About the YOB Photovoice Project:
The Youth Oversight Board, YOB, is a group of young people from Omak and Okanogan schools who participate once a month in meetings that discuss policy implementations that will improve schools’ responses to sexual violence in school. The group is facilitated and funded by the Washington Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction (OSPI), and the group is organized through FYRE.
In February, we prompted our YOB group with the task of taking photos in their community for the creation of a photovoice project. Photovoice is a tool to deconstruct problems by posing meaningful questions in a community to find actionable solutions. We asked our youth to take pictures of places and things in their lives that are safe and unsafe in regards to sexual health access and sexual violence risk.
In February, we prompted our YOB group with the task of taking photos in their community for the creation of a photovoice project. Photovoice is a tool to deconstruct problems by posing meaningful questions in a community to find actionable solutions. We asked our youth to take pictures of places and things in their lives that are safe and unsafe in regards to sexual health access and sexual violence risk.
Main Prompt: |
What are the strengths and challenges in your school and/or in your community to:
1. Supporting sexual health? 2. Stopping sexual violence? |
We analyzed our photos using the acronym SHOWED to reflect on what our photos represent.
S - what do you literally SEE?
H - what is HAPPENING?
O - how does it relate to OUR lives?
W - WHY does this situation, concern, or strength exist?
E - How can we EMPOWER the community and ourselves to address this? How can we EDUCATE others about the problem?
D - What can we DO to improve the situation or enhance these strengths?
S - what do you literally SEE?
H - what is HAPPENING?
O - how does it relate to OUR lives?
W - WHY does this situation, concern, or strength exist?
E - How can we EMPOWER the community and ourselves to address this? How can we EDUCATE others about the problem?
D - What can we DO to improve the situation or enhance these strengths?
Call to action
Through this process, participants came up with headlining captions for our photos that state what the photos represent or ask a question to the audience. We are using this exhibition of youth photos as a call to action to the Okanogan County community. All young people deserve to live and thrive in safe communities.
In this clinic they made it really easy for me to get help with anything I need, anything from birth control to health checkups and therapy sessions. I feel really safe here because I can make any appointment confidential and they will not share that information with my parents or anyone else. And I just like to have that privacy and comfort.
- 17 year old |
Bathroom - I have never felt safe to walk alone around here. I know many people refuse to be around or in this restroom because it’s so unsafe around here. I worry for the kids that play around in the park it’s located in and I know most parents don’t let their kids go in there but instead use the library restroom instead.
Bandshell - Many people that hangout around here make many others uncomfortable and feel very unsafe. I feel like the law enforcement should be more strict on people not being here after dark. - 18 year old |
Dog - We’ve had Leo for 4 years and he makes us feel safe at home. He is an old man, and he is a chill dog. All the pets we had, Leo is the only one who stayed. Someday I want to have free counseling for teen moms, or any young teen in need. And to bring awareness to teens about the risks of unprotected sex and sexual assault in our community.
- 16 year old |