Community partners launch 'See It. Name It. Change It!' educational campaign against intimate partner violence

A group of community members is working to address Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in KFL&A through a new awareness campaign. See It. Name It. Change It! is an educational campaign against IPV, acting as a tool to empower individuals to recognize the signs of IPV, name harmful behaviours, and take safe and effective action to create change in the community.

Together, Kingston Frontenac Anti-Violence Coordinating Committee, Kingston Interval House, Resolve Counselling Services, Kingston Anti-Violence Advisory Council, Southeast Public Health, the City of Kingston and United Way Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington formed a working group in 2024 to address intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV) in our communities. In addition to sharing resources and amplifying messaging, the group worked together and combined resources to create a See It, Name It, Change It! campaign here in KFL&A. 

In October 2023, Kingston City Council declared intimate partner violence as an epidemic. To date, 100 municipalities across Ontario have done the same. In the past year, since Nov. 26, 2024, there have been 43 femicides documented in Ontario by the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH).

"Kingston City Council declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic was an important turning point in acknowledging its severity in our communities,” says Ruth Noordegraaf, Director of Community Development & Well-being and IIDEA at the City of Kingston. “Addressing gender-based violence requires all of us to work together. This campaign calls on our community to take action—through awareness, advocacy, careful intervention and collaboration—to create a Kingston where everyone feels safe, supported, and free from violence."

This campaign was originally created and launched by Lanark County Interval House & Community Support (LCIHCS) in 2017 in response to seven murders in rural eastern Ontario between September 2015 and February 2016. Since then, it has expanded to other communities as well, including Ottawa in 2024.

The local campaign features photographs of Kingston community members holding signs with the campaign slogan. The photographs, taken by local photographer Will O’Hare, feature an Indigenous Elder, a musician, a paramedic, the Medical Officer of Health, a trades worker, the local Base Commander – Canadian Forces, a Correctional Services Canada commissioner, an artist and a Queen’s student. As simple as the ‘stop, drop, and roll’ fire safety rule, the campaign encourages individuals to take action by identifying, calling out, changing and ultimately ending violence in our communities.

Intimate partner violence refers to all forms of violence that happen within an intimate partner relationship, including by a former partner. The violence can be physical, emotional, psychological, sexual, or financial. Other words used for this form of violence include domestic abuse, spousal violence, woman abuse, family violence, and dating violence. IPV negatively affects the victim’s well-being and health, and the impact can spread to their family, friends and wider community. IPV is complex and can be difficult to recognize. Intimate relationships are often private and intense, making IPV harder to stop. But IPV can be stopped when communities come together and take action.

"When we consider that an estimated 6.2 million Canadian women report experiencing psychological, physical, or sexual abuse in an intimate relationship, it becomes clear that this is a pervasive safety issue impacting us all,” added Kingston Frontenac Anti-Violence Coordinating Committee. “Addressing it requires a collaborative, community-driven response. Through our partnership in the See It. Name It. Change It! project, we are working to increase awareness and offer practical, actionable steps that each of us can take to help end violence."

See It. Name It. Change It! in Kingston launches in conjunction with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, calling for global solidarity to end violence against women and girls everywhere. Images will be featured on social media, on local digital displays and the working group hopes to expand the campaign to more locations in the coming months.

For more information and resources, visit https://kfacc.org/see-it-name-it-change-it/

About See It. Name It. Change It!

This campaign was originally created and launched by Lanark County Interval House & Community Support (LCIHCS) in 2017 in response to seven murders in rural eastern Ontario between September 2015 and February 2016. In 2022, LCIHCS relaunched the campaign for a second time in honour of the inquest into the femicides of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam in Renfrew County in 2015. 

In 2024, Ottawa Victim Services (OVS) launched a See It. Name It. Change It! educational campaign, funded by the City of Ottawa, following the 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence in Canada.

This campaign acts as a tool to empower individuals with knowledge on recognizing the signs of IPV, naming harmful behaviours, and taking safe and effective action to create change in the community.