"A4W Live" Engages Indigenous Youth, Addressing Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls

OTTAWA, ON--(Marketwired - June 18, 2015) - Together with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) and Status of Women Canada, the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) launched an innovative and bold web-based mobile platform called A4W Live (a4w.ca) aimed at engaging Indigenous youth and addressing violence against Indigenous women and girls.

"A4W Live is smart, engaging and relevant to Indigenous youth," said Jeffrey Cyr, Executive Director, NAFC. "The platform was developed and designed in cooperation with Indigenous youth from across the country and content and editorial discretion will be carried out by Indigenous writers as the platform develops."

The mobile platform provides important information about violence prevention and relevant resources for how Indigenous women, girls, youth, men, and boys can stay safe and make positive decisions. This is achieved in an engaging and accessible manner. Used to great effect in South Africa, fundamentally altering attitudes toward contraction of HIV/AIDs, the NAFC has adapted this platform for the Canadian context.

"The Friendship Centre Movement is making a proactive contribution to ending violence against Indigenous women and girls," said Cyr. "We developed the mobile platform to help in our work to reclaim safety in our communities now, while harnessing new technologies that speak to youth."

A4W Live encourages online engagement through compelling content on issues like health, sex, violence and addiction. It features moderated commenting functions and polls to encourage online participation. A4W Live will also curate online content of interest to Indigenous youth including popular culture and arts and entertainment.

The initiative is a key component of the NAFC's broader, national strategy to tackle violence against Indigenous women and girls which will be unveiled in the weeks ahead.

The site is funded partially by the Government of Canada, with $1 million over three years.

About the NAFC

The National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) is a network of 117 Friendship Centres from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Friendship Centres are the primary providers of culturally-enhanced programs and services to urban Indigenous people. They play a pivotal role in community and economic development by providing training and employment opportunities, facilitating social development, and building human and resource capacity.