Two women named in the YWCA Toronto International Women's Day 2016 Women of Distinction announcement will be guest speakers at the Alexander F. Chamberlain Speaker Series at York University on March 15.
Youth activists Tessa Hill and Lia Valente with Premier Kathleen Wynne
Youth activists Tessa Hill and Lia Valente will speak about their activism, their use of digital media to create community, and their commitment to changing rape culture from 10:30am to noon in the Renaissance Room, 001 Vanier College.
Hill and Valente began the successful “We Give Consent” campaign to encourage the Ontario Liberal government to include consent in the Ontario sexual education curriculum. Their online petition was signed by over 40,000 people, resulting in an invitation by Premier Kathleen Wynne to discuss their concerns about the curriculum.
The producers of Allegedly, a documentary on rape culture available on YouTube, Hill and Valente have been widely interviewed by the media and have recently been nominated for CBC Radio’s “Torontonian of the Year” award.
The YWCA Toronto’s 2016 Women of Distinction list salutes the achievements of women and the impact of those achievements “one the lives of girls and women in this city – and beyond”.
The event is presented by the Children’s Studies Program in the Department of Humanities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies.