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EAAA Sexual Assault Resistance Workshop

Mrs S. Porter, Assistant Principal —

Some students from Year 12 and Year 13 voluntarily returned to school after their NCEA exams finished this week.

They chose to particpiate in The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance programme which consisted of four three-hour units that involved games, lectures, discussion, application and practice activities. The Assess unit focused on improving assessment of the risk of sexual assault and developing strategies to minimise that risk; the Acknowledge unit focused on overcoming emotional barriers to seeing the danger in situations that have turned coercive; the Act unit offered instruction about effective options for resistance and included two hours of self-defence training; and the Sexuality and Relationships unit provided information on sexual health, safer-sex practices and strategies for communicating about sex. This programme was delivered by two trained facilitators, Rachel Shaw and Casey Brown, from the University of Otago's Te Whare Tāwharau (Sexual Violence Support and Prevention Centre). 

This was the first time that this particular programme has been offered at Otago Girls'. Our vision is to empower our students to make informed and safe decisions regarding their wellbeing. Courses such as this one, help to prepare our students for life beyond school. We will use the feedback gathered from this year's participants to inform our future plans regarding offering this type of course again in 2020.