For Sheila, her mother Lizzie has always been a strong woman. Born and raised in Quaqtaq, Quebec when it was a community of just 90 people, Lizzie grew up living off the land and has witnessed great change in the North. Following her ambition to work in healthcare, she moved to Kuujjuaq, where she helped establish the Good Touch/Bad Touch program, a program that is helping the voiceless find a voice.

About this video: Inuit in Quebec and the Good Touch/Bad Touch Program

There are four Inuit regions in Canada, also known as Inuit Nunangat:

Inuvialuit Settlement Region, in the Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Nunavik, in Northern Quebec

Nunatsiavut, in Labrador

Some 11,000 Inuit live in the 14 communities located in Nunavik along the eastern coast of Hudson’s Bay and the Hudson Strait. Kuujjuaq is the largest community in the region with a population of approximately 1,800.

First developed as a pilot project in 2012 as a response to high rates of child sexual abuse in the region, the Good Touch/Bad Touch program teaches children age-appropriate ways to talk about abuse and safety. The program also aims to help adults talk about abuse which they may not have been comfortable discussing before. The success of the program has been notable and it has since developed into a permanent program with facilitators, such as Lizzie, traveling across Nunavik to host talks and workshops.

Learn more about Inuit culture on our resources page.

Share their stories, add yours, and celebrate Indigenous women you know. #EndViolenceWithRespect