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PEI Rape & Sexual Assault Centre organizes Sexual Assault Awareness Week each September with a goal to gather survivors and allies of all genders in community, creating spaces of support, healing, and learning. Each year we choose a theme that we believe meets the current moment for survivors and their communities. This year, for Sexual Assault Awareness Week's 5th anniversary, we have chosen the theme of "tech-facilitated sexual violence".
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Within this theme, we hope​ to start and grow community conversations that focus on the trends we see in tech-facilitated sexual violence, focusing on the ways we can keep each other safe, while also providing education opportunities for those who work in the gender-based violence field, educators, parents, and more. At the same time, we also hope to create space for the empowerment, healing, and connection that online relationships can bring, from social media advocacy to online intimacy.
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See below for some highlights of what you can expect this year:
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March and share a meal with us at Take Back the Night, meet a new friend at book club, discuss ideas and concerns in closed-space discussion groups, or join us for a variety of other in-person events in Charlottetown and Summerside.
Community-Building
This year we have focused on adding more virtual events to our schedule, with education-focused sessions that you can join us for on your lunch break or in the evening. We also hope to share 'Calls to Action' in our promotions, and encourage allies to get involved!
At-Home Action
We are working with community partners to create new educational materials and merch that will be available at our in-person events, and will be sharing resources online to encourage continued learning on tech-facilitated sexual violence.
Resources & More
What is Tech-Facilitated Sexual Violence?
​There are many other ways that technology can be used to facilitate gender-based and sexual violence, including defamation/doxing, online grooming, impersonation, and many forms of hate speech. Technology-facilitated sexual violence can also be something that begins digitally and then moves into the physical world.
Like other forms of gender-based violence, tech-facilitated sexual violence disproportionately affects some communities more than others, with members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and Black and Indigenous women most frequently being targeted.
Technology-facilitated sexual violence can refer to a variety of behaviors, including (but not limited to):
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Online Sexual Harassment:
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​contacting someone online and pressuring them for a sexual interaction either digitally or 'IRL'
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engaging in online hate speech (eg: 'manosphere' content)
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spreading sexual lies or sharing sexual truths online about someone via social media
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making online/text threats or jokes about sexually assaulting someone
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Image-Based Abuse:
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non-consensual distribution of intimate and/or sexual images
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creation of 'deepfake' pornography by altering images, videos, or audios using artificial intelligence ​
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documenting or streaming acts of sexual violence
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Cyberstalking:
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using technology/social media to track someone's activities or location, or to make them feel constantly watched and afraid
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Digital Manipulation & Coercion:
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sexploitation (profiting from non-consensually distributed intimate images, purchasing sexual abuse content)
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sextortion (threatening to send a sexual image or video of a person to other people if the person doesn't pay them or provide more sexual content - can also look like deadnaming or outting)
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Events will take place in Charlottetown, Summerside, and online during Sexual Assault Awareness Week. Please view our 'detailed schedule' PDF below to see relevant notes regarding accessibility, registration, and more
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TAKE BACK THE NIGHT
September 18 | 6pm - 9pm | The Guild, Charlottetown
Drop-In March & Gathering
Take Back the Night is a survivor-centered evening of solidarity, healing, and collective care. This year’s theme, “We Keep Each Other Safe: Building a World Free from Violence,” encourages us to join together to support survivors, raise awareness, foster connections, strengthen our support networks, and commit to the creation of a world rooted in love, healing, justice, and liberation. This night is for all of us, but especially for survivors and those most impacted by gender-based violence, including women, gender-diverse people, Black, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Through acts of love, resistance, and solidarity, we strengthen our commitment to building a world where everyone is safe, supported, and free from violence.
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MANOSPHERE 101
September 19 | 12pm - 1pm | Zoom
Virtual Info Session
The Manosphere is a loose network of online communities that promote outdated notions of masculinity, anti-feminism, and anti-LGBTQ sentiment, often including explicit violent rhetoric toward women, girls, and trans and gender diverse people. These messages don’t just catch the attention of young men and boys—they shape their beliefs, fueling anger, confusion, and isolation. Partnered with the White Ribbon Project, this session seeks to understand what the manosphere is, how it targets young men and boys, and what we can do about this issue as parents, educators, and folks who work in the gender-based violence sector.
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SNAP STORIES:
YOUTH DISCUSS ONLINE HARM
Sept. 20 | 1:30pm - 3:30pm | Summerside Library
Drop-In Discussion Group for Youth (ages 12-18)
Partnered with PEERS Alliance, this event invites youth ages 12 to 18 to join us for activities and discussions about harmful online practices and trends. Snap Stories is an opportunity for youth to voice their lived experiences, share concerns among peers, and imagine what safer online communities could look like! This session is entirely youth-led, with facilitated support, and there will be opportunities to share key findings and messages with community stakeholders following the session (with specific names and stories redacted for confidentiality purposes). Snacks and refreshments will also be provided!
