Concurrent Speakers 2026 - Diverse Voices

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Who do you tell

Dr. Alishau Diebold and Atira Lonigro

Session 1B | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA)’s “Who Do You Tell?”™ (“WDYT?”™) is an evidence based education and safety program. “WDYT?”™ is promising practice which focuses on equipping elementary-aged children, families and their communities with the knowledge to recognize the signs and impacts of child sexual abuse and how to supportively respond. For over 30 years, the “WDYT?”™ program has been implemented in school classrooms and community centers across the country. It has been continuously evaluated for both effectiveness and best practice in child sexual abuse education since 1997 to date. The program focuses on three main learning outcomes for children: their bodies belong to them, child sexual abuse is never their fault, and to identify safe and trusted adults to seek support from. Through the collaborative approach of including families, school staff and other community supports, children are left with a network of safe and trusted adults that they can turn to in times of need. The program provides children with the tools, knowledge and language to understand child sexual abuse through various engaging learning modalities including, role-plays, picture cards, videos, and activities based on their developmental age.

Most recently, Alishau Diebold, PhD, RSW, from Mount Royal University, evaluated the “WDYT?”™ program. Alishau analyzed standardized pre- and post-test data collected from participants in Calgary and Grand Prairie, to assess program outcomes. The evaluation concluded that “WDYT?”™ effectively provides children with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate child sexual abuse through developmentally appropriate content. Results from the pre- and post-tests demonstrated significant gains in participant knowledge. The report revealed that investment in programs such as “WDYT?”™ represents an important public health and violence prevention strategy. Research concluded the program’s comprehensive approach, such as, integrating child education, parent and caregiver engagement, and institutional capacity-building, positions it as a strong model for effective, sustainable, and community-based violence prevention programming for elementary school students.

Key Takeaways

Biographies

Dr. Alishau Diebold, PhD, RSW, is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Mount Royal University in the Faculty of Health, Community, and Education. Dr. Diebold’s mixed-methods arts-based research in violence prevention and gender-based violence is grounded in social work practice and guided by principles of community-driven change. Her research advances violence prevention through developing approaches or responses to address persistent challenges in our social systems. Through this work, Dr. Diebold is committed to establishing cross-sector partnerships and centering those most impacted by our systems.

Atira Lonigro (she/her) BSW, RSW has been working in the field of sexual violence since 2017 and has been an Educator and Trainer at Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA) since 2021. Through this position, she has taken lead of the curriculum updates and facilitation of CCASA’s long standing “Who Do You Tell?”™ program. Atira currently coordinates the program’s Community of Practice including 9 licensee’s across Canada.

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Supporting Clients Applying for Protection Orders: practical step-by-step information on remedies to address Family Violence

Stephanie Ma

Session 1C | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

In any situation of intimate partner violence or family violence, one of the first solutions presented after a victim has reached out for help is obtaining some type of protection order against the abuser. If the victim is applying for an EPO there are state supports to do so (such as police, children services and Legal Aid) but an EPO is not the only protection order available through the Courts and the alternatives can be confusing with little assistance provided at any step of the process. We probably have all seen the situation where a vulnerable person could be in a different situation if they could get a restraining order in place against someone, but they simply do not have the ability to do so. In this session, we will break down the different types of orders available (Restraining Orders and their sub-categories, King’s Bench Protection Orders and Peace Bonds). We will take participants step by step through obtaining the application, how to fill in, where to file, what to expect from Court and how to serve. Once the process is de-mystified, social and support workers will see they have the power and ability to help their clients through this process.

Key Takeaways

Practical tips for differences between options for Protection;
Information about what to expect from Courts pertaining to Protection Orders;
Information on impacts of these Orders on other proceedings.

Biography

Legal Aid Alberta provides services to vulnerable Albertans and has a specialized duty counsel program to assist with victims of Domestic Violence. Staff Lawyers have training to continue assistance when addressing longer-term family law matters in Court. I am the Legal Services Manager that oversees this program and group of lawyers.

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Ahlan. Adala. Amanah: Integrated Culturally Responsive Programming for Muslim Women from Crisis to Healing.

Wati Rahmat and Lucy Lu

Session 1D | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

The AAA Model grew organically from community need and the lived experience of its founder, a survivor who built what was missing. In practice since Amanah Community Hub opened in January 2025, it serves Muslim women and participants from over 30 ethnic backgrounds, a population chronically underrepresented in family violence services, at every age and stage, regardless of how long they have been in Canada or how long they have been navigating harm. The model integrates crisis intake, legal navigation, trauma-informed therapy, and peer support into a single continuum of care.

Rather than giving women numbers to call, Sisters Dialogue connects on their behalf to housing, legal services, and benefit applications, while simultaneously providing care packages, childcare, transportation, and therapist connection. She is not waiting to be helped. She is already being held.

The co-presenters bring community leadership, lived experience, and clinical art therapy into a single session. Participants from frontline services, community organizations, settlement agencies, and legal practice will leave with an adaptable framework for designing programming that holds survivors across the full arc, building referral pathways that move support toward the person rather than moving the person between systems, and using community storytelling, art, and healing circles as genuine therapeutic infrastructure. The model has also been applied to Islamophobia and hate incident response, demonstrating its adaptability across contexts where cultural trust is the foundation of effective care.

Key Takeaways

OUTCOMES

Participants will be able to describe how integrated, culturally responsive programming supports survivors across the full continuum from crisis intake to long-term healing, at every age and stage, within a single trusted community space.
Participants will identify the nuances of culturally responsive service delivery with Muslim and other racialized communities, including the distinction between faith sensitivity and cultural acumen, and how applying one without the other creates barriers rather than removes them.
Participants will explore how a safer third space, community-led and free of cost, functions as both a programmatic and therapeutic environment where survivors co-regulate, are witnessed, and heal in relationship with others.

Biography

Lucy Lu is a Chinese-Vietnamese Canadian practising as an Art Therapist, counselling therapist, and artist currently based in amiskwacîwâskahikan/Edmonton with a focus on working with urban indigenous communities and diverse cultural communities. She is a Canadian Certified Counsellor, Registered Counselling Therapist and a Registered Canadian Art Therapist, and a clinical supervisor for art therapy students and graduates. She has been working with Sisters Dialogue over the past few years supporting spaces for healing using arts-based methods to strengthen women and girls to counter racism and Islamophobia.

She runs a private practice called Red Threads Art Therapy https://redthreadsarttherapy.ca/ working with children, youth and adults who have experienced complex trauma and intergenerational trauma.

She is the Artistic Director of Third Space Playback Theatre Edmonton https://www.thirdspaceplayback.com/ and has been facilitating community dialogue and storytelling around anti-racism with culturally diverse communities through this form of improvised and participatory theatre. Her use of Playback Theatre and arts-based interventions in therapeutic and community settings merges her love for embodied listening, storytelling, and facilitating and providing space for the stories of cultural communities.

Wati Rahmat is a Malay Muslim woman, a survivor, a mother of three young men, and an immigrant from Singapore who is grateful to live on Treaty 6 territory. She came to this work not through a classroom but through lived experience, her own and that of the women around her who looked like her, navigated what she navigated, and kept showing up to systems that were not built with them in mind.

When she looks into a room, she notices who is missing and who is taking up space unnecessarily. That instinct is what shaped Sisters Dialogue, the grassroots organisation she founded in Edmonton in 2021, and what continues to shape every program it offers.

She developed the AAA Model (Ahlan, Adala, Amanah), an integrated framework supporting Muslim women and participants from over 30 ethnic backgrounds from crisis through to long-term healing, at no cost, through a single continuum of care. Sisters Dialogue operates Amanah Community Hub, a safer third space built entirely from community, without a parent body or imported model behind it.

What makes Wati’s perspective distinctive is that she has sat on both sides. As a woman who once needed services that did not exist, and as a Senior Policy Advisor working inside the systems that shape how those services are funded and delivered, she brings a grounded critique of where policy and practice diverge.

Her work spans anti-racism, Islamophobia, gender-based violence, and the safety and well-being of Muslim women, youth, and under-served communities. She also serves as a member of the Survivor Advisory Council of the Nisa Foundation.

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A Personal Directive (PD) and Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) –Important and Under Utilised Tools in the Prevention of Elder Abuse

Brendan Klug

Session 1E | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

Advanced Care Planning documents have socially been viewed as only important for individuals who are getting older, already sick, or have a terminal diagnosis. Many community care advocates have determined a need to raise awareness of these documents’ importance for individuals, aged 18 and older. More specifically, ensuring legal documentation is in place helps prevent and mitigate elder abuse. Brendan Klug, MSW, RSW, DCA has spent the past 20 years not only educating the community about the importance of having a Personal Directive (PD) and Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA), but also has assisted individuals with completing their personal advanced care planning documentation. This workshop will outline why everyone 18 and older should complete a PD and EPA; and will clarify how advanced care documentation completion can drastically reduce an individual’s risk of being a victim of elder abuse. Supplementary topics to be covered include how Capacity Assessments work, and what does Capacity mean when it comes to legal document creation versus having to apply for a Guardianship/Trusteeship Order.

Key Takeaways

To educate attendees on the importance of advance care planning, to get them to think about their OWN advance care plan and to encourage them to share what they have learned with others in both their personal and professional lives.

Biographies

Brendan Klug is a Social Worker at the Edmonton Southside Primary Care Network. He has worked primarily with seniors, to assist them with their Advanced Care Planning documents, as well as financial support, retirement planning and housing options.
Brendan believes that the work he does is a vital part of Elder Abuse prevention and has dedicated many years to ensuring that the services he offers are available to as many Albertans as possible.
Brendan has been a member of the Elder Abuse Consultation Team in Edmonton for 21 years and was a founding member of the Elder Abuse Consultation Team in Toronto where he served as a team member for 4 years.
Brendan has been a Designated Capacity Assessor since 2010 and in 2014 was recognized by a Court of Queen’s Bench Judge for the stellar work he had done with Capacity Assessment reports for applications for Guardianship and Trusteeship.
Brendan holds a Masters Level degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto with a specialty in Ageing and the Life course.

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Beyond the Courtroom: Building Trauma- Informed Remote Testimony Spaces

Jacquie Hall

Session 1F | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

enCompass’s Remote Testimony Room (RTR) promotes access to justice by providing a neutral, trauma-informed space with secure technology that allows complainants to testify remotely. The RTR supports complainant participation and well-being, facilitates the delivery of clear and complete evidence, and upholds the truth-seeking function and integrity of the court process.

As more jurisdictions in Canada explore CCTV-enabled testimony spaces, there is a growing need for cross-sector consistency, coordinated standards, and shared knowledge. This presentation highlights the development and implementation of enCompass’s RTR for adult complainants of domestic and family violence, with a focus on collaboration between Crown prosecutors, the judiciary, victim-serving agencies, and community partners. It demonstrates how cross-sector partnerships, awareness-building, and the normalization of victim-centered practices and language are essential to ensuring testimonial aids are accessible, trauma-informed, and uphold the rights of all parties.

