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Changing Conversations

Expert insights on everyday sexual violence prevention, intervention, and response

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Changing Conversations, Hosted by Dr. Kiara Mikita, PhD

Changing Conversations - The Podcast!

In this webinar-turned-podcast, Sexual Violence Educator Dr. Kiara Mikita engages in thoughtful conversations with remarkable individuals working across sexual violence prevention, intervention, and response in urban and rural sites. Their insights, grounded in real-world wisdom, offer you fresh perspectives, relevant resources, and practical, everyday prevention, intervention, and response strategies. Join Dr. Mikita and her guests as they unpack complex issues with clarity, offering rich and comprehensive information you won’t find this approachable anywhere else.

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Season 1

With guests Carla Bertsch (she/her), MSW and Femi Akinsanya (she/her), BSc

Learn about how sexual violence awareness and response systems are strengthened and weakened by perceptions about those working within them, and how knowing better will benefit you.

With guest Mandi Gray (she/her), PhD

Learn directly from an expert who made her way through these systems after being sexually assaulted by someone, and who powerfully continues to advocate for awareness and change.

Resources:

This session features guest Mandi Gray, a CIHR and AHS funded researcher, speaker, writer, consultant, and documentary filmmaker, who will share some of her experiences and advocacy with us. This is a learning opportunity not to be missed! Learn more about Mandi and her work: ⁠https://www.mandigray.com/.

With guests Heather Robinson (she/her), BHSc and Morgan Parker (she/her), BSW

Learn directly from experts who provide support and accompaniment through processes like reporting, investigation, the court system and afterward.

With guest Detective Timothy Fitzgibbon, Calgary Police Service

Learn directly from an expert who investigates sexual assault allegations, from Calgary's Sexual Assault Investigative Unit.

With guests Dori Palmiere (she/her), RSW, MSW and Diana Wark (she/her), RSW

As service providers, the topics of sex, sexuality, and sexual health often come up with those we serve and work with. It matters that we are prepared to address matters like sex, sexuality, and sexual health by having built comfort and skill talking about them. Listen in about how to talk about all of this, including an exploration of the social messages we receive about sex and how these messages can impact our practices today.

With guests Pauline Head (she/her), MD FRCPC and Lisa Bell (she/her), BScN

Learn about how trauma- and violence-informed, person-centred care helps specialized healthcare providers determine how to respond and what services to provide to people who are referred to or call upon Calgary’s Sexual Assault Response Team (CSART) and explore when to refer people to CSART and the kinds of considerations to take up before making a referral. Learn from these very skilled and insightful longtime professionals who have navigated countless complex scenarios.

Resources:

The Calgary Sexual Assault Response Team (CSART) is a team of registered nurses, doctors and crisis counsellors who have specialized training and expertise to support people who have been sexually assaulted. They can offer confidential services including medical treatment, emotional support, reporting options, forensic examination and evidence collection for any child or adult who has been sexually assaulted in the last 7 days. CSART services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With guests Hilary Jahelka (she/they), MSW, RSW and Sasha Best (she/her)

We are all aware that being exposed to sexual violence is an incredibly difficult and traumatic experience. What many people may not know is that turning to legal systems to deal with sexual violence can bring with it its own unique challenges and questions.

Increasingly, people who have experienced sexual violence are seeking legal advice to make sense of their own experiences and to better understand the legal processes they may choose to engage with, or may already be involved with.

Learn more about a free program in Calgary that provides summary legal advice as well as connections to non-legal supports with a trauma informed lens and a collaborative approach.

Resources:

Calgary Legal Guidance (CLG) is a non-profit legal organization offering free legal help for no-to-low-income people and those in need, including people experiencing family violence, homelessness, or health issues and who cannot afford a lawyer or have access to paid services.Calgary Legal Guidance offers a number of programs focused on particular areas of law and on specific situations that our clientele may be dealing with. One of these programs is the Sexual Violence Survivors Legal Advice Program.

