Who is SAVE?

We are Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton, a non-profit organization comprised of community members who dream of a world without sexual assault. Through campaigns that place responsibility on the perpetrators of sexual violence, fight victim-blaming, and challenge the myths and social forces that enable sexual violence, we are creating that world. Sexual assault happens in our communities. While many campaigns around sexual violence focus on targeting potential victims’ behaviour, SAVE targets the individuals responsible for preventing sexual assault: potential offenders. The laws around sexual assault and consent are clear sex without consent is sexual assault. We believe Edmonton can be a leader in shifting the way we understand sexual assault and how to prevent it. SAVE produces campaigns with the aim of educating the public to reduce the incidences of sexual violence. Through these campaigns we raise awareness, challenge myths, fight victim-blaming, empower bystanders, and stand in solidarity with survivor-victims. We see Edmonton as a community that is looking for a shift to one that that is about respecting one another. SAVE wants to be part of this change. The way that we think about and respond to sexual violence is evolving.

We are accepting applications for our board of directors on an ongoing basis – click here to learn more and apply!

Mission

Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton (SAVE) is a non-profit organization that works in solidarity with people who’ve experienced sexual and sexualized violence and seeks to amplify their voices. Our campaigns and initiatives promote community awareness of timely and significant issues related to the intersections of violence in all its forms.We believe:

• Survivor-victims are never to blame for their experiences of violence and deserve pathways to justice that prioritize their healing;
• Initiatives to end sexual violence should centre the experiences of those most marginalized in our community;
• Sexual violence is a tool of oppression that is often tacitly condoned by the state and used to subjugate Black and Indigenous folks, people of colour, women, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and those who are disabled;
• All tools of social control and subjugation that work to maintain systems of oppression and state control need to be challenged and dismantled;
• Neither sexual violence nor policing are inevitable;
• The actions of people and institutions who cause harm should be made visible and pathways to change and healing should be made available to them.

Vision

SAVE envisions a city without sexual violence where the attitudes and norms that are at the root of violence are dismantled at the individual and societal levels. We believe that justice and accountability are possible for survivor-victims outsides of a retributive, carceral system and that investing in community well-being is the best path to collective safety.

Values

The following values dictate everything we do as a Board.

• • • • • • • • ​Perpetrating behaviours should be made visible;
              • Survivor-victims are never to blame for their experiences;
              • Power and control is the root of sexual violence;
              • Attitudes and norms can change;
              • Sexual violence is not inevitable;
              • Awareness campaigns must be evidenced-based and responsive;
              • Campaigns must unapologetically confront audiences with strong messaging;
              • Community collaboration is necessary and powerful.

History

SAVE was founded in 2013 by a coalition of community organizations and the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) in response to increased reports of alcohol-facilitated sexual assaults in Edmonton. Since then the organization has evolved, producing two versions of the Don’t Be That Guy campaign focused on potential perpetrators and the #DeleteIt campaign against non-consensual photo sharing. Today, SAVE’s board is made up of community members invested in sexual violence prevention efforts, and we are no longer affiliated with EPS. Our Defund the Police campaign, initiated in 2020, is the next step in our efforts to create a world free of sexual violence, by focusing on creating community-based responses that support survivor-victims and target the underlying causes of sexual violence.