This session will explore the barriers complainants face when asked to testify in person. These include fear of seeing the accused, risk of retaliation and intimidation, retraumatization, accessibility challenges, and systemic barriers that disproportionately impact rural, Indigenous, or marginalized victims. These barriers affect survivor well-being and can impede court attendance and meaningful participation, contributing to case withdrawals, delays, or incomplete evidence.

Participants will be introduced to the legal framework of testimonial aids, including relevant Criminal Code provisions, the Canadian Victim Bill of Rights and key case law. The session will outline how these accommodations are accessed, how processes differ for youth versus adult complainants, and the importance of survivor-centered application, including how current practice may actually increase risk to victims.

This presentation will also share findings from environmental scans conducted across Alberta and other provinces, identifying promising practices, gaps and ongoing challenges in implementing remote testimony. Participants will gain practical insights into collaborative strategies that strengthen service delivery and enhance access to justice for victims of crime.

Key Takeaways

Identify barriers survivors face when testifying in person and how remote testimony can support survivor well-being, participation, evidence quality, and the integrity of the judicial process.
Explain the legal framework and process for accessing testimonial aids.
Identify gaps, challenges, and promising practices in remote testimony spaces, with an emphasis on cross-sector collaboration to support implementation.

Biographies

Jacquie Hall (she/her) has worked in the domestic violence sector for 10 years in both rural and urban settings providing front line support, as well as community education. In her current role as the Remote Testimony Facilitator with the Domestic Violence Justice Response Program, Jacquie supports complainants of domestic and family violence through the criminal court process by increasing access to trauma-informed court participation options. The Remote Testimony Room supports complainant’s right to testify safely distanced from the accused, and the courtroom. It is designed to reduce retraumatization and intimidation, increase complainant engagement, and support fair outcomes. In addition to direct client support, Jacquie actively engages with legal system stakeholders to strengthen awareness, implementation and consistent use of remote testimony as a fair and accessible testimonial aid.

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https://www.instagram.com/myencompass

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enCompass Community Safety Agency | LinkedIn

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Advancing Domestic Violence Response in Healthcare: Recovery Alberta

Nicole Smith

Session 1G | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

This session explores the evolution and impact of the Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) education model within Alberta’s healthcare system, with a focus on how structured learning
initiatives have strengthened provider confidence, screening practices, and trauma- and violence-informed care since the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will examine how the DART
program developed in collaboration with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and community partners under Recovery Alberta, has contributed to domestic violence (DV) and sexual violence (SV)
didactic education across acute, inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care settings, while addressing critical gaps in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.

The session will trace the development of DV education from its early grant-funded service model through to its current evolution as a sustainable, module-based learning strategy delivered via MyLearningLink (MLL). It will highlight key lessons learned from frontline implementation, including barriers related to shift work, system restructuring, and inconsistent access to training, as well as the transition toward scalable, 24/7 accessible e-learning
solutions.

Participants will explore the structure and content of the current DV education modules, including foundational concepts of domestic violence, trauma and violence-informed care,
universal screening approaches, clinical identification strategies, and response pathways.

Special attention will be given to clinical considerations such as strangulation, traumatic brain injury (TBI), mandatory reporting requirements, and the role of interdisciplinary collaboration,
including connections to Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART) and community-based supports.

Finally, this session will outline the future direction of DV/SV education within the Alberta healthcare system, including the development of a foundational sexual violence module and
ongoing efforts to strengthen equity, consistency, and system-wide response capacity.

Key Takeaways

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Describe the development and impact of the DART education model within Alberta’s healthcare system.
Identify key indicators and clinical considerations for recognizing patients experiencing domestic violence.
Apply trauma and violence-informed screening and response strategies in clinical practice.
Understand referral pathways and interdisciplinary supports, including SART and community resources.
Recognize how modular, system-wide education supports sustainable practice change and improved patient outcomes.

Biographies

Nicole Smith holds a Master of Science with a concentration in Forensic Science from the University of Florida (2019), a Bachelor of Nursing from Athabasca University (2015), and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta (2005). Nicole is an experienced Clinical Consultant, and Nurse Educator with over 18 years of nursing practice across pediatric and adult care, including operating room, emergency, medsurgical, mental health, and forensic settings. Her professional roles have included Forensic Nurse Examiner with both the Calgary and Edmonton SART teams, Clinical Consultant for e-Mental Health pilot project, Consultant within the Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) Project, and Sessional Nursing Instructor at
the University of Calgary.

Her expertise extends to curriculum development, knowledge translation, quality improvement initiatives, and implementation science within mental health and domestic
violence portfolios. Nicole has supported grant-funded research projects, including the AHS & Innowell e-Mental Health Pilot Research Project ($2 million) and the Provincial Family Violence Treatment Program Best Practices Review. Her contributions to the domestic violence discipline include a literature review on the Epigenetic Effects of Child Abuse on Telomere Length, development of forensic nursing guidelines, and published
Domestic Violence Education modules for the My Learning Link Platform.

Nicole maintains professional memberships with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CNRA) and the Canadian Nursing Protective Society (CNPS). She continues to advance her expertise through professional development in trauma & violence awareness, forensic medicine, and domestic violence intervention.

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Concurrent Session 2

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 | 1:30pm – 3:00pm

Indigenous Youth Leadership: Reimagining Prevention and Systems Change

Leibham, Mirasty, Zoobkof, Villeneuve, Robe, Premier, Fournier

Session 2A | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION SESSIONS.

This session explores how Indigenous youth leadership can inform primary prevention of gender-based violence and re-envision child welfare systems through Indigenous knowledge, self-determination, and lived experience. Grounded in an Indigenous-led, participatory approach, the Strong Women’s Circle: The Next Generation project centres youth voices through storytelling, dialogue, and collective reflection, including the co-creation of a documentary film with Indigenous researchers, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Grandmothers, and young Indigenous women. Through this work, youth share their experiences and perspectives on child welfare, systemic barriers, and pathways toward prevention and healing. The project highlights how colonial systems continue to shape outcomes for Indigenous youth, while also emphasizing the strength, resilience, and leadership of young Indigenous women.

This 90-minute session will begin with an introduction to the Strong Women’s Circle project, a research partnership between Shift at the University of Calgary and the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY). This will be followed by a screening of Strong Women’s Circle: The Next Generation. Presenters will then engage in a panel discussion, reflecting on their experiences and key learnings from the project, followed by an interactive question-and-answer period with the audience.

Participants will explore:
• How can Indigenous youth leadership shape more effective and culturally grounded primary prevention strategies?
• What role do storytelling, lived experience, and relational approaches play in prevention and systems change?
• How can child welfare and social work systems move from reactive responses to upstream, prevention-focused approaches rooted in Indigenous knowledge?

Key Takeaways

Prevention and systems change are most effective when they are:

Indigenous-led
Youth-centred
Grounded in culture, connection, and community.

Biographies

Brooklyn Leibham, Sadie Turning Robe, Lazaya Villeneuve, and Kaitlyn Zoobkoff are Indigenous young women and emerging leaders currently pursuing post-secondary education. Each brings lived experience, cultural knowledge, and a strong commitment to community, advocacy, and systems change. As participants in the Strong Women’s Circle: The Next Generation project, they use storytelling to share their perspectives on child welfare, prevention, and Indigenous youth leadership. Together, they are passionate about creating safer futures by uplifting Indigenous voices and strengthening connections to culture, identity, and community.

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From Reaction to Response: Standardizing Strategies in Child Abuse Investigations

Cynthia Ashe and Sherry Kuss

Session 2B | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

“Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime”, said Herbert Ward. The professionals responding to child abuse play a critical, lasting and impactful role within that shadow’s timeline. While there are now 51 unique Child Advocacy Centres (CAC) partnering with law enforcement across Canada servicing over 10,600 children who have experienced abuse annually, in addition to the numerous law enforcement agencies without access to CACs, there is currently no standardized trauma informed practice guide for responding to child abuse in Canada. The disjointed nature of response strategies is adversely impacting vulnerable children and families as they navigate an extremely complex set of systems, at what is likely the most stressful time of their lives. This is a pressing gap requiring the immediate attention of all those who play a role including law enforcement, child welfare practitioners, advocates, victim services, and those who inform and implement policy development.

While the volume and nature of child maltreatment persists, our professional strategies and response protocols can continually evolve to assist children and families. With the emerging use of tools such as the Child Forensic Interview, and the collaborative nature of Child Advocacy Centres, the necessity to understand and implement consistent standardized practices around these resources is critical, and timely. Cynthia and Sherry will lead a PPT based session on sustainable, evidence-based solutions addressing these challenges, inclusive of trauma informed practice strategies for professionals responding to child maltreatment and abuse, with a lens of practical application. Regardless of geography, population type or access to resources, these principles apply widely. Attendees will leave with an advanced understanding of tools to approach varying response contexts with competence that will enable them to enhance the integrity of investigations, while reducing the impacts on children and families.

Key Takeaways

Respond to reports of child abuse with competence and apply appropriate decision making protocols
Differentiate between forensic and global interviews
Apply practice strategies to enhance the integrity of investigations, while reducing the impacts on children and families

Biographies

Cynthia has extensive experience navigating complex child abuse investigations. Her background is in law enforcement, child forensic interviewing, and developing collaborative multi-disciplinary team strategies. She founded the Canadian Child Forensic Interview Practice Association to support professionals responding to these critical events, and shares evidence-based tools that inform decision making throughout the response and investigation.

Sherry Kuss has 25 years of experience with Alberta Children and Family Services, specializing in joint child abuse investigations and child forensic interviewing. She is a facility dog handler with the Medicine Hat Police Service and holds a Master of Social Work with a clinical focus on trauma informed practice.

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International Child Abduction

Scott Mizibrocky

Session 2C | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

In November 2023, Saira and Muhammad were in the early stages of a marital separation following a serious domestic violence incident. Although no formal custody order was in place, Saira had primary care of their four children after being granted an Emergency Protection Order in August 2023. On November 27, 2023, Muhammad attended Saira’s residence and abducted their five-year-old son, Hamza. Within days, Muhammad fled Canada with Hamza, boarding a international flight to Turkiye. Neither were seen again.

Subsequent investigation revealed the abduction was a deliberate and pre-planned act, with Muhammad having no intention of returning Hamza to Canada. What followed was a complex, multi-jurisdictional investigation spanning two years and involving extensive coordination between the police, the Alberta Crown Prosecutors Office, the Central Authority, the Canadian Department of Justice, and Interpol.

On December 16, 2025, Hamza and Muhammad were located by Mauritian authorities shortly after arriving at the airport. Hamza was reunited with his mother four days later and returned safely to Calgary on December 22, 2025. Muhammad remained in custody and was extradited back to Canada in January 2026.

This presentation will outline the investigative, legal, and operational challenges with international parental child abductions, including evidence development, international warrants, and navigating differing legal systems. Particular emphasis will be placed on inter-agency collaboration, persistence over time, and the human impact of the left-behind parent and children.