With guests Meg Martin (she/her), MC and Paula Russel (she/her), MSW, RSW

Did you know that many people struggle to make sense of sexual violence if it isn’t perpetrated by the stereotypical jump-from-the-bushes, armed and masked, stranger-attacker? Did you know that most sexual violence is: not perpetrated by strangers, does not result in physical injury, and is not reported to police?

Listen in as speakers draw upon research and experience to talk about and debunk popular misconceptions about sexual violence—misconceptions that are often also held by people against whom others perpetrate sexual violence, and by the service providers meant to respond to it.

With guest Tamra Burnett (she/her), PhD

Why do survivors report their assaults to the police? What are their hopes from a criminal trial? What survivors want from justice is a complex topic that goes far beyond ideas of revenge and retribution.

Join us to listen and learn from Tamera Burnett, a non-practicing lawyer with a PhD in law. Her specialty is in criminal law, particularly the challenges and unique circumstances of sexual assault in the legal system. Tamera will discuss some of her recent research findings about the justice needs of survivors that she uncovered by talking to women who have been assaulted and exploring their experiences with justice both inside and outside the legal system.

With guest Meg Martin(she/her), MC

How we understand and communicate about sexual violence is often incomplete. The way someone directly or indirectly describes something that someone else did to them might be an expression of uncertainty, or an intentional testing of waters to see how you’ll respond, or even just an incidental mention of something that could feel inconsequential to them. As a healthcare professional in a position of authority, how you hold space in response to this can be of great consequence for the person in front of you. Learn about how to hold space in these contexts well.

With guests Pauline Head (she/her), MD FRCPC and Lisa Bell (she/her), BScN

Learn from longtime members of CSART about how this multidisciplinary group works together to respond to sexual violence in Calgary and when to call on them. Listen in on this rich conversation between CSART’s longest serving specialized doctor and nurse and learn from these super-skilled and very accessible experts.

Resources:

The Calgary Sexual Assault Response Team (CSART) is a team of registered nurses, doctors and crisis counsellors who have specialized training and expertise to support people who have been sexually assaulted. They can offer confidential services including medical treatment, emotional support, reporting options, forensic examination and evidence collection for any child or adult who has been sexually assaulted in the last seven days. CSART services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With guests Pauline Head (she/her), MD FRCPC and Lisa Bell (she/her), BScN

Join us as we discuss the kinds of trauma and violence-informed considerations that govern the nature and content of interactions between specialized physicians/nurses and people who have been sexually assaulted by other people. Learn from long standing colleagues whose decades of experience and insight shine an important light on the myriad considerations that inform a specialized healthcare response, and how to provide information, choice, and control throughout all encounters.

Resources:

The Calgary Sexual Assault Response Team (CSART) is a team of registered nurses, doctors and crisis counsellors who have specialized training and expertise to support people who have been sexually assaulted. They can offer confidential services including medical treatment, emotional support, reporting options, forensic examination and evidence collection for any child or adult who has been sexually assaulted in the last seven days. CSART services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With guest Pam McClusky, Crown Prosecutor (she/her)

Did you know that longstanding trends show that most sexual assaults are not reported to police, and of those that are, only a small fraction are prosecuted? Did you know that though the defence lawyer acts on behalf of the accused, the Crown acts on behalf of the state and not on behalf of those who have made the accusations?

Join us to listen in and learn from Pamela McCluskey, a local Crown Prosecutor who has been practicing law for over 20 years. Pamela’s work has often focused on sexual violence offences, including historical and cold sexual violence cases. Speaking from her perspective as a Crown Prosecutor, Pamela will describe the role of the Crown in criminal trials, some of what might be expected in criminal trials about sexual assault, and in the process, unpack common misconceptions about sexual violence and the criminal legal system.

Please note that although Pamela speaks from her perspective as a Crown Prosecutor, she is not speaking as a spokesperson of the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service or Alberta Justice. Any opinions expressed by Pamela are her own. Pamela does not discuss any specific case and does not speak to any matter that is presently before the Court in any way.

With guest Pam McClusky, Crown Prosecutor (she/her)

Crown Prosecutor Pamela McCluskey is a wealth of experience and knowledge, and she has kindly agreed to return to us! Pamela will round out the first part of the talk she began earlier, and in Part 2, she will speak more about criminal trials and trial processes.

