Welcome to GAAP Online!

Posted: June 5, 2012 in Uncategorized
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HIV/AIDS is a global crisis and young people, worldwide, are one of the most vulnerable groups.  Within the youth population there is strong evidence that young women are particularly at risk.

Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention (GAAP) brings together youth, community based service providers, policy makers, students and researchers on projects that use arts-based and participatory approaches to working with young people in relation to sexuality, HIV prevention and AIDS awareness. Our overall goal is the creation of innovative, gender-sensitive HIV education programs for youth. For further information on our projects, please contact us.

Youth Research Symposium on Youth, Sexuality and Reproductive Justice

Posted: March 11, 2013 in Uncategorized
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GAAP Symposium LogoGAAP is excited to announce that our annual Youth Research Symposium is almost here! This year, the topics will be Youth, Sexuality and Reproductive Justice.

The goal of the symposium is to bring together community youth and university students to share their research and artistic pieces on youth, sexuality and reproductive justice. During the symposium, students, youth, academics, policy makers, and community members working in, or interested, in these fields will network and engage in each other’s work.

When: Thursday March 28th, 2013 from 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Where: The William Doo Auditorium (45 Willcocks Street Toronto, Ontario)

*This venue is wheelchair accessible and ASL Interpreters will be present*

**This is a FREE and PUBLIC Symposium. If you plan to stay for lunch please register by Friday March 22, 2013*   For registration and inquiries please contact Cassandra.dangnguyen@utoronto.ca

Please have a look below for our event schedule! Click here for the presentation abstracts. Please click here for presenter bios.

Symposium Schedule of Events

9:30 AM – 10:00 AM – Registration

10:00 AM – 10:10 AM – Opening Remarks

10:10  AM – 11: 20 AM – Panel 1: Reaching Out – Reinvigorating Education on Sexual Health, Homophobia and Transphobia

1) Ashling Ligate: “Performing Education”

2) Maya Lefkowich & Elinor Keshet: “Let’s Hear it for the Boys”: Exploring Masculinities in an Effort to Tailor Sexual Health Programs to Young Men

3) Wendy Dobson, Ricardo Alleyne, and Anny Chen: “Home: A Queer  Experience”

11: 20 AM – 12: 30 PM – Panel 2: Critical Conversations: HIV/AIDS and the Social Determinants of Health

1) Jalpa Shah, David Christie, and Bridget Relyea: Scraps of Free Thinking: A comparative study of youth views on HIV transmission

2)  Nadha Hassen, Kashfia Alam, and Krista Richards: “Addressing the Social Determinants of Health in Practice: An Analysis of Black CAP’S Roots of Risk Programme

3) Kevin Egan: “Investigating non-adherence to HIV Treatment”

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM – Lunch time poster and digital storytelling presentation

1) Ciann Wilson & Nakia Lee-Foon: “The Sex and YOUth project”

12:30  PM – 1:00 PM – Lunch

1: 00 PM – 2: 00 PM - Keynote Speaker 

1) Jessica Fields: “Rethinking Adolescence in Participatory sexuality Education”

2: 00 PM – 3: 00 PM – Community Knowledge 

1) Griffin Centre: “Finding Our Compass: Strengthening LGBTQ Community and Disability Activism through the Arts”

3: 00 PM  3: 10 PM – Planned Parenthood Presentation

3: 10 PM – 4: 00 PM – Panel 3: ‪Youth for Youth: Education and Leadership in Sexual Health and Sexuality Studies‬

1) Ricky Rodrigues: “Totally OutRIGHT”: Creating Young Leaders in Gay and Bi Men’s Sexual Health

2) Zoë Newman, Nikkita Anderson, Alison Aston, Tamika Jarrett, Kulsoom Khan, Carmela Reina AND Michelle Sirju: “My Sexuality Studies Video Diaries”

World AIDS Day 2012: HIV/AIDS Workshop, Sexy Bingo, and Condom Cupcakes

Posted: December 9, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Late this November, GAAP partnered up with Empower, Central Toronto Community Health Centre, and the Sexual Education Centre University of Toronto (SEC)  to set up a fun and informative event for World AIDS Day. 

The night started off with guests, from the University of Toronto and the community, enjoying a hearty meal from Fabarnak, a restaurant located at 519 Church Street Community Centre. While the guests dined, they partook in a game of Sexy Bingo! “What are your top three strategies for talking about harm reduction?” ”What colour is your underwear?” These were some of the questions on the bingo sheet – questions meant to help participants break the ice while easing them into an atmosphere that was both informative and sex positive. After the game was finished, bingo winners received gift certificates to Come As You Are. 

Once dinner was finished, the Empower Youth Mentors, Lydia Hernandez and Greg Khaymov, began their HIV/AIDS workshop. After another fun Ice Breaker, 1 truth and 1 lie, the Empower Youth Mentors began the first part of their workshop. In this phase, Lydia and Greg spoke about the difference between HIV and AIDS, the 5 fluids, routes of entry, the transmission equation, and ended this phase by enlisting participants to help with a fun game of safer sex-y pictionary!