Key Takeaways

Understand the dynamics of international child abductions
The complexities of multi-jurisdictional coordination / investigations
Recognize the human impact of parental abductions

Biographies

I have been with the Calgary Police Service since 2003, working in areas which include patrol, serious habitual offenders, General Investigations, Robbery, Sexual Assault Investigations, Homicide Unit, Domestic Conflict Unit investigating Sensitive investigations, international child abductions and now as a supervisor.

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When Technology Becomes A Weapon: A Practical Framework For Responding To Digital Abuse

Jeff Roth

Session 2D | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Technology is no longer just a tool. In the hands of an abuser, it becomes a weapon. Smartphones, social media, smart home devices, shared accounts, and everyday digital platforms are increasingly weaponised to monitor, control, isolate, and harm survivors of intimate partner violence. This form of abuse, known as technology-facilitated abuse, is growing in frequency and complexity, yet the professionals on the front lines of IPV response are often left without the structured guidance needed to address it safely and effectively.

Existing cybersecurity frameworks were designed for enterprise environments and assume a clearly defined external threat. They do not account for the intimate adversary, someone who already has access to devices, knows the passwords, shares the accounts, and will retaliate if they sense their control is being challenged. This gap leaves frontline workers like shelter staff, case managers, social workers, and victim services personnel, navigating complex digital safety decisions without adequate tools.

This session introduces the Cyber Abuse Threat Modeling Framework (CATMF), a survivor-informed, practitioner-facing tool developed specifically to address technology-facilitated abuse in IPV contexts. The CATMF provides frontline professionals with a structured, step-by-step process for identifying digital threats, assessing escalation risk, evaluating their own capacity, incorporating survivor-informed considerations, and developing safe action pathways, all without requiring specialist cybersecurity training.

Attendees will participate in a guided walkthrough of the CATMF using real-world scenarios, experiencing firsthand how the framework supports safer, more consistent digital safety planning.

Attendees will leave with:

A practical understanding of how technology is weaponised in IPV contexts
An introduction to the CATMF and how it can be applied in their own practice
Strategies for incorporating escalation awareness into digital safety planning
A foundation for more consistent, survivor-centred responses to technology-facilitated abuse

Key Takeaways

Participants will develop a foundational understanding of how technology-facilitated abuse operates as an extension of coercive control in intimate partner violence, and why traditional cybersecurity approaches fail to address it.
Participants will be introduced to the Cyber Abuse Threat Modeling Framework (CATMF) and gain practical knowledge of how to apply its five-stage process to assess and respond to digital abuse in their own professional practice.
Participants will leave with an understanding of escalation awareness as a critical component of digital safety planning. This includes how to evaluate the potential consequences of any digital intervention before acting in order to reduce the risk of retaliation and better protect survivor safety.

Biographies

Jeff Roth is a seasoned IT professional with over 26 years of experience, having built his career from the help desk to founding and operating his own Managed IT Services company. Holding an MBA and a recently completed Master’s in Cybersecurity, Jeff brings both business acumen and deep technical expertise to his work. His graduate research culminated in the development of the Cyber Abuse Threat Modeling Framework (CATMF), a structured tool designed to help frontline professionals assess and respond to technology-facilitated abuse in intimate partner violence contexts. Jeff is passionate about leveraging technology to empower and protect survivors of domestic violence.

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Beneath the surface - preventing sex trafficking and harm in Canada's Extraction Industry

Hennes Doltz

Session 2E | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

The presentation will highlight the work of the EmpowerMen project (Winnipeg) which is focused on engaging men and boys to prevent sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The overall project goals and activities such as youth workshops, training, engagement with law enforcement, research and engaging with the corporate sector are discussed. The main focus of the presentation will include sharing the results of our recent report “Sex trafficking and sexual violence in Canada’s resource extraction industry” (Dec. 2025). The report synthesizes evidence (such as reports, articles, policies, statistics) linking resource extraction, particularly industrial camps (“men camps”) and boomtown environments, to increase risk of sexual violence and sex trafficking. Data about the impact on communities where mining and fracking occur indifferent parts of Canada and the US will be shared to emphasize the need for action. The report also looked at the impacts of the camps of the wellbeing and mental health of the workers and the correlation to exploitation. Recommendations and positive examples to identify and respond to risks and vulnerabilities will be shared as well as those to improve conditions for transient work. Specific examples of what governments (including MMIWG Calls for Justice), industry leaders and communities can do to reduce harm and increase safety, will be shared.

Key Takeaways

Highlighting the connection between resource projects and sexual violence/harm
Sharing examples of evidence through the research
Sharing solutions and practical steps that governments, the corporate sector and communities can take to mitigate risk and increase safety, particularly for women

Biography

Hennes Doltze leads the EmpowerMen Project in Winnipeg. Our team engages men and boys to prevent sexual exploitation and sex trafficking through awareness, training, research, engagement with law-enforcement and relationship building. Hennes has a degree in social work and non-profit management and has worked in different positions in the mental health field, child welfare and criminal justice. He is passionate about men taking a greater part in creating safer communities for women and girls. He regularly presents at trainings for law-enforcement, social services and educators on human trafficking, sexual exploitation and healthy masculinity.

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Actionable ways to address sexual choking

Debby Herbenick

Session 2F | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

As awareness of sexual choking continues to grow, service providers are increasingly being asked to respond to questions about consent, safety, health impacts, and appropriate intervention. This interactive session will share emerging research and evidence-informed educational messages developed to address sexual choking with youth, parents, and professionals. Participants will explore practical strategies for integrating these messages into their own practice while considering common challenges, including disclosure, reporting obligations, and navigating conversations about consensual versus coercive experiences. Through facilitated discussion and small-group activities, attendees will identify opportunities to strengthen prevention, education, and early intervention efforts within their organizations and communities. Participants will leave with practical tools and actionable approaches to support informed, trauma-informed, and survivor-centred conversations about this emerging issue.

Key Takeaways

Biographies

Dr. Debby Herbenick is an internationally recognized sexual and reproductive health professor, researcher, and educator.

She is a Provost Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health and director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion.

For more than 25 years, she has dedicated her efforts to understanding how people experience their bodies and sexual lives.

Among her 225+ peer-reviewed scientific publications, she has published on population-level sexual health issues (including Zika knowledge and adolescent/young adult sexuality education), college sexual health, and changing sexual behavior trends. Dr. Herbenick has also developed and validated measurement scales to assess genital self-image (which can be thought of as how people feel about their genitals and is relevant to people’s willingness to seek healthcare) as well as sexual pleasure.

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Stronger Together: How rural Alberta communities are working to prevent and address Elder abuse

Donelda Laing, Gabrielle Kirk

Session 2G | WED. 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Across rural Alberta, communities are coming together in powerful and practical ways to address elder abuse and support older adults. Through the Coordinate Community Response (CCR) model, this presentation explores collaborative efforts between local organizations, healthcare providers, law enforcement and community members to raise awareness, improve reporting and provide meaningful support for seniors. It highlights innovative programs, grassroots initiatives and approaches the reflect the unique strengths and challenges of rural life. This session will illustrate how prevention, case management, education, and coordinated response can be integrated into a sustainable rural model. Presenters will share concrete examples of cross-sector collaboration, including partnerships as well as strategies for overcoming common rural barriers such as stigma, transportation, and limited service access.

Key Takeaways

Attendees will gain insight into what’s working, lessons learned, and how collective action is creating safer, more supportive environments for Alberta’s aging population.

Biography

Gabrielle Kirk is the Director of Senior Protect, a rural Alberta program focused on preventing and addressing elder abuse through coordinated, community-based responses. She works closely with local partners across healthcare, social services, and community organizations to support older adults through prevention, case management, education, and system navigation. She is also a PhD candidate in Health Sciences at the University of Lethbridge, focusing on seniors health. Her work is grounded in a passion for health equity and improving outcomes for aging populations.

Donelda Laing is the Older Adult Case Manager with the Calgary Rural Primary Care Network, where she collaborates with community partners across the region to support older adults through education, case management and systems navigation. . She works closely with community partners through the Nanton/Foothills and Grasslands Coordinated Community Response organizations to address elder abuse. Donelda’s work focuses on meeting the unique needs of older adults in rural and remote communities through education, prevention, case management, and system navigation

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Concurrent Session 3

Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 10:30am – 12:00pm

Engaging Men: Removing Barriers to Help-Seeking and Offering the Right Supports at the Right Time to Prevent Violence

Ruse, St. John, McGinnis

Session 3A | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION SESSIONS.

Despite being central to prevention, men are often missing from traditional programming and early intervention pathways. This session explores how primary prevention efforts can more effectively engage men and boys before harm occurs, with a focus on reducing risk factors, strengthening protective factors, and shifting social norms that contribute to violence.

Drawing on emerging practice, including Men& , this session highlights simple, accessible ways to engage men earlier in their communities. This includes low-barrier supports such as online platforms, text services, and counselling lines, as well as outreach that normalizes help-seeking and emotional awareness. These approaches focus on reaching men before harmful patterns are established and creating safe opportunities for reflection, accountability, and change.

A key focus is the role of primary prevention in interrupting cycles of violence by addressing attitudes, behaviours, and social conditioning that shape how men understand relationships, power, and conflict. Participants will explore how prevention work can move beyond crisis response to proactive engagement that builds awareness, empathy, and healthier relationship skills at the population level.

The session also underscores that effective work with men and boys requires organizational readiness and culture change. This includes ensuring that policies, staff training, language, and service structures are aligned to support engagement in a way that is consistent, trauma-informed, and does not reinforce harmful norms. Without this internal alignment, efforts to engage men risk being fragmented or ineffective

Key Takeaways

Participants will explore:

Why men and boys often do not engage in prevention or support services
What models are most effective in reaching men safely and earlier in community while reducing stigma and normalizing help seeking.
What organizational readiness looks like in practice when implementing men-focused prevention work

Key takeaway: Meaningful prevention requires accessible, stigma-free pathways for men and boys to engage early, supported by organizations that are prepared, aligned, and committed to sustaining this work over-time.

Biographies

Kim Ruse is CEO of FearIsNotLove, advancing upstream prevention, early intervention, and systems change in family violence by reducing barriers to support, strengthening protective factors, and expanding early, accessible pathways to change. Dr. Jeff St. John is a leader in dignity-driven practice, social health, and violence prevention with over 25 years of experience in research, leadership, and systems change. He is the founder of the Forge Centre for Dignity-Driven Leadership and creator of the Men & Project, a national initiative focused on engaging men earlier and more effectively in support pathways. Wanda McGinnis is Executive Director of Big Hill Haven, leading community-based, collaborative prevention and response grounded in Alberta’s alternative service delivery model, emphasizing cross-sector coordination, safety, and community-connected pathways to engagement.

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When Technology Becomes A Weapon: A Practical Framework For Responding To Digital Abuse

Jeff Roth

Session 3B | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

Attendees will participate in a guided walkthrough of the CATMF using real-world scenarios, experiencing firsthand how the framework supports safer, more consistent digital safety planning.