Please note that although Pamela speaks from her perspective as a Crown Prosecutor, she is not speaking as a spokesperson of the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service or Alberta Justice. Any opinions expressed by Pamela are her own. Pamela does not discuss any specific case and does not speak to any matter that is presently before the Court in any way.

With guest Joe Campbell (he/him)

Is it safe to make jokes? Am I allowed to hug a colleague? Can I offer comfort to someone who is upset? What kinds of touch and interaction are and aren't permissible? How can I check in with others? Can we really trust allegations of harassment? How can I know?

This 4-part series asks these questions of three different male experts in gender-based violence. This first episode is with Joe Campbell (he/him), Leading Change Community Developer with the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters.

With guest Jeff Halvorsen, PhD (he/him)

Is it safe to make jokes? Am I allowed to hug a colleague? Can I offer comfort to someone who is upset? What kinds of touch and interaction are and aren't permissible? How can I check in with others? Can we really trust allegations of harassment? How can I know?

This 4-part series asks these questions of three different male experts in gender-based violence. This second episode is with Jeff Halvorsen (he/him they/them), PhD, MPE, CE Postdoctoral Associate & Sessional Instructor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary.

With guest Kasra Hakimattar (he/him), MSW, RSW

Is it safe to make jokes? Am I allowed to hug a colleague? Can I offer comfort to someone who is upset? What kinds of touch and interaction are and aren't permissible? How can I check in with others? Can we really trust allegations of harassment? How can I know?

This 4-part series asks these questions of three different male experts in gender-based violence. This third episode is with Kasra Hakimattar, Advisor, Student Conduct & Conflict Management with the University of Calgary.

With guests Sylvain Coderre (he/him), MD, FRCPC, MSc, Joe Campbell (he/him), Jeff Halvorsen (he/him), PhD, and Kasra Hakimattar (he/him), MSW, RSW

Listen to the three prior episodes in this 4-part series where we engaged each expert individually, and then in this episode, collectively, as part of a panel, to help offer context and clarity on safe workplace engagement practices, tease out harassment facts from fiction, and generate accessible and practical strategies to minimize uncertainty.

This series was spurred by the curiosity of a motivated male-identifying colleague willing to give voice to these common questions in order to learn more about how best to show up for his colleagues, patients, and friends.

What does everyday consent look like? (It’s not just about sex and sexual violence!): Consent – Part 1

With guests Meg Martin (she/her), MC and Paula Russel (she/her), MSW, RSW

Did you know that most of us practice consent on a daily basis? Did you know that attending to how we practice consent in non-sexual situations can improve both our non-sexual and our sexual interactions?

What (else) should we know about consent? Moving beyond the basics: Consent – Part 2

With guests Meg Martin (she/her), MC and Paula Russel (she/her), MSW, RSW

Do you know that there’s more to talking about consent than, “no means no,” or even, “yes means yes?" Do you know how to talk about consent in a way that honours diverse experiences and perspectives?

With guests Femi Akinsanya (she/her), BSc and Paula Russel (she/her), MSW, RSW

Learn directly from experts who provide sexual violence information, awareness, crisis support, and resources across Calgary.

With guest Meg Martin (she/her), MC

Becoming aware of the sexualized violence someone has perpetrated or is perpetrating against someone else can ignite all kinds of responses within us. In a trauma- and violence-informed context, how we manage and act upon those responses should be secondary to and/or in the least informed by the victimized person’s wishes. In some cases, we might feel very differently from them about how to proceed. Listen to this discussion about how to make sense of, and sit with, sometimes very competing feelings.

With guest Jenny Ofrim (she/her), MSW, RSW

Join us as we explore how work in rural areas often means working with fewer resources, different challenges, and sometimes more complexity.

Enhancing Services to Support Sexual Violence Response in Rural Communities

With guest Cathy Carter-Snell (she/her), PhD, RN SANE-A

We are all aware that being exposed to sexual violence is an incredibly difficult and traumatic experience. What many people may not know is that turning to legal systems to deal with sexual violence can bring with it its own unique challenges and questions.

