What We Do

NYSHN works with Indigenous peoples across Canada and the United States to advocate for and build strong, comprehensive, and culturally safe sexuality and reproductive health, rights, and justice initiatives in their own communities.

 

Our key areas of work:

Sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice contain a wide range of issues. Some of our key areas of work include:

  • Culturally safe sex education

  • Reclaiming rites of passage, coming of age ceremonies and traditional knowledge

  • Healthy relationships and violence prevention

  • Pregnancy options, youth parenting and families

  • Environmental justice and environmental violence

  • Harm reduction

  • Two-Spirited and LGBTTIQQA advocacy and awareness

  • Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections (STBBIs) and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention

  • Youth in custody, jail, prison and the child welfare system

  • Sex trade, sex industries and street economies

  • Indigenous feminisms and masculinities

  • Sexual self-esteem and empowerment

  • Media literacy Youth activism and human rights

 

We Do Advocacy, Outreach, & Community Mobilization:

NYSHN also works with service providers, organizations, adults, Elders and allied communities. This includes community/group/school/ organization workshops, teach-ins, presentations, curriculum and resource creation, as well as long-term collaborative projects.

We also do: media arts justice work including short films and videos, diverse arts-based responses, media campaigns, zines, declaration and statement writing, and community-based participatory action research.

  1. We are a peer-based network of individuals, families, communities, and Indigenous peoples at large

  2. Advocacy and direct youth and community mobilization are central parts of our work

  3. Media and other resource creation are ongoing