Attendees will leave with:

A practical understanding of how technology is weaponised in IPV contexts
An introduction to the CATMF and how it can be applied in their own practice
Strategies for incorporating escalation awareness into digital safety planning
A foundation for more consistent, survivor-centred responses to technology-facilitated abuse

Key Takeaways

Participants will develop a foundational understanding of how technology-facilitated abuse operates as an extension of coercive control in intimate partner violence, and why traditional cybersecurity approaches fail to address it.
Participants will be introduced to the Cyber Abuse Threat Modeling Framework (CATMF) and gain practical knowledge of how to apply its five-stage process to assess and respond to digital abuse in their own professional practice.
Participants will leave with an understanding of escalation awareness as a critical component of digital safety planning. This includes how to evaluate the potential consequences of any digital intervention before acting in order to reduce the risk of retaliation and better protect survivor safety.

Biographies

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Stranglehold: Breaking Down the Most Overlooked Lethal Threat and the Survivors Prospective

Logan Frison and Lindsey Yakeley

Session 3C | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

Lindsey and Logan will guide participants through the full scope of strangulation investigations—from the moment of disclosure to courtroom testimony. The session will begin with an overview of how strangulation occurs, including the physiological mechanisms (airway obstruction, vascular compression, and neurological impact), and move into recognizing signs and symptoms, such as petechiae, voice changes, memory loss, and delayed onset injuries.

To ground the learning in real-world context, the session will include a short case study of a high-risk domestic violence file involving non-fatal strangulation. This will illustrate investigative challenges, inter-agency collaboration, and the survivor’s journey through the justice system.

A powerful component of the session will be video clips of a survivor at various stages of recovery, healing, and court proceedings. These clips will highlight the emotional and psychological toll of strangulation, the importance of trauma-informed interviewing, and the survivor’s perspective on what helped—and what didn’t—throughout the process.

Key Takeaways

Education on the risk of strangulation, the lasting effects, and how to support survivors.

Biographies

Det Logan Frison started with the CPS in 2012 and worked patrol in downtown Calgary. She was an investigator with the Domestic Violence Team from 2019, handling the highest risk domestic cases in Calgary, until 2023 when she was promoted to Detective. She went onto a role with a District General Investigative Unit, and is currently with the Organized Crime Unit.

Det Lindsey Yakeley joined the CPS in 2011. She has prior experience working patrol in the Northwest district of Calgary before working with the Domestic Conflict Response Team and then joining the Domestic Violence Team in 2019. Lindsey was promoted to Detective in 2024, and currently works at the LUNA Center with the Child Abuse Unit.

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Ending Municipal Pathways for Sexual Exploitation–Based Businesses: A Survivor- Centered Approach

Andrea Heinz

Session 3D | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

This presentation shares findings from a review of business licensing and land-use bylaws in 40 Alberta municipalities, identifying regulatory gaps and contradictions that allow sexual exploitation-based businesses (SEBBs) to operate, normalize, and evade accountability. It highlights how broad licensing categories, development approvals, and inconsistent enforcement can inadvertently legitimize exploitation and re-victimize individuals in the sex industry. The presentation outlines a survivor-centered policy pathway, including the phased elimination of municipal licensing and zoning routes for SEBBs, enhanced exit supports, clearer bylaw definitions, targeted enforcement against purchasers and traffickers, and provincial coordination. The second portion features a lived experience panel, followed by a Q&A, offering practical insights and actionable steps for government leaders and policymakers.

Biographies

Andrea Heinz is the Project & Policy Lead with the Alberta Centre to End Trafficking in Persons. From 2006 to 2013, she faced the harsh realities of the City of Edmonton’s municipally-licensed commercial sex industry. Currently completing a Bachelor of Professional Arts in Governance, Law, and Management at Athabasca University, she also holds a diploma in Correctional Services from MacEwan University.

As a peer-reviewed scholar on commercial sexual exploitation, Andrea has written for various professional publications, participated in numerous interviews, and served as a witness for the 2022 parliamentary review of Canada’s prostitution laws (PCEPA). Since 2013, she has been involved in delivering Commercial Sex Offender Programming (“john school”) in Alberta, and in 2024, she co-authored the book “When Men Buy Sex, Who Really Pays?” & alongside fellow
advocate Kathy King.

Andrea has received numerous accolades for her work, including the Woman of Courage award (Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation), the inaugural Dr. Zohra Husaini award for exceptional dedication to advancing the human rights of women (Indo-Canadian Women & Association), a
Human Rights Champion award (John Humphrey Centre for Peace & Human Rights), and the Joy Smith Award (Soroptimist International Club of Edmonton).

Key Takeaways

Increased Awareness of Municipal Policy Gaps: Participants will understand how current business licensing and land use bylaws across Alberta municipalities unintentionally enable sexual exploitation-based businesses to operate. They will be able to identify key gaps, contradictions, and regulatory blind spots within their own jurisdictions.
Practical Tools for Policy Reform: Participants will leave with concrete, actionable strategies to reform municipal bylaws, including clarifying definitions, removing licensing pathways that legitimize exploitation, and aligning zoning and enforcement practices with a survivor centered approach.
Commitment to Survivor Centered Approaches: Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how municipal systems can re-victimize individuals and will be equipped to shift toward policies that prioritize safety, dignity, and exit supports while focusing enforcement on purchasers and traffickers rather than those being exploited.

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Responding to Sexual Offending When Learning Looks Different

Angela C. Stypula and Duncan Easey

Session 3E | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

Young people and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and an intellectual disability who have committed sexual violence offences are often embedded in systems that prioritize risk management over meaningful learning for the individual, accountability, and long-term community safety. This session presents a trauma informed, strengths based approach to accountability and behaviour support that recognizes both the seriousness of the harm caused, as well as the unique learning, communication, and support needs of individuals with both a neurodevelopmental disorder and an intellectual disability. Rather than relying solely on punitive approaches for perpetrators of sexual violence, a shift towards concrete skill building, relational accountability, and practical supports makes safer choices possible in everyday life.

The session will examine two case examples of working with sexual offenders that have a neurodevelopmental disorder and an intellectual disability. Highlighting the efforts and importance of interdisciplinary collaboration that happens between disability services, criminal justice professionals, natural supports, and caregivers to support reintegration without increasing stigma or exclusion for these individuals. While the two case examples will demonstrate this importance, emphasis is placed on adapting strategies to the individual and working collaboratively with schools, service providers, community agencies and with stakeholders that impacts outcomes for the individual. Participants will leave with practical strategies for translating abstract concepts such as responsibility, empathy, and safety into observable, achievable actions that align with cognitive and adaptive functioning.

Key Takeaways

Analyze and apply trauma informed, strengths based approaches to accountability for youth and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities who have committed sexual violence. This will ensure responsibility for harm is addressed in ways that are developmentally and cognitively accessible.
Identify and implement practical strategies that promote behaviour change and reduce reoffending risk by translating abstract concepts such as empathy, consent, boundaries, and safety into concrete, observable skills embedded in real world settings.
Demonstrate how interdisciplinary collaboration impacts supporting safe reintegration without increasing stigma or exclusion, using case examples to adapt approaches across schools, service providers, justice systems, caregivers, and community stakeholders based on individual needs and contexts.

Biography

Angela and Duncan collaboratively share a wealth of knowledge of working within the disability community, and provide a unique perspective of system knowledge and practical strategies when working with sex offenders in the disability community. Through working within multi-disciplinary teams and systems of care, we collectively provide a unique ability to reach a niche audience that can continue the conversation of supporting complex needs individuals.

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From Reaction to Response: Standardizing Strategies in Child Abuse Investigations

Cynthia Ashe and Sherry Kuss

Session 3F | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

Key Takeaways

Respond to reports of child abuse with competence and apply appropriate decision making protocols
Differentiate between forensic and global interviews
Apply practice strategies to enhance the integrity of investigations, while reducing the impacts on children and families

Biographies

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Rooted in Relationship: Indigenous Ways of Supporting Elder Safety

Myrtle Beaulieu, Melvina Many Heads, April Tucker

Session 3G | THURS. 10:30am - 12:00pm

Supporting the safety of Elders and older adults in Indigenous communities begins with relationship how we care for one another, how we stay connected, and how we show up for family and community.

In many communities, harm toward Elders is not always named as “elder abuse.” It is felt through shifts in relationships through disconnection, stress within families, caregiving pressures, and the impacts of intergenerational experiences that continue to shape how people live, trust, and seek support. These experiences are often connected to family violence, even if they are not always spoken about in those terms.

Indigenous ways of knowing remind us that wellbeing comes from balance within self, within family, and within community. When those connections are strained or broken, it can create space where harm can happen. When those connections are strong, they can also be where safety begins.

This session sits within a primary prevention approach focusing on how we can support safety before harm occurs. In Indigenous contexts, prevention is not separate from everyday life; it lives in relationships, in how we support families, in how we pass on teachings, and in how we create spaces where people feel safe to speak and be heard.

At the same time, many who support community whether in formal roles or natural helping roles are often responding to immediate and ongoing needs. Crisis can take up most of the space. This session honours that reality, while opening up conversation around how prevention can still live alongside that work through relationship, presence, and early connection.
Together, we will reflect on how relationships can support safety for Elders and families. This includes building trust, recognizing early signs of strain within relationships, and strengthening connection in ways that reduce the risk of harm before it escalates.

This session is grounded in what is shared and learned from community. It centers relationship first taking the time to listen, creating space across different ways of understanding, and recognizing the role of Elders, culture, and community as the foundation of safety and wellbeing.

One of our Indigenous community case managers will share their experiences from working within community, speaking to the realities of supporting Elders and families, navigating complex situations, and strengthening relationships in ways that help prevent harm. Their voice brings forward what this looks like in practice day to day, relationship to relationship.

This conversation also acknowledges the weight of this work how responding to harm within families can make it difficult to focus on prevention. At the same time, it offers space to reflect on where small, relational shifts restoring connection, strengthening support, and creating safe spaces to talk can reduce the risk of violence before it occurs.

Key Takeaways

Biography

April Tucker is a proud member of the Cayuga Nation from Six Nations of the Grand River. Living and working in Treaty 7 territory, she centers Indigenous Elders’ voices, building relationships and supporting culturally grounded approaches to elder safety through community connection, awareness, and shared responsibility.

Myrtle Beaulieu is a proud Métis/Cree woman, mother, and grandmother with a background in social work and career development. As Indigenous Resource Liaison (North) with the Alberta Elder Abuse Awareness Council, she builds relationships, raises awareness, and supports Indigenous communities in addressing and preventing elder abuse through culturally grounded approaches and advocacy.

Melvina Many Heads is a proud Siksika Nation member and advocate for Elders, known for her compassionate leadership and cultural integrity. Fluent in Siksika language, she supports and protects Elders through advocacy, healing, and community care. A recipient of the Healthy Aging Alberta Empowerment Award, she is deeply committed to elder safety.

