based Victim Services Networking Session
- Stopping the Violence Counsellors Networking Session
- Sexual Assault Services Networking Session
- STV and Multicultural Outreach Services (ORS) Networking Session
- Leadership Networking Session
- Community Partners Networking Session
Join us and connect with fellow attendees, while enjoying appetizers and drinks! The networking reception is open to everyone that indicated in their registration that they would be attending. If you are not sure, please check in with the registration table.
Day 2 — September 25
Morning (7:30 – 8:30 am)
Join the members of the EVA BC Board for the buffet breakfast for a chance to connect with board members about what they do in their positions and the relevant issues facing their regions.
Workshops (9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
Please note that these are concurrent workshops (will all happen simultaneously). You can select your workshop of choice during registration.
Presenter(s):
- Perminder Flora, Program Lead, Provincial Services, EVA BC
- Vanessa Waechtler, Program Lead, Provincial Services, EVA BC
As a frontline anti-violence worker, have you ever felt like your words would be more impactful and meaningful if they were being
offered by a peer? This is the power of group. Groups for survivors of gender-based violence are a significant tool for overcoming
isolation, improving social well-being, and reducing stigma. They can also serve the practical purpose of efficiently using very limited
staffing time – helping to address the issues of long waitlists and large caseloads.
During this workshop, participants will be trained in the new EVA BC Stopping the Violence Counselling Group Manual and learn group facilitation skills that are specific to supporting survivors of gender-based violence. First, participants will observe workshop presenters co-facilitate a mock group. Then, participants will take turns facilitating their own mock groups and role playing as group attendees. Participants will have the opportunity to practice group facilitation skills in a safe and supportive environment.
Presenter(s):
- Dr. Jewelles Smith, Disability Human Rights Educator, Researcher, and Public Speaker
- Nicole Cherlet, Procne Navigation
Organizations report that they don’t know where to start, and that they are afraid to make a wrong step when supporting disabled survivors. Although building knowledge is important, you don’t need to become an expert in disability to support survivors. This
workshop will help build confidence that you know where to find resources and that your approach is inclusive.
Build knowledge. Build confidence that you can find solutions to accommodating survivors with different disabilities.
Learn what is out there: best practices, accessibility standards, local resources, and disability experts.
You will practice applying these concepts in your workplace and gain an awareness of all the resources available to you and your
team.
This is an engaging session—come with questions, and examples from your own practice. You will build confidence and feel
empowered in supporting disabled survivors.
- Maureen McEvoy, Private Practice. MA, RCC-ACS – JIBC Instructor; BCACC Approved Clinical Supervisor
Counsellors and support workers often receive requests to disclose counselling records and are unsure of how to respond. This workshop will explain various types of requests and our options in responding. We will pay particular attention to opportunities to resist production of notes so that we may protect client confidentiality.
Presenter(s):
- Jennifer Sherif, Award-winning educator, artist, activist, and founder of Indigevision.
This interactive session will include:
- A sharing circle opening, demonstrating how this form/practice of Indigenous governance brings invaluable teachings, healing and team/community-building to any professional work space; followed by small group work on how this tool might be used in ‘real life’ workplace environments and situations
- A (circle) lecture-style presentation on privilege, and how it is not just a one-sided issue, but in how it exists in every space; followed by a self-reflective journaling/art-based activity on how unconscious bias can be overcome and transformed into a bridge-building tool
- A (circle) lecture-style presentation of a timeline of Indigenous race relations in Canada, what this means for those working with
Indigenous populations; followed by a community-building exercise
Presenter(s):
- Wendy Potter, Director of Community Coordination for Survivor Safety, EVA BC.
In BC, Interagency Case Assessment Team (ICATs) are cross-sectoral teams, including anti-violence workers, and police, who work to increase the safety of survivors and their families who are experiencing intimate partner violence. An important part of the ICAT process is the identification and assessment of the 20 risk factors identified in the BC Summary of Intimate Partner Violence Risk Factors (BC SIPVR). This workshop will share information on how to identify and assess these risk factors, as well as information on less commonly understood risk factors. This workshop will be a mixture of presentation and interactive exercises on responding to IPV in your communities.
Lunch (12:00 – 1:30 pm)
Lunch will be served buffet style just outside the Grand Ballroom. The Grand Ballroom will be open for seating. During lunch please also consider visiting the display tables, therapy dogs and other participant supports. If you have dietary restrictions you were asked to share those details on registration and there will be a separate lunch for you; if not, please reach out to EVA BC staff.