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NAVIGATING ONLINE VIOLENCE TARGETING OUR COMMUNITIES
September 20 | 4pm - 6pm | Charlottetown
Closed-Space Groups (Part 1 - in person)
Two closed-space conversation groups will be running concurrently in partnership with community members/local facilitators, focused on how to navigate the issues discussed throughout the week when you belong to a community who is being targeted the most by online hate. There will be one conversation group for Trans+ community members, and one for BIPOC community members, both happening from 4pm-6pm with a meal provided (location to be emailed upon registration). If you would prefer a virtual session, or if you are a QTBIPOC individual who would like to join multiple groups, please see "part 2" on September 24th. Space is limited and registration is required for both the in-person and virtual groups.
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COMPANION
Sept. 21 | 7pm - 9pm | City Cinema, Charlottetown
Movie Screening & Facilitated Discussion
In the 2025 film ‘Companion’ starring Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid, a weekend getaway with friends at a remote cabin turns into chaos after it's revealed that one of the guests is not what they seem. Blending sci-fi and thriller elements, 'Companion' is a shocking and at times funny exploration of the revenge film that encourages its audience to consider their relationship with technology and tech-facilitated sexual violence.
Please review the content warning found in the event details - movie is rated R16+.
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AI & GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
September 22 | 12pm - 1pm AST | Zoom
Virtual Info Session
This event is offered in partnership with the University of Waterloo's Sexual Violence Prevention & Response Office. More details will be released in September.
Registration opening soon.
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'THE SIRENS' PUBLIC BOOK CLUB
Sept. 22 | 6pm - 7:30pm | Charlottetown Library
Drop-In Book Discussion
‘The Sirens’ is a historical/fantasy fiction that connects women across multiple timelines and various life experiences through shared experiences of trauma. This event is partnered with Bookmark Charlottetown and PEI Libraries - please read the event description to learn more about how you can access a copy of the book and what to expect from the event.
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TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE 101
September 22 | 7pm - 8:30pm AST | Zoom
Virtual Workshop
This session led by Rania El Mugammar will focus on introducing the concepts of transformative justice and accountability as collective interventions geared towards the prevention of sexual violence through education, transformation and early intervention. Survivor centered and led approaches to TJ are central themes within the discussion. Building safer online communities through shared responsibility, lateral teaching and learning and interpersonal accountability are also explored. Rooted within TJ & Abolition, this session challenges us to imagine freedom from violence within our communities and beyond.
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CYBERVIOLENCE & YOUTH
September 23 | 12pm - 1pm AST | Zoom
Virtual Workshop
Partnered with Community Legal Information and facilitated by Jaime Griffin (she/her), this workshop is for anyone who works with or cares for youth, including parents, guardians, educators, and coaches. Participants will learn how to have constructive conversations about cyberbullying, support youth in online safety and decision-making, and respond to cyberbullying situations. Topics include peer-to-peer cyber violence, online luring, sextortion, youth perspectives, PEI-specific trends, and available resources and reporting options.
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CRAFTING DIGITAL SELF DEFENSE
Sept. 23 | 6pm - 8pm | Eptek Centre, Summerside
Drop-In Conversations & Art
Partnered with PEI Coalition for Women's Leadership, this event hopes to create a space for survivors and allies to gather and discuss what ‘Digital Self Defense’ means to them. The event will be loosely structured, with an introduction to the concept of digital self-defense, including definitions and statistics related to various forms of cyberviolence, and then space to have conversations in small groups. The event also allows space for community members to bring up points of concern that they would like to see organizational and/or political advocacy on.
NAVIGATING ONLINE VIOLENCE TARGETING OUR COMMUNITIES
September 24 | Zoom
Closed-Space Groups (Part 2 - virtual)
5pm - 6:30pm | BIPOC closed-space
7pm - 8:30pm | Trans+ closed-space
See full details in the description for our September 20th closed-space groups.
Note: Participants are encouraged to bring a meal to their computer or phone with them as they participate in these groups (PEIRSAC will provide funding to do so).
Follow us on social media to know when more event details have been added:
Get Involved
Our team is happy to consult with anyone who has ideas, concerns, or questions about our programming.
Please reach out to us via email and we will respond as soon as we are able:
Sexual Assault Awareness Week: rachel@peirsac.org
Take Back the Night: takebackthenightpei@gmail.com
Thank you to everyone who makes this work possible!
Sexual Assault Awareness Week aims to be for and by community. Each year, programming is organized by PEI Sexual Assault Centre based on feedback and suggestions from the previous year, and guided by members of the Sexual Assault Prevention Advisory Group, a working group under the Premier's Action Committee on Family Violence Prevention.
Thank you to our Sexual Assault Awareness Week 2025 sponsors*, especially PEI's Interministerial Women's Secretariat who provides annual funding for this project:​​​
Thank you also to those who have partnered with us on events throughout the week:
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*If your organization is interested in partnering on or sponsoring a Sexual Assault Awareness Week event, please reach out to our Community Project Coordinator at rachel@peirsac.org. Sponsor and event partner logos will be featured on our website as well as in print and digital communications.​