Online training raises awareness of gender-based violence

Online training raises awareness of gender-based violence

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Dr. Kharah Ross created training curriculum for the Alliance against Violence and Adversity

A new online training platform is raising awareness of gender-based violence and removing barriers between academia and the community organizations that support survivors and families.

The Alliance Against Violence and Adversity, or AVA, launched the online platform earlier this year to address gender-based violence and promote the health and wellness of girls, women, and gender-diverse people.

"Gender violence is a massive problem," said Dr. Kharah Ross, an associate professor in Athabasca University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Mobilizing knowledge for maximum impact

Gender-based violence can mean physical, sexual, psychological, economic, or other suffering directed at women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Statistics vary by population group, including among Indigenous women and queer, trans, and non-binary communities.

Ross is a co-lead of the overall AVA project, which includes researchers from the University of Calgary. She led the development of the learning curriculum, AVA Online, which is available to community partners and learners across Canada.

As a health psychologist who works extensively in maternal and child health, one of Ross's aims with AVA is to bridge the gap between academia and the community to share knowledge for maximum impact.

"So often nowadays, it's like the community is doing its thing and academia does its thing and never the twain shall meet. So we're very intentionally trying to bring down that barrier here."

AVA offers courses and micro-credentials

AVA's online training platform is knowledge mobilization in action, Ross said. The curriculum was developed for a diverse group of learners to understand gender violence and how to help. That group includes professionals such as social workers, nurses, and psychologists working in the community, research trainees, and even the general public.

Users can enrol in individual courses or micro-credential programs such as the AVA Online Training Certificate. Some training programs focus on mentorship and internship, which allows learners to work on a project with a community agency.

"One of the huge things that AVA does is we talk to a lot of people with lived experience, and people in the community have made huge contributions, too," Ross explained.

Introduction to undergrad research

AVA isn't just building a bridge between research and community, it's introduced the world of research to an AU undergraduate student.

Ross hired Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Major student Josh Flis as a research assistant this past spring and summer. The role involved evaluating and troubleshooting the AVA Online user experience, course content, and other technical aspects. Working on the project not only gave Flis an introduction to research, he also got to support a project tackling an important issue personally.

Flis said having someone on the research team with lived experience is critical for the work that AVA does in implementation science and knowledge mobilization.

"We're not just studying a digital learning platform, we are adeptly cultivating an asynchronous, collaborative learning model for replication."

Flis added that it's important for researchers to understand that peoples' lived experiences and what's going on in their heads or behind closed doors are often very different than what's shared publicly. Researchers should be asking questions about how to integrate academia with practical understanding to promote a resilient learning experience and address a systematic issue.

Not only did Flis learn about scientific research methods and evaluation tools through the AVA project, he got the opportunity to publish and present an abstract related to the work at AU's recent Graduate Student Research Conference.

Flis's abstract, Evaluation of the Alliance Against Violence and Adversity (AVA) Online Training Program: Addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) through Academic-Community Collaboration and Training, won second place at the university's signature research event.

"Gender based violence is real and painful," he said. "To be able to address this particular systemic problem through our research feels really good."

Learn more about AVA and gender-based violence training modules.

Learn more about Ross's work through AU's Pure research portal.

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