b'the shame and the guilt that was builtFor Johnson, it has always beenof May 2024. We wanted to provide into the changes that happened to ouressential that the councils mandate isa space where people could share their communities. These discussions ledinclusive of Two-Spirit peoples. Atown experiences and understand a little to the development of an action planour 2022 Family Gathering, there was abit more about all of these issues, [and] for gender-based violence, which wasclear need for a safe space for people tothe fact that the violence that happens approved by the Leadership Council indialogue about gender and to promoteis even more prominent within Two-April 2022.understanding, acceptance and safety,Spirit and gender-diverse communities, One of the initial priorities identifiedshe says. The stats they found in theirsaysJohnson. was the need to support victim servicesliterature review showed that Two-SpiritThe council plans to use this learning in First Nations communities. The Riskand gender-diverse folks were particularlyto inform future work, including Assessment and Danger Assessmentvulnerable to gender-based violencepotential channels for the voices of Two-Tools (RADAT) research project wascompounded by racism and homophobia.Spirit and gender-diverse individuals to established in 2022. We were able toTheir Two-Spirit Learning Series wasbecome more prominent in leadership undertake a research project to supportconducted between March and the enddecision-making processes.those working with First Nations survivors of violence, to look at risk assessment indicators and support the development of tools more reflective of First Nations, says Johnson. In the future, the hope is to work with partners to establish official training modules. As part of this work, our initial literatureSUPPORTING review identified some very startling data on First Nations intimate partnerINDIGENOUS violence, and we also provided training to almost 300 individuals working withCOMMUNITIESFirst Nations victim services who verified the need for more training and supportsparticularly those that speak to issues within First Nationscommunities.Another priority outlined in theFor decades, Graham has proudly worked action plan was surrounding the issue ofalongside Indigenous communities human trafficking. When we talk aboutdeveloping meaningful relationships MMIWG2S, there is a link to humanthat share our values of commitment for economic and community development, trafficking, Johnson notes. There areas well as contributing to education and so many root causes, and through ourtraining programs with Indigenous groups research for our risk assessment project,across Canada. we learned more about the connections between those who have been part of the child welfare system and those who unfortunately have been trafficked, as well as the link between early childhood experiences of sexual abuse and later experiences of intimate partner violence. Since then, the council has been working to provide more awareness and understanding, hosting a lunch-and-learn series in 2023 and sharing resources with communities through the COO website. At COOs Community Wellness Conference in 2024, which was co-hosted with the Ontario First Nations Young Peoples Council, an awareness session on human trafficking was held specifically to support the messaging for young people alongside public awareness campaigns such as the Safe Space posters (2021-22) and Kindness Is Our Way buttons (2023). I ssue1 2024/25C hIefs ofo ntarIoA dvocAte magazIne l 27'