Yesterday I posted a press release I found on the Toronto Star about funding from the Canadian Government for a new initiative in Quebec trying to end violence against girls.
Since then it has come to my attention, based on comments posted bellow the Star article and discussions with staff at WRC, that perhaps something has been lost in translation from French to English and the project isn't as sinister as it appears.
Commenters 'hysperia', 'Gabby in QC' and 'Stephanie C' stated that "hypersexualization" has a different connotation in Quebec and that the term "root cause" in the English release is actually "one of the causes" in the French version.
Each also posted articles and studies to back up "hypersexuality" as a cause. They can be found here, and here, and here and here.
Despite all of this, I can't shake the feeling that teaching girls that how they dress might have an effect on how they are treated is the wrong approach. Although it is definitely true that boys will react to how a girl dresses, it's the boys that should be receiving education on how to behave around women and girls. At the very least this program should have equivalent training for boys.
It will be very interesting to see how this project progresses, it is a great topic for debate.
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