The 23rd Piece: Bystander Intervention

Join us for a very special episode of our podcast Peace by Piece, where we chat with law students Catherine Avrutin and Anna Shin, as well as supervising attorney Anju Fujioka, to talk about memory loss, trauma, intoxication, and sexual assault trials. How does memory loss and trauma impact a trial? What biases around intoxication might show up for the judge or jury? What do survivors need to know about moving through a legal process? You won’t want to miss this one!

Today’s episode I have the honour of talking with Ro, Vida and Jashen on what it means to be black, past, present, future. No one experience can represent a full group, but today they were generous in sharing what it means to them to be black in Canada and why black history month (still) matters. Linking black oppression and gender-based violence, naming specific changes needed, and offering concrete books & thinkers to follow, this conversation is one you will want to add to your podcast list this month. As always, if you have any feedback please reach out to [email protected] or connect with us via our socials.

BDSM can be so much more than what you do in the bedroom. Kink can be playful, supportive, intimate, liberating, and community-based. Our Host AnnaLise talks to Mx Eve and Dreamy about the expansiveness of kink and its connection to queerness and queer spaces.

Contrary to popular belief, the A in LGBTQIA+ does not stand for ally. In our hyper-sexualized world that puts romance on a pedestal, asexuality and aromanticism are frequently forgotten and misunderstood. Join us as we chat with Heidi about queerplatonic relationships, couple’s privilege, and the challenges and joys of being aro/ace.

Have you ever wondered about polyamory? In this episode I chat with Jacob about polyamory and the abundance of love that is possible when we step off the relationship escalator and build intentional relationships with respect, openness, and lots of communication.

July is Pride in London! Pieces of Pride is a special mini season of our Peace by Piece podcast where we’ll be talking about who is included in Pride, who gets left out, and why. Whose identities are made palatable by mainstream narratives, and whose are excluded, disparaged, or just plain ignored? This first episode is a conversation between host AnnaLise and her wife, Holly. They discuss how we’ve had marriage equality for almost two decades now, have by many measures achieved gay inclusion, and how when people think of gay folks now, they think of AnnaLise and Holly’s life: two white women, married with a kid and a house and dog and porch to sip wine on. They discuss how this is homonormativity, and how even though they encounter issues and exclusion, even though the world is still not built for them, they are the goal of so much of Pride organizing. But there are so many other ways of queer living and queer loving that are not palatable to mainstream, that are not understood or recognized. Ways of queer being for which there is no straight counterpart, no direct translation. These will be the focus of the following 3 episodes this month. Stay tuned!

Abortion has been legal in Canada for more than 30 years but it is still a strangely taboo topic in our culture.  Robyn Schwarz, a local activist for reproductive justice in SW Ontario, offers us a practical understanding of Canadian abortion laws, and the realities of navigating reproductive healthcare in our current culture. An open conversation that supports informed decision making for us as individuals and as advocates for accessible healthcare. Content warning: this episode discusses not only abortion but pregnancy loss.

When we witness gender-based violence it can be tricky to know how to respond, even when we really want to help.  Using the 5 D’s of Bystander Intervention, this episode offers practical tools to help identify when and how to respond in a way that is safe and supportive.  We all have a part to play in creating a culture of accountability that doesn’t tolerate acts of gender based violence.

Content warning: this episode contains references to sexual assault from the perspective of a perpetrator We cannot end sexual violence without working with those who cause harm, the perpetrators themselves. In this episode, our host Dr AnnaLise Trudell has a raw and at times emotional conversation with a man who has perpetrated sexual violence. Using Mia Mingus’s four-part model of accountability, they discuss the ongoing process of self reflection, what apology and repair looked like it in his particular case, and how he moves forward with changed behaviour. They also work through some messiness and nuance around “cancel culture”, and discuss his decision to come forward for this interview while remaining anonymous. This is a heavy episode. You will hear both the guest and our host process through some difficult concepts and emotions. Accountability, like healing, is a journey rather than a destination. We invite you to sit with us in the messiness of this process, but we also want to remind you to take care of yourself.

Content warning: this podcast contains references to sexual assault. May is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and this can’t be missed episode will help you gain a better understanding of the issue, the causes and the prevention tactics that work (and those that don’t). 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men will be sexually assaulted at some point in their lives. If you need help, we’re here for you. Call our 24/7 Crisis and Support Line: 519-642-3000