These workshops have been held for about 20 years. At the time when we were asked to do them, it was to fill a gap that the young people had observed in their classrooms.
When I say these workshops did not exist, I mean they did not exist in French in Ontario. That was the source of the need to create them, and at the same time to have them led by young women.
We often talk about experts who meet with the girls. But they need a space where they feel free, where they can establish an atmosphere of trust that fosters discussion. The facilitators at our workshops are all from the post-secondary level. They have recently been through what girls in secondary school are experiencing. That is what makes our programming perhaps somewhat different.