The second phase of the workshop included a discussion of harm reduction. Here, the Empower Youth Mentors did sexy condom demos, the female condom and male condom, and sexy dental dam demos!   During this time,  Lydia and Greg also took on the role of Myth busters as they unravelled the many falsehoods surrounding HIV/AIDS. Next, they spoke about the politics of testing and confidentiality, how testing works, and offered info sheets that listed clinics in Toronto that offers HIV testing. To finish this phase, Lydia and Greg started a discussion about disclosure and personal choice and the social determinants of health and HIV/AIDS.

The third phase of the workshop had participants leaping out of their chair as they happily decorated the delicious cupcakes, sexy decorations of course, that Lydia baked! Click here to see photos of those amazing cupcakes!

After the participants got their full of sweetness, they settled down as Dylan from SEC spoke about the resources that are  available to youth at U of T. After participants engaged in an open discussion about sex and HIV/AIDS, everyone went home with a grab bag filled with an assortment of condoms, lube, and dental dams.

Screen shot 2012-12-09 at 1.42.12 AM    IMG_0657

Empower videos on YongeStreetMedia.ca

Posted: July 29, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Check out an awesome article on Empower’s Peer Education videos here!

Screen shot 2012-12-09 at 3.45.07 AM

A screen shot from Performing OUT sex positivity with Drag and Burlesque

Empower Community Bulletins

Posted: July 18, 2012 in Uncategorized
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The following bulletins were developed for service providers working with youth. They are designed to probe reflection, provide knowledge and inspire action. These bulletins could not happen without the support, wisdom, and energy of Empower Youth participants and Mentors.

Check them out:Screen shot 2012-12-09 at 3.50.40 AM

Empower’s Peer Education Videos

Posted: July 6, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Looking for ways to use the arts in HIV peer education?

You have come to the right place! The following videos were created by any amazing team of Empower youth participants to inspire other youth to take action in their own communities. Ideas can be adopted and changed where needed. These videos were collectively visioned, scripted, and filmed by the group. We are thankful for the support of an amazing group of community artists who helped us move our visions into reality: Hisayo Horie; Mahlikah Awer:i, Dainty Smith and Rosa Mindreau. Warning: These videos are pretty fabulous. Click the link below, and check them out! Please feel free to share to friends, partners, colleagues, and family members.

Video Titles Include:
Performing OUT sex positivity with Drag and Burlesque
Using Spoken Word in HIV Prevention Workshops: Poetry as Expression
What’s Cookin’?: How to Facilitate HIV, Sexual Health or Harm Reduction Workshops for Youth.
Behind the Scenes: Empower Youth Interviews
Behind the Scenes: Community Artist Videos

http://www.empoweryouth.info/resources/peer-education-videos/

We would like acknowledge the Laidlaw Foundation and the Ontario Arts Council for supporting this project.

For questions or to arrange a screening, please contact Sarah Switzer, Empower Project Coordinator at Central Toronto Community Health Centers. Email: sswitzer@ctchc.com. Tel: 416 703 8482 ext 143.

Performing OUT sex positivity with Drag and Burlesque from Empower Project on Vimeo.

Using Spoken Word in HIV Prevention Workshops: Poetry as Expression from Empower Project on Vimeo.

What’s cookin’?: How to Facilitate HIV, Sexual Health or Harm Reduction Workshops for Youth from Empower Project on Vimeo.

Behind the Scenes: Empower Youth Interviews from Empower Project on Vimeo.

Behind the Scenes: Community Artist Interviews from Empower Project on Vimeo.

Youth Research Symposium: “Youth and the Determinants of Sexual Health”

Posted: June 5, 2012 in Uncategorized
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On March 22, 2012, GAAP and Planned Parenthood Toronto co-hosted a youth research symposium entitled, “Youth and the Determinants of Sexual Health.” The event brought together community youth and university students to enjoy a day of academic and artistic presentations, as well as a delicious lunch from the Raging Spoon.

In addition to a keynote presentation by Laina Bay-Cheng entitled Thwarted Agency: The Sexual Experiences of Adolescent Girls in the U.S. Child Welfare System, attendees enjoyed the following presentations:

  • Sarah H. Smith: Institutions and Intimacy: School-Based Sex Education as an Agent of Socialization
  • Jena M. Hall: Social Anxiety in Street-Involved Youth with a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse and its Indirect Effect on Motivations for Sex
  • Erin Konsmo: Taking Action! Art & Aboriginal Youth Leadership for HIV Prevention – Connecting Colonization and HIV through relationships to Culture and the Arts
  • Panel presentation and Digital Stories by Mark Wright, Rainbow Samantha Hunt, Hisayo Horie, and Andii Bykes: Empower Youth: Arts, Activism, and HIV
  • Ciann Wilson: Jezebel: Exploring the Impact of Stereotypes on the Sexualities and Sexual Health of Young Black Women

Photos soon to follow!