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Session 4 - 3 Hour Workshop Option

Choose Your Own Adventure

Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Enhancing Frontline Practice: Identifying and Responding to Child Exploitation and Trafficking

Ronnie Biletsky

Session 4AA - WORKSHOP | THURS. 1:00pm - 4:00pm

This session equips emergency responders, healthcare professionals, social‑service providers, and community partners with the knowledge and practical tools needed to identify, respond to, and safely support individuals experiencing exploitation or trafficking. Trafficking often intersects with emergency systems—people may present in crisis, with injuries, with inconsistent stories, or in the presence of controlling individuals. Yet these moments are also critical windows for intervention. This training demystifies the dynamics of exploitation, highlights the realities faced by victims, and strengthens participants’ confidence in responding effectively.
The session begins with a clear overview of trafficking as it appears in real‑world emergency contexts, including common indicators, risk factors, and patterns of control. Participants will explore how trauma, coercion, and fear shape a person’s behaviour and why victims may not self‑identify or disclose. Using case examples and scenario‑based discussion, the session illustrates how exploitation can be overlooked even by experienced professionals—and how small shifts in practice can create safer opportunities for connection.

A major focus of the session is practical response. Attendees will learn strategies for trauma‑informed engagement, including how to ask sensitive questions, how to create privacy in restrictive environments, and how to prioritize safety when a trafficker may be nearby. The session also outlines pathways for reporting, documentation considerations, and how to collaborate with law enforcement and community agencies while maintaining a survivor‑centred approach.

Participants will leave with a stronger understanding of their role, clear guidance on what to do in the moment, and actionable tools they can apply immediately in their work. By strengthening awareness and response capacity across emergency systems, this session aims to reduce missed opportunities for intervention and improve outcomes for individuals experiencing exploitation or trafficking.

Learning Objectives – After this training participants will:

Understand how and why domestic abusers drug their partners to control, disable, discredit, and sexually assault them.
Improve their ability to inquire about, detect, and address this criminal and harmful activity.
Learn about resources to enable their continued learning in this area.

Key Takeaways

Recognize Indicators of exploitation & trafficking in healthcare & for frontline providers-Participants will be able to identify behavioural, environmental, and situational red flags that commonly appear during emergency encounters and understand how trauma and coercion influence a person’s presentation.
Apply trauma‑informed strategies to safely engage individuals who may be experiencing exploitation. Participants will learn practical approaches for creating privacy, asking sensitive questions, reducing harm, and building trust during brief or high‑pressure interactions.
Implement appropriate response pathways and collaborative actions. Participants will understand their role in reporting, documentation, and coordination with community partners, while maintaining a survivor‑centred and safety‑focused approach.

Biographies

Ronnie is a dedicated nurse and advocate who supports patients experiencing family violence and sexual assault with compassionate, trauma‑informed care. She founded Central Alberta’s SANE and DART programs, empowering survivors to guide their own care. In 2021, she became one of Alberta’s few SANE‑A‑certified nurses and now shares her expertise widely. As an Educator with the Counter Exploitation Team, she has trained over 2000 professionals in recognizing signs of child exploitation & trafficking in healthcare. Ronnie played a pivotal role in establish the region’s first f its kind Sexual Assault Medical Suite. A survivor herself, Ronnie uses her voice and leadership to create safe spaces where others are heard, believed, and supported.

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Problematic Sexual Behaviour in Youth: Supporting Professionals with Identification, Supervision and Safety Planning

Marci Gordeyko

Session 4BB - WORKSHOP | THURS. 1:00pm - 4:00pm

Problematic sexual behaviours (PSB) are child-initiated behaviours that involve sexual body parts, are developmentally inappropriate and may cause harm to other children or the initiating child. PSB includes diverse behaviours, ranging from problematic use of sexually explicit materials to sexual assault. While it is estimated that a significant proportion of child sexual abuse offences are committed by other youth (estimates between 25-60%), there are limited services and supports for identification of and treatment for PSB. This training will provide an overview of typical and problematic sexual behaviours in children and youth, methods for identifying PSB, guidelines for safety planning and supervision, as well as options for treatment.

Key Takeaways

Develop tools to help identify typical, concerning and problematic sexual behaviours, and when a referral to treatment is needed.
Understand the impact and interplay of technology on PSB.
Learn practical guidelines on supervision and safety planning for children and youth with PSB

Biographies

Dr. Marci Gordeyko (she/her), holds a PhD in clinical child psychology, and is a registered psychologist in Alberta.
Her work focuses on assessment, treatment and teaching/training on gender-based violence, trauma across the life-span, healthy relationships and sexuality, attachment and reducing/repairing shame. She has a particular interest in working with those who are at risk for system involvement (e.g., justice and children’s services).
She is currently the Clinical Director of the Stop Abuse in Families (SAiF) Society and the Director for the Mosaic Program for Healthy Sexual Behaviours, which focuses on treating problematic sexual behaviour (PSB) in youth.

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Concurrent Session 4: Round 1

Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Changing Behaviour in Real Time Through The Signal System ™: Leveraging Workplaces for Primary Prevention

Wells, Dozois

Session 4A | THURS. 1:00pm - 2:30pm

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION STREAM SESSIONS.

The University of Calgary’s Shift, a primary prevention research hub, has led a multi-year, applied research partnership with the Calgary Police Service (CPS) to examine how workplace-based interventions can prevent harassment and strengthen cultures of safety, equity, and belonging. This research responds to a critical gap in the field: limited evidence on how to effectively engage men in the primary prevention of gender-based violence —particularly men in high-resistance, male-dominated environments like policing. CPS provided a unique setting to study these dynamics, combining a strong institutional commitment to culture change with persistent challenges in engaging personnel across ranks on issues such as gender equity, harassment, and psychological safety. The intervention, The Signal System™, builds on the Changing Contexts Approach developed by Shift in collaboration with 14 partners and launched in 2020. It focuses on three core strategies: (1) using intentional framing to reduce defensiveness and resistance; (2) leveraging workplace networks to activate social contagion; and (3) applying context-specific cues and behaviours to shift everyday norms.

Drawing on five years of implementation and mixed-methods evaluation (2021–2026), this presentation shares key findings on the effectiveness of the approach, highlighting the importance of behaviour-focused learning, peer influence, and contextually relevant content in increasing participation, strengthening informal accountability, and contributing to early shifts in workplace culture.

Key Takeaways

Attendees will gain insights on how to:

Reduce defensiveness and increase engagement in high-resistance, male dominated environments.
Work with networks to trigger social contagion to shift norms and culture.
Use context-specific signals (social cues) to shift norms and behaviours.

Biographies

Lana Wells and Elizabeth Dozois are leaders in advancing primary prevention of gender-based violence through systems change, research, and workplace innovation. Lana is the Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence at the University of Calgary and leads Shift, a research hub focused on preventing violence before it occurs. Elizabeth Dozois is a strategy, and systems change expert specializing in workplace culture, leadership, and social innovation. Together, they developed The Signal System™, an evidence-informed approach that equips organizations to shift behaviours, strengthen cultures of safety and belonging, and embed prevention into everyday practice.

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Better. Different. More.

Iman Gatti

Session 4B | THURS. 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Better. Different. More.

A guide to recovering from grief and trauma and supporting those going through it.
Learn how to increase your communication skills and nervous system regulation to recover from over 44 types of loss.

Key Takeaways

A guide to recovering from grief and trauma and supporting those going through it.
Learn how to increase your communication skills and nervous system regulation to recover from over 44 types of loss.

Biographies

Iman Gatti, author of, the best-selling memoir, Cracked Open ~ Never Broken, is a 5 X published author, a Creative Consultant, Certified Grief Recovery Specialist and Transformational Speaker.

Through her work, she helps people to, elevate their self-esteem, deepen their authenticity, recover from grief and trauma, and step fully into the greatness we are all born for.

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http://www.imangatti.com/

https://www.instagram.com/imangatti/

http://facebook.com/imangatti

@imangatti

International Child Abduction

Scott Mizibrocky

Session 4C | THURS. 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Key Takeaways

Understand the dynamics of international child abductions.
The complexities of multi-jurisdictional coordination / investigations.
Recognize the human impact of parental abductions

Biographies

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Integrating Early Mental Health and Parenting Supports in Child Welfare Responses to IPV

Lisa Sura / Amanda MacEwan /Alyssa Rodger

Session 4D | THURS. 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Young children are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV). Early and sustained exposure to fear and chronic stress can disrupt brain development, with lasting effects on emotional regulation, learning, and relationships. While responsive caregiving can buffer these impacts, IPV often undermines caregiver well-being and can profoundly affect parenting and family well-being, often creating complex and unique challenges.

In Canada, exposure to IPV remains a leading driver of child protection investigations, often positioning child welfare as the first point of contact for families experiencing IPV. This underscores the need for coordinated, cross-sector responses that bridge child protection and community-based services. Safe at Home is a five-year, multi-partner initiative designed to strengthen this collaboration across Ontario and Manitoba. Led by the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada in partnership with the Child Development Institute and Changing Ways, the project brings together 22 service delivery partners to expand access to trauma-informed interventions, including Indigenous-led approaches.

At the center of this collaborative model are two evidence-informed programs, Mothers in Mind and Caring Dads, along with the Indigenous adaptations of these programs. Mothers in Mind is a 12-week, mother-child therapeutic program that intervenes early in the lives of mothers and their young children impacted by trauma, strengthening maternal well-being, fostering nurturing parent-child relationships, and supporting families in healing from the impact of relational trauma. Caring Dads is a 17-week program for fathers who have perpetrated IPV or child maltreatment (or are deemed at risk to do so), to understand their actions, take responsibility and improve relations with their child. Caring Dads exists to change current practice to better include fathers in efforts to enhance the safety and well-being of their children.

This presentation will share emerging lessons from implementing a cross-sector model integrating child welfare and community-based services. It will highlight strategies for aligning mandates, strengthening referral pathways, and embedding trauma- and developmentally informed practices within child protection contexts.

Findings emphasize the importance of sustained collaboration, shared learning, and investment in relationship-centred approaches. Strengthening coordination across sectors and expanding access to evidence-informed supports can reduce system involvement, interrupt cycles of violence, and promote healing for families affected by IPV.

Key Takeaways

Recognize the value and impact of cross-sector collaboration between child protection services and community agencies, including key strengths, challenges, and opportunities, including potential for systems change across systems levels.
Understand how Mothers in Mind and Caring Dads function within a coordinated, collaborative service model.
Identify the role and significance of Indigenous adaptations within collaborative, trauma-informed service delivery

Biographies

Lisa Sura, MSW, RSW (she/her), is the Senior Clinical Program Lead at Child Development Institute, an accredited child and youth mental health agency in Toronto. She has 25 years of experience developing and implementing innovative intervention and prevention services across the children’s mental health, child protection, and gender-based violence sectors. Lisa is a co-creator of Mothers in Mind, a trauma-informed therapeutic group program designed to support mothers who have experienced relational trauma and are parenting children under four. Her work focuses on promoting parent–child well-being, advancing trauma- and violence-informed practice, and strengthening collaborative service responses for families.

