About Our Education Program
WomenSafe is dedicated to providing healthy sexuality education and violence prevention education to every student in Addison County. We are committed to the belief that comprehensive and inclusive education is one of the most effective ways to empower students to be healthy and safe friends, family members, and partners. By providing this education early on in a child’s life, they are better equipped to identify the signs of domestic and sexual violence, in addition to seek help when they or someone they know may be experiencing violence. When we equip students with the skill set to be healthy partners, we are able to cultivate a cultural change that works to eliminate sexual and domestic violence.
Last year our training and education program reached 4,180 adults and youth with 568 prevention workshops, presentations, and professional trainings!
Act 1
Act 1 implemented a comprehensive state-wide approach to child sexual abuse prevention. This act focuses heavily on education, as it is one of the most effective tools for violence prevention. Act 1 includes sexual violence prevention in the definition of health education that must be provided to all schools in Vermont. According to the act, for elementary and secondary education, this looks like “How to recognize and prevent sexual abuse and sexual violence, including developmentally appropriate instruction about promoting healthy and respectful relationships, developing and maintaining effective communication with trusted adults, recognizing sexually offending behaviors, and gaining awareness of available school and community resources (Act 1, 2010).”
WomenSafe provides Act 1 education for free for all schools in Addison County. Any school receiving Act 1 education from WomenSafe has the opportunity to host a training on sexual violence prevention for teachers and school staff, as well as a parent night to ensure that all our parents and guardians are informed about WomenSafe, Act 1, what education their child will be receiving, and how to spot the signs of sexual abuse.
You can learn more about Act 1 here
Our Curriculum
Our curriculums primarily center around how to have healthy relationships. For Kindergarten through 6th grade, we use Prevent Child Abuse Vermont’s Healthy Relationships Project curriculum. These lessons aim to provide children with the skills to identify abusive behavior, get help, and how to be a healthy and safe friend. The lessons cover topics including but not limited to: trusted adults, empathy, body language, human sexuality, anatomy, healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships, sexual harassment, self worth, asking for permission, and establishing and listening to boundaries.
You can learn more about Prevent Child Abuse Vermont’s curriculum here
For seventh and eighth grade, we rely heavily on The Vermont Network’s Consent Campaign. With this curriculum, students learn what consent is, how to ask for consent, when consent is needed, and Vermont state laws as they apply to the age of consent.
For high school aged students, we are able to use various different curriculums that fit the needs of the age group. We may teach about subjects such as healthy relationships, consent, teen dating violence, sexual harassment, and societal expectations of gender.
LGBTQ+ Inclusive Ed
WomenSafe is committed to providing LGBTQ+ inclusive education. Historically, sexuality education has focused on cisgendered and heterosexual people. When folks teach any kind of education that only focuses on only one portion of the population, those whose identities fall outside of the “norm” are left to other resources to learn about who they are. It is critical that the education that we provide includes all folks across the gender and sexuality spectrum so that we are meeting the needs of all the children that we educate. To not include LGBTQ+ stories into violence prevention and sex education is to create space for more harm to be done to this community. By learning about different kinds of bodies, identities, love, and abuse, we move to normalize all expressions of self.
We educate youth and adults on what violence looks like LGBTQ+ relationships and how it is different and similar to violence in cis-het relationships. It is crucial that we dismantle the idea that violence only happens in white, straight, cisgendered relationships. By bringing to light how violence occurs in these relationships, LGBTQ+ youth are better equipped to notice the signs of abuse. When we destigmatize reaching out for help no matter what your identity is, we empower youth to put their safety first in relationships.
If you are interested in learning about how you can support the queer youth in your life, check out these great resources from Outright Vermont here
Professional Trainings
WomenSafe also offers professional trainings to schools and community organizations. Our trainings are tailored to the needs of the organization and can cover a range of topics like how to support domestic and sexual violence survivors, LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the workplace, how to identify sexual harassment, etc.
Our Education Team
Anne Burmeister - Education and Violence Prevention Coordinator
Linnea Johnson - Teen Violence Prevention Specialist
To inquire about education or a training, please reach out via email to lj@womensafe.net or ab@womensafe.net