A stack of grants have been awarded to groups combating sexual violence all over Nova Scotia.
As part of the announcement earlier this week the province also unveiled a new online course to help people gain a better understand the issue.
Prevention and support specialist Sarah Granke says it’s a response to concerns raised by those trying to help loved ones who’ve been victimized.
“We’ve hear a lot of people say they don’t feel confident of competent in responding to disclosures or support survivors. So, one of the commitments that we made was to develop common training resources that can be used all across the province.”
A committee of 12 community members have been working on the project for almost two years.
Granke says the program is free for anyone to access and is set up to be used by educators and community leaders.
“If they really wanted to show some videos in their classrooms or print off the infographics we would love people to do that. This was really created by Nova Scotians for Nova Scotians.”
She says they hope to grow the curriculum but it will all depend on continued funding from the province.
Meanwhile, some of the more than $630,000 investment will be heading to the South Shore.
Second Story Women’s Centre has teamed up with Be the Peace institute to create the Pink Snowsuit Project.
Community Relations Coordinator Elizabeth Bailey says the idea is to help parents teach their kids about gender issues and consent.
“These are issues that come up really early in life. By the time you’re a teenager you’ve had a lifetime of messages about what’s appropriate and what’s not and it’s hard to introduce new information sometimes.”
The project has received $25,000 from the province.
They hope to launch sometime in May.