Lanterne-Awacic program: shedding light on healthy sexuality education and respectful relationships for toddlers

  • The Lanterne|Awacic Program is a sexual violence prevention program for preschool children and the adults close to them. The program offers training for workers and educational tools that focus on sex education and the promotion of respectful relationships 1. It was created in partnership with the Atikamekw Indigenous communities, taking into account the needs of parents, educators and Indigenous workers from the various early childhood settings of Manawan and Wemotaci. The program is adapted to the developmental level of toddlers. Although it is inspired by the Lanterne program, which was designed for non-native children, there are also major differences between the two programs as well as in the evaluation carried out, given the cultural, historical and societal context specific to the Indigenous communities. The program was implemented in two Atikamekw communities for its pilot phase in September 2019. During this implementation, a pilot evaluation of the Lanterne|Awacic Program training and tools was carried out.