Workshops (1:30 – 3:00 pm)
Please note that these are concurrent workshops (will all happen simultaneously). You can select your workshop of choice during registration.
- Janine Benedet, Professor, LLB (UBC), LLM (Michigan), SJD (Michigan)
This workshop will consider how the definition of non-consent has evolved over time from active resistance to the absence of a state of mind. We will consider the ways in which the law recognizes (and fails to recognize) the various inequalities that mean consent cannot be reduced to a simple yes or no. We will also consider how courts can bring a trauma-informed lens to the question of expected responses to sexual aggression, as well as broader questions of credibility and reliability. We will also consider the question of the fault requirement and when an accused can say they mistakenly believed a complainant was consenting.
Presenter(s):
- Mercedes Baines, Psychotherapist/Facilitator
In this experiential workshop of ease, rest & re-connection, you will explore energy containment, feeling into boundaries & personal
limits, anchoring & grounding techniques & the role of breath and breath awareness in your day-to-day. We will also explore the way
engaging with pleasure & celebrating the mundane beauty of the day-to-day can act as a counterpoint and soften the experience of
distress and pain within our bodies. We will also explore the impact of co-regulation in community. The intention of the workshop is to support folks to develop sustainable practices to avoid burn out & overwhelm as well as to find sustainable ways to engage in social justice work over the long term.
Presenter(s):
- Vicky Bungay, Registered Nurse and Professor
- Phoebe Long, Research Manager
Outreach can help address service gaps for women experiencing violence. New approaches are needed for effective outreach. We will share learnings from multiple studies with women and outreach teams, exploring effective approaches to engagement and challenges working to support women’s health and socials service navigation. Drawing on central tenets of relational ethics, harm reduction, and trauma- and violence-informed care, we will examine a practice-oriented framework for relational trust. Using participatory approaches and drawing on our results from implementing this framework in a novel outreach program with women in diverse settings, we explore how enacting trust contributed to women’s rights to self-determine their health priorities including managing and navigating their substance use and for some, their violent intimate relationships. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with strategies and challenges in engaging and retaining women in care and supporting women to navigate settings that have historically perpetuated stigma for women experiencing violence. By focusing on building trusting relationships as a respectful, reciprocal process embedded in structural features shaping care encounters, we hope to advance capacity to engage with women chronically underserved.
- Joel Harnest, Education Manager at BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC)
- Meghan Toal, Engagement Advisor for the Interior Region of BC at BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC)
There is growing urgency and complexity in engaging men and boys in prevention efforts. This session creates space to explore that work together. We begin with a brief, practical overview of how gender, hate, and violence intersect, including the role of social norms, online environments, and pathways of radicalization shaping boys’ and men’s experiences today, including exploration of BCOHRC’s first public inquiry which explored the rise of hate during the Covid pandemic Participants will then move into a facilitated dialogue to explore real-world tensions: how to engage men without centering them, how to address harm while building connection, and where current approaches may fall short. Designed for frontline workers and sector leaders, this session prioritizes reflection, shared insight, and grounded exchange. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the landscape and practical considerations for engaging men and boys in ways that support safety, accountability, and prevention. This session also contributes to BCOHRC’s early-stage learning as we begin developing a public education campaign.
- Taruna Agrawal, Managing lawyer at Rise Women’s Legal Centre
- Simona P., Family Advocacy Mentor Rise
Workshop description coming soon – A practical overview of protection orders in BC by combining legal information with advocacy tips.
- Shirley Hogan, Owner and Lead Facilitator of Raven Workplace Mental Health Training and Consulting
This 90-minute workshop invites participants to critically examine how they show up for survivors of gender-based violence. Drawing on three interconnected frameworks — trauma-informed practice, cultural safety, and response-based practice — participants will explore how traditional service models can inadvertently cause harm, and what it looks like to do things differently. Through facilitated discussion, brief presentations, and an applied case scenario, participants will deepen their understanding of how trauma shapes survivor behaviour, how culture and power shape the provider-survivor relationship, and how centering survivor resistance and agency transforms the support we offer. Participants will leave with practical insights they can bring directly back to their work — whether in frontline support, group facilitation, policy, or program design. This workshop is grounded in principles of collective care and is designed to be reflective, relational, and practice-focused.
Closing (3:15 – 4:15 pm)
Join us at the main ballroom in the closing of our two-day conference with a closing keynote.
More Information Coming Soon.
Join us as we gather all participants back in one space to close our two days together and honour the work that we all do for survivors and for our communities.