With guest Nolan E. Hill (he/him), BA

This session will explore the unique experiences of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM) in accessing and understanding their health and how this intersects with experiences of sexual violence.

We explore how sexual violence shows up for gbMSM in a variety of contexts, and how this impacts their health outcomes. Health care providers will leave with ideas for ways they can meaningfully and respectfully engage with gbMSM when discussing their health and sexual violence.

With guest Hilary Jahelka (she/they), MSW, RSW

Increasingly, people who have experienced sexual violence are seeking legal advice to make sense of their own experiences and to better understand the legal processes they may choose to engage with or may already be involved with.

With guests Femi Akinsanya (she/her), BSc and Patrina Duhaney, H.BA, BSW, MSW, PhD

How can we better understand the intersection of race and oppression in sexual violence support?

This discussion explores the complex and interconnected nature of sexual violence, oppression, and racism. We will understand how these systems of power and inequality intersect and perpetuate one another, leading to disproportionate harm and violence against marginalized communities. We will explore the roots of sexual violence and the cultural nuances of this issue, as well as the ongoing impact of sexual violence on individuals and communities.

Listeners will ideally develop a deeper understanding of the ways in which sexual violence, oppression, and racism intersect and be better equipped to take action toward creating a more just and equitable world.

What you need to know when working with Indigenous populations – Part 1

With guest Stephanie Tipple (Mi’kmaw), BA (Hons), MSc

The impact of sexual violence on Indigenous peoples is uniquely complex due to centuries of colonialism and intergenerational trauma. In particular, historical and ongoing harm results in mistrust of healthcare services and providers. This conversation will educate listeners on critical knowledge and considerations needed to understand the impact of sexual violence on Indigenous populations.

What you can do when working with Indigenous populations – Part 2

With guest Stephanie Tipple (Mi’kmaw), BA (Hons), MSc

Healthcare providers often experience discomfort and uncertainty working with Indigenous peoples due to a lack of knowledge of colonialism, Indigenous culture, and the diversity of Indigeneity in Canada. Drawing on the critical knowledge and considerations presented in the previous session, this discussion will focus on action-oriented recommendations to address sexual violence when working with Indigenous populations.

With guests Jenny Ofrim (she/her), MSW, RSW and Meg Martin (she/her), MC

Do you know about affirmative consent, and that it is Canada's legal standard?

Listen into this conversation about how consent is often (mis)understood and what we might do differently as a result. They will talk about why “no means no” is an insufficient consent standard (socially and legally), and why expectations around use of the word “no” can be problematic and misguided. Listen in as these sexual violence experts discuss affirmative consent and why it matters, and how examples of how we’re really good at it are everywhere.

Why do survivors of sexual violence seek out and benefit from legal advice?

With guests Hilary Jahelka (she/they), MSW, RSW and Sasha Best (she/her)

Often, people who have been sexually assaulted by other people move through the criminal legal system without truly understanding the process, without knowing why things are unfolding the way they are. The path through the criminal legal system in the context of sexual violence can be confusing – the processes, the people, their roles, the experience of being in court, and what is expected of the person who has been sexually assaulted by another person can all feel overwhelming and unclear.

Join Sasha Best and Hilary Jahelka with the Sexual Violence Survivors Legal Advice Program, in conversation with Kiara Mikita, the Sexual Violence Educator for the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and Alberta Health Services (AHS), as they discuss the basics of the path through the criminal legal system, address common areas of confusion and misconception about sexual violence and the criminal legal system, and talk about how the Sexual Violence Survivors Legal Advice Program works. They will speak to why people who have been sexually assaulted by other people seek out and benefit from legal advice, and the kinds of questions they are commonly asked.

Calgary Legal Guidance offers a number of programs focused on particular areas of law and on specific situations that our clientele may be dealing with. One of these programs is the Sexual Violence Survivors Legal Advice Program.

With guest Diana Wark (she/her), RSW

You will leave this learning opportunity with practical tips to support parents in teaching sexual health and relationship information to their children.