Amanda MacEwen is a Registered Early Childhood Educator with over 15 years at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, supporting infants, young children, and caregivers through trauma informed, holistic and strength-based programming. A proud mother of three and devoted auntie, she is committed to uplifting families and ensuring services remain community focused, culturally grounded, and rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing. Before joining NCFST, Amanda volunteered for seven years on the Community Council, strengthening her dedication to community advocacy and
Indigenous family wellness. She now manages the Dtebashkine Bawaajige Dream Keepers Team, overseeing EarlyON, prenatal and postnatal supports, home visiting, Aboriginal Head Start sites, and parenting initiatives that foster strong families and
healthy child development.

Alyssa Rodger, BA (Psychology and Family Studies, Western University), Trauma Certificate (Wilfrid Laurier University) (she/her), is a Project Coordinator with the Caring Dads program at Changing Ways, where she supports the implementation of evidence- informed interventions focused on engaging fathers who have caused harm. Alyssa brings over five years of experience supporting families impacted by intimate
partner violence across community and residential settings. At Domestic Abuse Services Oxford, she designed and led a community-based outreach program for women experiencing gender-based violence, providing counselling, system navigation, and trauma-informed group programming. She also represented the organization on Oxford County’s Situation Table, collaborating with cross-sector partners to coordinate responses for individuals and families facing elevated risk, and advocated at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s ‘A Remarkable Assembly’ in 2024 for recognition of intimate partner violence as an epidemic.

In her current role, Alyssa coordinates multi-partner initiatives across Ontario and Manitoba and has also developed and piloted a voluntary program for men at Changing Ways. She works closely with child welfare, community-based, and Indigenous partners to strengthen collaboration and advance integrated, trauma- and violence-informed approaches that center safety and long-term well-being.

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Circle of Safety: Culturally Grounded Healing for Indigenous Women, Men, and Children Impacted by Family Violence

Cherie Potskin & Lincoln Nanaquqwetung

Session 4E | THURS. 1:00pm - 2:30pm

This session will explore the Circle of Safety Program, a culturally grounded, trauma- and violence-informed program supporting Indigenous women, men, and children impacted by family violence. Rooted in ceremony, relational practice, and the Seven Sacred Laws, this 16-week program creates a safe and inclusive space for healing, accountability, and reconnection.

Participants will gain insight into how Circle of Safety addresses the intergenerational impacts of violence through a whole-family approach. The program integrates women’s and children’s circles, while also recognizing the importance of engaging men in ways that support responsibility, behaviour change, and healthier relationships. Cultural teachings, parenting support, and child-focused interventions are woven together to strengthen family systems and restore safety.

This session highlights how culturally grounded, community-led programming can improve emotional regulation, rebuild trust, and increase protective factors for children and caregivers. It will also explore how creating consistent, safe spaces through ceremony and circle processes supports long-term healing and reduces risk of future violence.

Participants will leave with practical tools, adaptable strategies, and a deeper understanding of how to implement culturally responsive, family-centered approaches in their own communities and organizations.

Key Takeaways

Understand how to implement a culturally grounded, circle-based model that supports women, men, and children together in healing.
Learn practical tools to strengthen caregiver-child relationships, emotional regulation, and safety planning.
Explore effective approaches to engaging men in accountability and behaviour change while maintaining survivor safety.

Biographies

Lincoln Nanaquawetung, BSW, RSW

Lincoln Nanaquawetung is a Registered Social Worker from Fishing Lake First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory, Saskatchewan. He has worked with the Aboriginal Counseling Services Association of Alberta (ACSA) for over 11 years as facilitator of the Men’s Circle of Safety Program and most recently the Program Manager, supporting Indigenous men impacted by family violence, trauma, and intergenerational challenges. Lincoln is passionate about culturally grounded healing, accountability, and helping individuals strengthen relationships with themselves, their families, and their communities. In his spare time, he enjoys reading true crime novels and autobiographies and spending time walking his guide dog, Shadow.

Cherie Potskin

Cherie Potskin is an Indigenous woman with roots from Treaty 4 Territory, Saskatchewan, and has called Edmonton home for more than 30 years. She serves as Program Manager with the Aboriginal Counseling Services Association of Alberta (ACSA), overseeing Women’s Circle of Safety, Supportive Counselling, Supporting Children’s Resilience, and Holding our Anger Bundle. All healing programs for Indigenous individuals and families. With over 20 years of experience in human services, Cherie is passionate about creating culturally safe spaces that support healing from trauma, strengthen family connections, and promote community wellness. Her work is grounded in Indigenous teachings, relationship building, and empowering individuals to reclaim their strengths and walk in their healing journey.

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Concurrent Session 4: Round 2

Thursday, October 29, 2026 | 3:00pm – 4:00pm

From Data to Action: Place-Based Prevention Is Where It Is At

Rempel, Wells, Claussen, Solden

Session 4F | THURS. 3:00pm - 4:00pm

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION STREAM SESSIONS.

Effective primary prevention must be grounded in local realities, particularly in rural and small-town contexts where rates of gender-based violence are often higher and social dynamics, service access, and community networks differ from urban centres. This session will highlight a community–university partnership between three organizations-YWCA Banff, Rowan House Society in High River, and Big Hill Haven located in Cochrane along with Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence at the University of Calgary demonstrating how communities can use local data to identify patterns of perpetration, engage stakeholders, and design targeted, place-based strategies to stop violence before it starts.

Drawing on applied research in Banff, Cochrane, and High River, presenters will share practical tools for translating police, shelter, and community data into action. Participants will see how local and open access data can reveal trajectories of perpetration and highlight critical windows for prevention.
Three case studies will guide the session. In Banff, participants will explore how the tourism and hospitality sector can be engaged to address workforce dynamics, housing pressures, and social conditions shaping risk. From Rowan House Society, participants will learn how rural communities can be “primed” for primary prevention by building trust, creating shared language, and supporting local leadership. The Cochrane example will demonstrate the value of engaging the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, alongside municipal leaders, FCSS and businesses, to strengthen coordination and earlier intervention.

Participants will be guided through each case study, with time for reflection and questions to support application in their own contexts. Participants will explore how to access and use local data, mobilize leaders to shift social conditions, and apply place-based approaches for primary prevention.

Key Takeaways

Participants will explore:

How can communities’ access and use local and open access data to better understand patterns of perpetration?
What does it take to mobilize local leaders and systems around changing the social conditions to prevent violence perpetration?
How can women’s shelters lead place-based approaches that are focused on stopping violence before it starts.

Key takeaway: Primary Prevention is most effective when it is locally driven, data-informed, and community-led.

Biographies

Dr. Ebony Rempel, CEO of YWCA Banff, brings leadership in community-based prevention and rural systems change. Lana Wells leads Shift at the University of Calgary, advancing primary prevention through research, policy, and practice. Linette Soldan, Executive Director of Rowan House Society, contributes expertise in shelter leadership and community response. Wanda McGinnis, Executive Director of Big Hill Haven is leading innovative “shelters without walls.” Dr. Caroline Claussen specializes in applied, evidence-informed evaluation. Together, they bring complementary expertise across leadership, research, and frontline practice.

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Ahluwalia: A Peek Into The Tort Of Family Violence, Challenges And Barriers, And Providing Support To Clients

Stephanie Ma

Session 4G | THURS. 3:00pm - 4:00pm

This session will provide attendees with the basic information surrounding tort law and the Ahluwalia decision at SCC. The session will also aim to touch on practical realities for how this new Tort may impact clients and their family proceedings.

Key Takeaways

Biographies

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When Survivors Are Ready: What Helpline Data Reveals About Sexual Violence Help-Seeking

Haley Scott

Session 4H | THURS. 3:00pm - 4:00pm

This session presents findings from five years of aggregated data from three of Alberta’s specialized sexual violence support and information lines, offering a real-world view into how, when, and why people seek help.

The data challenges common assumptions about sexual violence and crisis response. While some individuals reach out in the immediate aftermath of harm, the largest proportion of contacts relate to violence that occurred more than one year earlier. Help-seeking is not driven by when the violence occurs, but by when individuals are ready and able to reach out.

The data also highlights the central role of relationship dynamics. In the vast majority of cases, the person who caused harm is known to the survivor. When the harm involves family members or other trusted individuals, help-seeking is significantly more delayed, while harm involving strangers or brief acquaintances is more likely to prompt earlier contact. These patterns point to the complex interpersonal dynamics that shape disclosure and access to support.

Findings will also explore who seeks help, including the significant proportion of support people and professionals, the range of experiences disclosed, and what individuals are seeking at the moment they make contact. The session will examine the role of specialized support and information lines as a first point of contact, often before engagement with formal systems, and as an entry point into a broader network of services.

Seasonal patterns in contact volume are also examined. While volumes fluctuate throughout the year, the nature of contacts remains consistent, reinforcing that these variations reflect when individuals are ready and able to reach out rather than changes in underlying need.

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of sexual violence help-seeking as it occurs in practice and consider how these findings can inform broader conversations about access, service design, , and how individuals access support across the lifespan.

Key Takeaways

Identify less visible patterns in help-seeking, including delayed contact and relational influences.
Explain how these patterns shift common understandings of when and how people seek support.
Apply these insights to examine access points and pathways into support across different service contexts.

Biographies

Haley Scott (she/her) is the Co-Chief Executive Officer at the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services. Drawing upon a depth of experience, Haley has a deep understanding of the impact that sexual violence and trauma specific services and supports have on individuals, families, and communities. Haley is honoured to foster collaboration among the sexual assault services in Alberta and works to ensure that all Albertans have access to specialized services and supports.

Haley’s motivation stems from a passion for the prevention of violence and her unwavering belief that change, however challenging it might be, can happen by engaging in meaningful community-based dialog and leveraging those insights to inform public policy and systems change. Haley has a Master’s Degree in Social Work, specializing in leadership, and has worked in the fields of domestic and sexual violence since 2007.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-scott-71116788

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/aasas/

Recognizing and responding to Canada Red Flags Laws: What Everyone Needs to Know

Silvia Clark & Paulette Leer

Session 4I | THURS. 3:00pm - 4:00pm

This one-hour session examines Canada’s Red Flag firearm laws introduced under Bill C-21, which provide new legal tools to help prevent harm in situations of elevated risk. The legislation enables courts to issue Emergency Prohibition Orders when an individual may pose a danger to themselves or others, as well as Emergency Limitations on Access Orders that temporarily restrict access to firearms in urgent circumstances. These mechanisms are designed to support early intervention and enhance safety for individuals, families, and communities.

The session will provide a practical overview of how these orders work, including who can apply, what the application process looks like through the Alberta Court of Justice, and the types of evidence that may be required. Participants will gain insight into timelines, possible outcomes, and key considerations when supporting someone through this process.

A central focus of the session is how professionals—particularly those working in domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and gender-based violence contexts—can support individuals in applying for these orders. This includes recognizing risk, helping gather and document relevant information, understanding referral pathways, and providing trauma-informed, survivor-centered support throughout the application process.

