St. Michael’s students help with provincial announcement

Mcguinty government launches public education campaign to encourage healthy, equal relationships between boys and girls

Sandra Pupatello, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, surfs the EqualityRules.ca website with students from St. Michael’s Catholic School in Toronto. Left to right: Nephi Kankam, Jade Niles-Craig, Audrey Tulio, Idah Mozwa and Givon Luxmore-Wint.

The McGuinty government is launching equalityrules.ca, a groundbreaking public education campaign to educate youth, aged eight to 14, about the importance of healthy, equal and respectful relationships, Sandra Pupatello, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, announced today.

“This pioneering campaign will empower young people to develop the positive behaviours necessary for healthy relationships in their teenage and adult years,” said Pupatello. “EqualityRules.ca speaks the language of youth to help them recognize and respond to attitudes and behaviours that are unhealthy versus those that are healthy.”

The campaign is anchored by the EqualityRules.ca website and also features television and cinema ads. The campaign features scenarios that illustrate harmful behaviours and attitudes that can lead to violence against women and girls, and offers viewers a choice of ways to manage these situations in the right way.

Equality Rules! Grades 7 and 8 students from St. Michael’s Catholic School in Toronto join Minister Sandra Pupatello for the launch of EqualityRules.ca.

“Early intervention is the key to breaking the cycle of violence,” said Donna Hansplant, Vice-President, Counselling Services for Kids Help Phone.  “I applaud the government for taking this innovative approach to reducing violence and abuse against women and girls in our communities.”

The campaign also includes a $1.2 million in funding to community groups to promote healthy, equal relationships.

The campaign fulfills another commitment of the McGuinty government’s, four-year, $68 million Domestic Violence Action Plan. Other initiatives include:

• Investing $571,925 in the Neighbours, Friends and Families campaign that provides information to help people who know women at risk recognize the signs of abuse and know what action to take;
• Investing over $58 million over four years to boost community supports such as shelters, crisis lines, and counseling;
• Investing $4.6 million in 28 initiatives over three years to help women and children at risk and to train professionals to intervene earlier when they spot the signs of abuse.