Educate. Encourage. Empower.

Adolescence is a critical period for the mental health, self-esteem, and healthy development for girls, where issues such as bullying, body image, identity, safety, and gender roles can become an overwhelming force.

The Canadian Women's Foundation has found that between Grade 7 and Grade 12, more than 25% of young women report being targeted by online harassment and cyberbullying; by Grade 10, less than 15% of girls identify as being self-confident. And, the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre at UBC suggests that the prevalence of bullying and mental health struggles amongst LGBTQ2S+ and gender-diverse youth is also a key concern. With the increasing presence of social media in the lives of youth, negative messaging about who young girls can/should be, what they should look like, and the "right" way to be women is more prevalent-- and in many ways less avoidable-- than ever.

We have seen these pressures firsthand throughout the years in our Fearless Girls' Empowerment Camps, and have heard the North Shore's need for expanded and increased programming for young women. The North Shore Women's Centre aspires to become a hub for girls' empowerment in our community.

Between our Fearless activity portfolio expanding and our offering of evidence-based sexual assault prevention programming through Flip The Script, we hope that our centre can become a place where young women and gender-diverse individuals not only feel safe, supported, and seen, but also feel empowered to express themselves and share their confidence with the people in their lives.

Fearless Girls' Empowerment Camps

The teen Girls' Empowerment Camp is a one-week day camp that takes place each summer, for high school girls entering grades 8-12. Led by an experienced youth facilitator, the Camp aims to support teen girls in accessing their individual and collective strengths in order to empower themselves and help create social change.

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Some of the topics covered during the camp include:

• Friendships, relationships

• Assertiveness, boundary setting

• Self-esteem, body image

• Bullying, cyberbullying

• Media/social media awareness

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These topics are explored by engaging in activities such

as discussion, games, art, video, music, drama, writing and

physical activities such as hiking, canoeing and interpretive tours,

as well as by inviting guest speakers.  A morning snack, lunch and all materials are included.

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The Camp is offered free of charge. Donations are always welcome. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the North Shore Community Foundation, the Province of British Columbia, and the City of North Vancouver.

Pre-registration and in-take are required.

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Registration for 2022 is closed.​