Recognizing that risk is not limited to any one population, the session also highlights how these laws can be applied across a range of situations and life stages. Participants will leave with increased awareness of how Red Flag laws function, when they may be appropriate to consider, and how they can contribute to broader efforts to prevent violence and promote safety.

This session is educational in nature and intended to enhance institutional understanding. It does not constitute legal advice.

Key Takeaways

Attendees will be able to:

Explain Bill C-21 and the role of Red Flag laws in enhancing safety within the context of domestic, family, intimate partner, and gender-based violence.
Describe Emergency Prohibition Orders and Emergency Limitations on Access Orders and their application for at-risk individuals.
Navigate the Alberta Court of Justice application process using practical, real-world scenarios.

Biographies

Silvia Clark is the Red Flag Laws’ Project Coordinator with 10 years’ experience supporting women and families facing gender-based violence. She provides frontline advocacy and connects survivors to supports using trauma-informed approaches. She also co-facilitates prevention presentations locally.

Paulette Leer has 16 years of experience working in the field of family violence, supporting women and children through crisis, outreach, and second stage housing. For the past six years, she has had the privilege of working as the Second Stage Coordinator at Mountain Rose Centre.

What she loves most about her work is connection. She values the relationships she builds with women and the opportunity to walk alongside them during difficult times. Being able to build trust, listen without judgement, and support them as they move toward safety, healing and independence is incredibly meaningful to her.

Over the years, she has learned it is the connection we make with someone that can be the beginning of hope and change.

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Beyond the Courtroom: Building Trauma-Informed Remote Testimony Spaces

Jacquie Hall

Session 4J | THURS. 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Key Takeaways

Identify barriers survivors face when testifying in person and how remote testimony can support survivor well-being, participation, evidence quality, and the integrity of the judicial process.
Explain the legal framework and process for accessing testimonial aids.
Identify gaps, challenges, and promising practices in remote testimony spaces, with an emphasis on cross-sector collaboration to support implementation.

Biographies

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Session 5: 3 Hour Workshop Option

Choose Your Own Adventure

Friday, October 30, 2026 | 9:15am – 12:15am

Problematic Sexual Behaviour in Youth: Supporting Professionals with Identification, Supervision and Safety Planning

Marci Gordeyko

Session 5AA WORKSHOP | FRI. 9:15am - 12:15pm

Key Takeaways

Training Objectives:

By the end of the presentation, trainees will:

Develop tools to help identify typical, concerning and problematic sexual behaviours, and when a referral to treatment is needed.
Understand the impact and interplay of technology on PSB.
Learn practical guidelines on supervision and safety planning for children and youth with PSB.

Biographies

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Enhancing Frontline Practice: Identifying and Responding to Child Exploitation and Trafficking

Ronnie Biletsky

Session 5BB WORKSHOP | FRI. 9:15am - 12:15pm

Key Takeaways

Recognize Indicators of exploitation & trafficking in healthcare & for frontline providers-Participants will be able to identify behavioural, environmental, and situational red flags that commonly appear during emergency encounters and understand how trauma and coercion influence a person’s presentation.
Apply trauma‑informed strategies to safely engage individuals who may be experiencing exploitation. Participants will learn practical approaches for creating privacy, asking sensitive questions, reducing harm, and building trust during brief or high‑pressure interactions.
Implement appropriate response pathways and collaborative actions. Participants will understand their role in reporting, documentation, and coordination with community partners, while maintaining a survivor‑centred and safety‑focused approach.

Biographies

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Concurrent Session 5: Round 1

Friday, October 30, 2026 | 9:15am – 10:45am

A Shared Path Forward: Prevention Priorities for Alberta’s Sexual Violence Sector

Corinne Ofstie, and Dr. Sarah Fotheringham

Session 5A | FRI. 9:15am - 10:45pm

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION STREAM SESSIONS.

The Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services (AASAS) undertook a multi-phase, sector-wide process to identify priorities for advancing the primary prevention of sexual violence in Alberta. This work builds on a shared recognition in the field of the importance of translating broad, cross-sector prevention frameworks into actionable, sexual violence-specific strategies grounded in practice.

Drawing on foundational work developed through IMPACT, Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, and the Government of Alberta, AASAS engaged in a structured and collaborative process. This included a targeted review and coding of policy and practice recommendations, in-depth working sessions with senior leaders from member agencies to refine and prioritize actions, and iterative validation with the broader membership. A second phase further strengthened the work through updated literature and consultations with experts, advocates, and organizations representing Indigenous and other equity-deserving communities, ensuring priorities were grounded in lived experience and diverse community contexts.

Through this process, a refined and sector-owned set of primary prevention priorities emerged to guide coordinated and sustainable action across Alberta’s sexual violence sector.

This session will share the process used to translate evidence into sector-specific priorities, the resulting framework for action, and how these priorities can be mobilized to support alignment across organizations, inform planning and investment decisions, and strengthen coordinated prevention efforts.

Key Takeaways

Biographies

Corinne is the Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services (AASAS), working alongside Haley Scott to advance strategic initiatives, communications, and provincial and national partnerships. With over a decade at AASAS, she has led province-wide training, awareness campaigns, research, and collaborative justice initiatives that strengthen responses to sexual violence. She is a recognized leader in cross-sector collaboration, driving system-level change across community and institutional partners. Corinne serves on the Board of the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada and has contributed nationally as a member of the Expert Advisory Circle for the federal Rethinking Justice report.

Dr. Sarah Fotheringham, PhD, RSW, is a research and evaluation consultant specializing in program design, evaluation, community-based research, and social service innovation. She works extensively with the sexual violence sector, supporting primary prevention strategies, specialized service design, restorative and accountability-focused models, implementation planning, and evaluation. Her work bridges research and practice, helping organizations translate evidence into practical, trauma-informed approaches that strengthen safety, survivor-centred practice, and accountability. Sarah is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary and has authored numerous reports and peer-reviewed publications on violence prevention and engaging men and boys.

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Integrating Early Mental Health and Parenting Supports in Child Welfare Responses to IPV

Elisa Sura / Amanda MacEwan /Alyssa Rodger

Session 5B | FRI. 9:15am - 10:45pm

Key Takeaways

Recognize the value and impact of cross-sector collaboration between child protection services and community agencies, including key strengths, challenges, and opportunities, including potential for systems change across systems levels.
Understand how Mothers in Mind and Caring Dads function within a coordinated, collaborative service model.
Identify the role and significance of Indigenous adaptations within collaborative, trauma-informed service delivery

Biographies

Amanda MacEwen is a Registered Early Childhood Educator with over 15 years at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, supporting infants, young children, and caregivers through trauma informed, holistic and strength-based programming. A proud mother of three and devoted auntie, she is committed to uplifting families and ensuring services remain community focused, culturally grounded, and rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing. Before joining NCFST, Amanda volunteered for seven years on the Community Council, strengthening her dedication to community advocacy and Indigenous family wellness. She now manages the Dtebashkine Bawaajige Dream Keepers Team, overseeing EarlyON, prenatal and postnatal supports, home visiting, Aboriginal Head Start sites, and parenting initiatives that foster strong families and healthy child development.

Alyssa Rodger, BA, Trauma Certificate (she/her) is a Project Coordinator with the Caring Dads program at Changing Ways, an organization dedicated to engaging men in ending gender-based violence. Changing Ways works to challenge harmful beliefs and behaviors by promoting accountability and healthy relationships, with a focus on the safety of women and children. Alyssa brings over five years of experience supporting families impacted by intimate partner violence and collaborates with community partners to implement evidence-informed strategies that help men take responsibility for change. With specialized training in trauma-informed approaches from Wilfrid Laurier University, Alyssa is committed to fostering safer homes and communities through prevention and education.

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In/Action: Engaging Boys and Men in Sexual Violence Prevention Through Connection and Accountability

Kristopher Marks

Session 5C | FRI. 9:15am - 10:45am

Sexual violence prevention requires men and boys to be meaningfully engaged – not simply adjacent to the conversation. While many men understand that sexual violence is harmful, far fewer understand its lifelong impacts, the systems and social norms that allow it to continue, or the role they can play in preventing harm before it occurs.

This session explores why traditional “be better” messaging often fails to impact the very people prevention work needs to engage. Many boys and men are socialized to approach harm through a linear mindset, but sexual violence prevention requires something more nuanced: emotional literacy and regulation, empathy, accountability, peer intervention, healthy relationships, and the ability to sit with discomfort without becoming defensive.

Drawing from his professional work in men’s mental health, youth education, psychological safety, suicide awareness, and workplace culture, as well as his lived experience as a male survivor of childhood sexual violence, Kristopher Marks explores what prevention looks like through the lens of both a victim and as a man who must remain actively involved in the prevention of sexual violence.

The session examines how shame, loneliness, rigid masculinity, fear of social rejection, and manosphere narratives can narrow the worldviews of men and create barriers to empathy, help-seeking, accountability, and authentic allyship. It also explores how harmful communities often succeed by offering men something prevention work sometimes overlooks: identity, belonging, certainty, and perceived status.

Participants will learn a practical framework for engaging boys and men in ways that hold accountability while also speaking to identity, strength, belonging, and personal benefit. The goal is not to soften accountability, excuse harm, or minimize the gendered realities of sexual violence – but to engage men and boys more effectively by showing that compassion, emotional regulation, empathy, and intervention are pillars of masculinity – not threats to it.

Key Takeaways

1. Identify common barriers that prevent boys and men from meaningfully engaging in sexual violence prevention, including shame, defensiveness, emotional suppression, fear of social rejection, rigid masculinity, and harmful “red pill” narratives.

2. Examine how identity, belonging, status, loneliness, and social connection influence men’s willingness to practice empathy, accountability, peer intervention, and authentic allyship.

3. Apply a practical conversation framework for engaging boys and men in prevention -focused conversations that support emotional regulation, accountability, healthy relationships, and safer communities.

Biographies

Kristopher Marks is a globally-recognized keynote speaker (TEDx, Aspire), entrepreneur, and educator specializing in men’s mental health, workplace culture, leadership, suicide awareness and prevention, community engagement, and youth education. His inspiring blend of authenticity, humanity, lived experience, and professional expertise highlights his passion for connection and creating meaningful change from grassroots initiatives to boardrooms.

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Stranglehold: Breaking Down the Most Overlooked Lethal Threat and the Survivors Prospective

Logan Frison and Lindsey Yakeley

Session 5D | FRI. 9:15am - 10:45pm

Key Takeaways

Education on the risk of strangulation, the lasting effects, and how to support survivors.

Biographies

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Crisis Intervention (CI)

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Speak your truth! Early and effective support for victims in family court

Sheila Pahl

Session 5E | FRI. 9:15am - 10:45pm

The substance of the very first parenting order is critical to long term outcomes for families. The family justice system has come to understand that conflict is harmful to children, and everyone must take care to encourage and support separating parents to learn how to get along for the sake of their children. When parents are unable to manage their conflict, they are often deemed “high conflict” and can end up mired in litigation for months and years. Throughout, judges and lawyers throw up their hands in frustration, asking “why can’t these people just get along?!?” Too often the answer is because the parents are not engaged in mutual conflict, but rather the conflict is rooted in violence and abuse. Either no one asked the questions, or the victim was actively shut down and told to “leave it out” at the beginning of the legal process.

