Community Guidelines; YWCA Canada’s Anti-Gender-Based Violence Staff Network Centre

Welcome to YWCA Canada’s Anti-Gender-Based Violence (AGBV) Staff Network Centre. This online space is designed to support and empower members of the AGBV Staff Network in their work. Through the Centre, you can access upcoming session details, session recordings, learning resources, and the Network forum to share, discuss, and connect with other members. It is important for YWCA Canada to foster safe, inclusive and respectful relationships offline and online.

YWCA Canada’s team will review and approve all members’ log-in accounts. As for the forum page, YWCA Canada will act as the moderator and will have the final approval new articles, posts, and comments. YWCA Canada may flag, moderate and/or delete articles, posts and comments that do not respect our community guidelines.

Please see the Anti-Gender-Based Violence (AGBV) Staff Network Centre’s Community Guidelines below. It is important that members follow and respect guidelines to ensure this online space is accessible and positive for all.

  • Respect toward AGBV Staff Network Members and Survivors: YWCA Canada is committed to promoting a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for all employees and volunteers. We are committed to working in good faith, mutual aid and reciprocal respect.  This Network brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Make sure all interactions are respectful and understanding of others’ perspectives. Our AGBV Staff Network believes in and supports survivors, and avoiding any victim-blaming narrative and language is essential.
  • Confidentiality and Privacy: It is crucial to protect survivors’ privacy. Please do not share any survivors’ personal information or details that could identify someone accessing services. If discussing a situation, we ask AGBV Staff Network members to anonymize any personal information.
  • Fostering a Safe Space for All: This Network Centre is a space for folks involved in anti-gender-based violence work to connect, learn, and share in a respectful and supportive environment. Creating and maintaining a safe space is essential to ensuring all members feel welcome, valued, and heard. Any form of discrimination, hate speech, or harassment based on gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other characteristic will not be tolerated.
  • Content Sharing: To ensure this space feels as safe as possible for everyone, we ask that content be provided and trigger warnings given when discussing potentially traumatic topics. This can allow members to engage or opt out of a discussion. We invite members not to post any graphic content or explicit descriptions of violence.
  • Content and Resource Sharing: We invite members to share resources and content through the forum, such as research, policies, guides and toolkits, webinars and live learning sessions, reports, etc. Please ensure that the material shared is aligned with YWCA Canada’s values* and the ABGV Network Community Guidelines. When sharing content, make sure you have permission to share and give the proper credit.

YWCA Canada’s staff acts as moderators for the AGBV Staff Network Centre to ensure that Community Guidelines are respected and that the Network’s member’s well-being is protected.

If members do not follow the guidelines in their posts and interactions whitin the AGBV Network and Centre, YWCA Canada Staff (the moderators) can take the following actions:

  • Warning: The moderators can email you to give a warning, request a behaviour change, and highlight the issue.
  • Temporary Suspension: If challenges arise again, the member can be suspended from the Centre (including the forum) for a period designated by the moderators.
  • Permanent Suspension: If a member repeatedly violates the Community Guidelines, this person can be permanently removed from the Centre (including the forum).

By registering with the AGBV Staff Network Centre, you agree to comply with the Community Guidelines and contribute to our shared goal of fostering a safe, inclusive, and respectful online environment for all, and respecting survivors of gender-based violence.

YWCA Canada Values

A Women’s Perspective:

Women must take leadership in shaping society’s direction to achieve equity and equality for all women.

Difference and Diversity:

In order to achieve social and other forms of justice, we must embrace difference and diversity among peoples.

The Whole Person:

Strength, wisdom, and character come from the balanced development of the whole person in body, mind, and spirit.

Community Mindedness:

Healthy communities, free from violence, racism, and other abuses of power, nurture the whole person. Individuals committed to equity advance the growth of such communities.

Global Interdependence:

The world-wide struggle for equity and equality interconnects all women. ywcacanada.ca/who-are-we/