AAISA Learns

The Sexual and Gender-based Violence, Support and Prevention course is a self-paced e-learning that assists service providers in the settlement sector to increase their capacity with an in depth understanding of the issues of gender-based and sexual violence to assist them in responding to and providing supports and preventative measures to survivors.

In this course, participants will become familiar with the root causes of sexualized and gender-based violence, including the prevalence and barriers associated with SGBV. It will examine the various impacts of violence as it relates to various populations through applying an intersectional framework. It also explores SGBV in the context of settlement and the role and responsibility of front-line workers in identifying, responding, and preventing SGBV. It seeks to recognize high-risk factors and challenges in complex cases working with survivors as well as practical strategies in addressing SGBV.

This course also examines the importance of reflections on the part of front-line workers and addressing the ability to recognize one’s one biases, and deconstructing myths associate with SGBV to adapt strength-based approaches in this work. It also recognizes the role of cultural competency and trauma- informed care in service delivery.

This 4-part course will help settlement practitioners understand what trauma is and how trauma manifests through behaviours, introduce a trauma-informed approach and strategies to their work, and help practitioners feel empowered and confident to support newcomers in crises. Participants will become familiar with trauma and its impacts on the settlement, adaptation and integration process. We will consider how supporting clients experiencing trauma can lead to distress for settlement practitioners and develop tools to support the wellbeing of practitioners.