Victims need support to speak their truth at the very beginning of their path through the family law system in a way that will be heard, is relevant, and can result in parenting orders with boundaries and accountability. Immediate, short-term support can make the difference between a family trapped in court-ordered abusive conflict, or a family with opportunities to heal and move forward. Yes, judges do want to hear it, and they need to hear it. Yes, abusive behavior is relevant to parenting, and yes, it is possible for victims to self-represent successfully.

This presentation will teach participants why and how to support victims to articulate their lived experience of the relationship at the very beginning of their interactions with the civil/family legal system. It will be a high-level overview in order to speak broadly to social workers, court support staff, lawyers, and anyone else in attendance. Information will include practical tips to increase the likelihood of helpful legal outcomes through short-term support. We will talk about the importance of the very first interactions, the roles of different service providers, and how we can work together for results.

Key Takeaways

Participants will consider that “high conflict” and protracted parenting litigation is often unidentified family violence and will learn the importance of safely and properly disclosing abuse in support of protective early parenting orders.
Participants will learn that early, informed, cross-discipline and strengths-based support for victims can reduce the risk of court-ordered arrangements that perpetuate harm.
Participants will have a better understanding of roles across sectors, and will leave the session better equipped to empower victims for self-advocacy and even self-representation in the legal system.

Biographies

Sheila Pahl is currently Managing Counsel for the Family Law Program at Calgary Legal Guidance (CLG). Called to the bar in 2008, she has worked in various roles including private practice, at Legal Aid Alberta, the Children’s Legal and Educational Resource Centre, and has been at CLG since 2016. The focus of her career has been with vulnerable and marginalized people, beginning with a refugee-based immigration practice. From 2016 to 2025 her work was centered on collaborative, trauma-informed and strengths-based practices to support victims of family violence in the legal system.

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Rebuilding Lives (RL)

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Concurrent Session 5: Round 2

Friday, October 30, 2026 | 11:00am – 12:00pm

Growing Up Safe: How PREVNet Is Shaping the Future of Violence Prevention in Canada

Exner-Cortens

Session 5F | FRI. 11:00am - 12:00pm

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION SESSIONS.

Learning Objectives – After this training participants will:

Understand how and why domestic abusers drug their partners to control, disable, discredit, and sexually assault them.
Improve their ability to inquire about, detect, and address this criminal and harmful activity.
Learn about resources to enable their continued learning in this area.

Key Takeaways

Describe emerging risks facing children and youth today, including digital harms and relationship violence.
Explore why early prevention is critical to reducing later violence and promoting lifelong wellbeing.
Demonstrate practical opportunities for schools, communities, and governments to strengthen prevention systems.

Biographies

LANA WELLS PRIMARY PREVENTION SESSIONS

For more than two decades, PREVNet has played a foundational role in advancing the prevention of bullying, teen dating violence violence, and unhealthy relationships for children and youth across Canada. Through a research-practice partnership model, PREVNet’s mission is to build the capacity of adults supporting children and youth by co-creating and sharing knowledge, tools, and resources that reduce bullying and teen dating violence. Over 100,000 websites cite PREVNet’s key messages, and PREVNet’s resources receive over 5,000 visits a month from users around the world.

PREVNet’s purpose to create a space where research, practice, and policy converge. To build this, we are partnered with over 130 Canadian researchers, 60 national youth-serving organizations, and multiple governments and businesses. By connecting researchers, educators, practitioners, and policymakers, PREVNet has helped establish bullying and peer victimization as critical public health and social development issues requiring coordinated, evidence-informed responses. We are also advancing the largest source of evidence-informed teen dating violence resources in Canada.

Today, the prevention landscape is evolving. Young people are navigating increasingly complex social environments shaped by digital platforms, algorithms, online misogyny, social isolation, mental health pressures, and changing norms around relationships, consent, and identity. These realities call for prevention approaches that begin early, evolve across development, and address the continuum of harms that can emerge from childhood peer aggression to adolescent dating violence and later domestic and family violence.

This presentation will explore the enduring impact of PREVNet and available resources, the current challenges facing children and youth in Alberta and Canada, and the opportunities ahead for strengthening Canada’s prevention infrastructure. It will examine how early intervention, healthy relationships education, digital literacy, and cross-sector collaboration can help build safer schools, healthier communities, and more violence-free futures.

As Canada considers long-term strategies to improve wellbeing and prevent violence, PREVNet offers an important model of how research, policy, and practice can come together to create meaningful and lasting change.

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Under the Tree: An Afrocentric Approach to Elder Abuse in African-Descent Communities

Aurelia Uarsama

Session 5G | FRI. 11:00am - 12:00pm

Elder abuse research and intervention frameworks in Canada remain largely silent on the experiences of older adults of African descent racialized as Black. Most existing studies predate 2014, were developed without cultural grounding in African or Caribbean communities, and offer little guidance for frontline professionals working with racialized elders. This gap leaves service providers, law enforcement, health practitioners, and community advocates without the tools to recognize, respond to, or prevent elder abuse in ways that are culturally safe and trauma-responsive.

This session equips multidisciplinary participants with a culturally grounded framework for engaging African-descent older adults on elder abuse. The Tree of Life methodology, an Afrocentric narrative therapy approach developed by Ncazelo Ncube and David Denborough, uses the metaphor of a “tree” to guide elders through four stages: Islands of Safety, Forest of Life, Storms of Life, and Celebration. Africa Centre’s Sharing Circles Under the Tree Project, funded by the Government of Alberta, applied this approach in workshops held in Edmonton and Calgary with twenty-one elders, most of them newcomers to Canada, representing eight countries of origin and nine languages. Evaluation findings showed that 93% of participants reported meeting others with shared experiences, 100% said the activities helped them discuss their past, present, and future, and ten seniors subsequently accessed counselling support. The project also produced translated brochures in six African languages ,a booklet and animated awareness videos, extending reach beyond the workshops themselves.

The session will present the methodology, share evidence from the Alberta workshops, include a brief reflective prompt on cultural safety in participants’ own settings, and close with facilitated discussion on adaptation. For Alberta’s multidisciplinary elder abuse workforce, whose mainstream frameworks often miss the lived realities of racialized elders, the Tree of Life offers a replicable building block for more inclusive, responsive practice.

Key Takeaways

Participants will describe the four stages of the Tree of Life methodology and the cultural principles, ubuntu, cultural humility, and narrative therapy, that anchor it.
Participants will identify specific barriers faced by African-descent older adults racialized as Black when disclosing or addressing elder abuse, drawing on Alberta-based findings.
Participants will reflect on how culturally affirming, trauma-responsive practices can be adapted within their own professional contexts to better serve racialized older adults.

Biographies

Aurelia Uarsama has over 15 years of experience in Canada’s non-profit sector, specializing in program development, project management, evaluation, and service design, with a focus on seniors and older adults. She is the Program Lead for Africa Centre’s Seniors Well-being and Engagement Program in Edmonton, where she led the Sharing Circles Under the Tree Project — a culturally grounded initiative addressing elder abuse among African-descent older adults across Alberta. Her work spans education and community-based initiatives, with research and project management experience in higher education institutions across multiple continents. She brings an agile, practical approach to designing and delivering responsive programs. Aurelia serves as a board member with several Edmonton organizations and is an Executive Member of the Alberta Elder Abuse Awareness Council, advocating for the safety, dignity, and well-being of seniors. She holds a Master’s in Educational Policy from the University of Alberta.

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Supporting Clients Applying for Protection Orders: practical step-by-step information on remedies to address Family Violence

Stephanie Ma

Session 5H | FRI. 11:00am - 12:00pm

Key Takeaways

Practical tips for differences between options for Protection;
Information about what to expect from Courts pertaining to Protection Orders;
Information on impacts of these Orders on other proceedings.

Biography

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Recognizing and responding to Canada Red Flags Laws: What Everyone Needs to Know

Silvia Clark & Paulette Leer

Session 5I | FRI. 11:00am - 12:00pm

This session is educational in nature and intended to enhance institutional understanding. It does not constitute legal advice.

Key Takeaways

Attendees will be able to:

Explain Bill C-21 and the role of Red Flag laws in enhancing safety within the context of domestic, family, intimate partner, and gender-based violence.
Describe Emergency Prohibition Orders and Emergency Limitations on Access Orders and their application for at-risk individuals.
Navigate the Alberta Court of Justice application process using practical, real-world scenarios.

Biographies

Over the years, she has learned it is the connection we make with someone that can be the beginning of hope and change.

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Fathering for the Future: Engaging Fathers Through Domestic-Violence Informed Practices

Michael Bautista

Session 1E | WED. 11:30am - 12:30pm

The need for parenting supports for those that identify as fathers or male caregivers is a crucial factor in the promotion of strong child mental health and wellness. This is especially so for fathers that have engaged in behaviours that have put the needs of their children at risk. Operating from a prevention lens, it is Families Matter’s belief that the sooner we can provide the space, opportunity and support to fathers in conversations around domestic and gender-based violence, will lead to positive outcomes that include child safety and well-being, optimal child development, and improved family functioning.

Since 2019, Families Matter has delivered Caring Dads™, which is a men’s behaviour change program for those that have perpetrated violence towards their children and/or partners. This has provided the platform to engage with perpetrators around their abusive patterns and the impacts this has on the relationship with their children and their development. This presentation will highlight strategies used towards child-centered practices, working towards accountability and rebuilding trust, which are key elements when it comes to engagement with perpetrators, partnering with survivors and fostering safety, stability, and healing from trauma for children.

This workshop will touch on key concepts used to engage perpetrators and will integrate participants in reflective activities utilized in the Caring Dads group setting. As certified trainers in the Safe and Together Model™, which is an international perpetrator pattern-based framework, we will further discuss and highlight how this model has helped Families Matter has moved towards becoming more domestic-violence informed in our practices and how we have supported and trained professionals in this framework to better support their communities. These conversations will provide participants with the opportunity to reflect on current service gaps in their area of work and offer ideas and solutions when working with fathers who have perpetrated harm within their family structures. These important conversations further highlight the need for systems level change to support children and families impacted by domestic violence.

Key Takeaways

Increased Capacity to Engage Fathers Who Have Caused Harm
Deeper Understanding of Domestic‑Violence‑Informed Practice
Identification of Service Gaps and Opportunities for Systems Change

Biography

Michael is a Program Facilitator with Families Matter in Calgary, Alberta. He has been with the agency for 19 years and has been instrumental in the development of their Fathering for the Future program, which provides specific supports to those who identify as fathers. With a Degree in Child Studies from Mount Royal University, Michael has worked in various capacities including early childhood education, youth programming, one-to-one home visitation, group facilitation, leadership and professional development. He has delivered programming in diverse settings that include the jail system, addiction-based recovery centers, to those experiencing homelessness and within Indigenous communities on reservations.

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