 

Upcoming Youth Research Symposium: “Youth and the Determinants of Sexual Health”

Posted: January 28, 2012 in Uncategorized
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Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention and Planned Parenthood Toronto invite you to an upcoming youth research symposium.

March 22, 2012, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
William Doo Auditorium (45 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON)

Keynote Speaker:  Laina Bay-Cheng
“Thwarted Agency: The Sexual Experiences of Adolescent Girls in the U.S. Child Welfare System”

**DEADLINE FOR ALL ABSTRACTS: FEBRUARY 24th, 2012!!**

The goal of the symposium is to bring together community youth and university students to share their research and artistic pieces on youth sexual health and to engage and network with other students, youth, academics, policy makers, and community members interested in Urban Youth and the Determinants of Sexual Health.

We are interested in work that focuses broadly on teen sexual health in the context of sexual and reproductive justice,  relationships, HIV/AIDS, sexuality, equity, the social determinants of sexual health and the connections between sexual health and macro processes such as migration, globalization and neo-liberalism. We know that diverse groups face particular challenges in accessing sexual health services and information both locally and globally. We especially want to welcome work that focuses on diversity and equity.. We encourage youth from all disciplines to present research ‘in progress’, test out ideas for a thesis or dissertation proposal, or present original research or artistic pieces.

This is a FREE symposium  A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Focus Area of Abstracts: The abstracts may be research-focused or artistically-focused (i.e. film, photography, theatre, music, spoken word, etc.) on any of the following areas:

  • Social justice and sexual and reproductive rights
  • HIV/AIDS prevention, sexual and reproductive health and harm reduction
  • Gender and sexual diversity
  • Youth access to sexual health services and education
  • Participatory methodologies that promote youth involvement, leadership and community development
  • Intersectional approaches to equity and the social determinants of youth sexual health
  • Globalization, migration and sexual health
  • Structural violence and reproductive justice
  • Colonialism and sexuality
  • Neoliberalism and sexual health inequities
  • and other related topics

This event is supported by the New College Principal’s Innovation Fund.

Event logo designed by Erin Konsmo.

World AIDS Day 2011: Walking Tour and Film Screening

Posted: December 1, 2011 in Uncategorized
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From the New College newsletter: (See the original here!)

Late last November, U of T students and community youth joined the GAAP project and the Queen West Community Health Centre to raise awareness about World AIDS Day.

Through a walking tour and film screening, the group explored a number of issues concerning the social determinants of health, with an emphasis on sexual health education and harm reduction.

Starting at New College with a presentation from the U of T Sexual Education Centre (S.E.C), students mixed and mingled while snacking on delicious condom-themed cupcakes.

From there, they walked to the Centre for Women and Trans People, a safe space for women and trans people to drop in on campus, and then on to YouthLink, an organization with several locations around the GTA that provide services and programming for street-involved youth. In each they received a tour of the Centres’ facilities and an overview of their services and programming.

Between venues, students took part in some fun, spontaneous art installations related to HIV/AIDS awareness, tying red ribbons around trees and poles, adorning signs with red stickers, and writing chalk messages on the sidewalk.

The final destination of the night was the Queen West Community Health Centre, where we were joined by more community members to share a delicious dinner from Fabarnak, a restaurant located at the 519 Church Street Community Centre.

The night ended off with a film screening of the Empower Digital Stories—a series of short films produced by community youth in the Empower Project around the social determinants of sexual health—and a short documentary, Candlelight Vigil at the Russian Embassy, about the need for harm reduction programming for injection drug users. People shared stories, poems and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, as well as information about resources in the community.

From top left, clockwise: Youth receive a tour of the Centre for Women and Trans People; The sexual health resources at Queen West Community Health Centre; Everyone enjoys dinner and screening of the Empower Digital Stories at Queen West; Tying a red ribbon in honour of World AIDS Day; a mural at YouthLink.

Youth HIV and Sexual Health Education Programs in Canada: What’s Needed to Enhance Evaluation Capacity?

Posted: November 30, 2011 in Uncategorized
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Purpose: The overall goal of this project is to enhance program evaluation capacity for youth HIV and sexual health peer education programs. We intend to use a mixed-method approach to conduct a needs assessment to determine what capacity building is needed among community-based organizations and youth-run groups to enhance the evaluation of youth peer education programs on HIV and sexual health and to identify successful evaluation strategies. This project also aims to strengthen collaborations among peer educators, community groups and academic partners and build research capacity among youth HIV and sexual health peer educators.

Objectives:

The goals are as follows:

1) To gain a better understanding of how youth HIV and sexual health peer education programs in Canada are being evaluated and what strategies are successful;

2) To gain a better understanding of what is needed to build the program evaluation capacity of youth HIV and sexual health peer education programs;

3) To develop an interactive website where youth HIV and sexual health educators can network, provide mentorship and share evaluation methods and tools.

Partners: Planned Parenthood Toronto, LetsStopAIDS, Youth 4 Youth

 

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