Oxfam Canada is pleased to announce the second round of the Stand Up for SRHR Financial Support for Community-Based Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Initiative recipients, generously funded by Global Affairs Canada. This initiative is part of the seven-year Stand Up for SRHR program which aims to strengthen SRHR in Uganda, Mozambique, and Canada, directly reaching over 370,000 people, particularly young women and girls.

The Stand Up program aims to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights across Canada by supporting community-based public engagement initiatives spearheaded by youth (aged 18 to 29) and women's rights or youth-led organizations.

We are thrilled to announce this year's community-based initiative's six new projects and recipients.

Let'sStopAIDS

LetsStopAIDS surveys over 1,000 Canadian youth annually for the Sex Lives Report, delivering a data-driven look into sexual health, relationships, consent, harm reduction, stigma, and access to care. Paired with a youth-led awareness video, the initiative translates research into relatable digital media that normalizes conversations. By connecting raw data with real lived experiences, the project expands sexual and reproductive health literacy far beyond traditional channels. New grant funding from Oxfam will support the upcoming report cycle through updated data collection, community discussions, and a fresh awareness video. Explore all reports and videos at SexLivesReport.ca, and follow @LetsStopAIDS for updates.

OCTEVAW

OCTEVAW will run Reclaiming Our Bodies, Reclaiming Our Digital Lives, a community engagement initiative exploring sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), bodily autonomy, and digital safety in the context of rising technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). Bringing together youth, with a focus on creating an affirming space for queer, trans, and non-binary participants, the initiative will explore what it means to feel safe, informed, connected, and free in our bodies and digital lives. Through discussion, storytelling, art, and practical tools, participants will have opportunities to share experiences, imagine possibilities, and explore ways of navigating digital spaces with greater agency and care. Workshops will be facilitated by community educators with lived and professional experience in SRHR, digital rights, and GBV prevention, and grounded in culturally responsive approaches that affirm diverse identities, experiences, and bodies. Together, the initiative will amplify youth voices, nurture collective care, and create space for dialogue, connection, and action toward a more just digital and bodily future.

SWAN

SWAN Vancouver launched a Mobile STBBI Testing Project in 2025, and this grant will support its continuation and adjacent advocacy. This project brings low-barrier testing options to systemically marginalized im/migrant women and gender-diverse people engaged in sex work. They will take their learnings from the pilot phase and leverage them in their public advocacy for increased SRHR access for im/migrant women and gender-diverse people engaged in sex work. SWAN will work with an Advisory Group of 8 im/migrant sex workers to develop advocacy materials for systemic change and will simultaneously create language-accessible educational SRHR resources and workshops for im/migrant sex workers who experience barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare. The resources will be disseminated through existing outreach and an online resource hub, with the goal of increasing the community's knowledge of SRHR and their access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Caitlyn Lepine

Caitlyn runs Crafting Kinship, culturally grounded engagement workshops that connect Indigenous teachings with health rights for youth. Through land-based teachings, traditional medicines and cultural expression, these workshops will create a safe, accessible space for youth to explore alternative methods of wellness, body autonomy, consent, identity and personal safety in a way that is culturally appropriate and trauma informed. Participants will receive free workshop kits that include traditional plants, care tools and smudging accessories needed to participate in guided activities designed to support reflection on self, boundaries and body sovereignty. The workshops will explore how traditional understandings can strengthen knowledge around health, safety and understandings of identity. By reconnecting Indigenous youth with cultural practices, culture is positioned as a pathway to reclaiming decision making power over one's own body and wellbeing.

Nurudin Busingye

Nurudin works with Smart Youth Network Canada with their program of Civic Health and Pride Lab, a youth-led public engagement initiative designed to increase awareness and community civic dialogue around SRHR, HIV prevention, and sexuality literacy among Black and newcomer youth in Ottawa. Smart Youth Network Canada, the initiative builds on experience convening community conversations that address systemic barriers affecting racialized communities. Through a series of youth-led workshops, civic dialogue circles, and community engagement events, the project will create safe and culturally responsive spaces for young people to learn about HIV prevention, sexual health, gender-based violence, consent, and access to youth-friendly SRHR services. Participants will also explore how public policy, healthcare systems, and social stigma affect access to sexual health information and services, particularly for Black and newcomer communities. Youth participants will engage directly with community health professionals, peer educators, and local decisionmakers to discuss solutions for improving sexual health education and access to services in Ottawa. The project will also include a youth storytelling and digital advocacy component, where participants develop community awareness campaigns that challenge stigma surrounding HIV, sexuality, and reproductive health. These campaigns will highlight lived experiences and promote inclusive, youth-centered sexual health resources.

Ethan Berkeley-Garcia

Ethan will organize and host QUEER BODIES, a live queer variety show and public engagement event that explores sexual and reproductive health, pleasure, and bodily autonomy through art, performance, and community dialogue. The event will feature a diverse lineup of queer performers to explore themes such as sexual health, consent, stigma, pleasure, identity, and bodily empowerment. Through creative expression and personal narratives, the show will challenge the shame and misinformation that have historically surrounded queer sexuality. Attendees will also have access to sexual health information, safer sex supplies, and resources about local services supporting sexual and reproductive health. The event will encourage open, stigma-free conversations about sex, relationships, consent, and queer health. By blending art with education, QUEER BODIES aims to create a welcoming and affirming environment where queer people can see their experiences reflected on stage while also gaining practical knowledge and resources that support healthy and empowered sexual lives. Taking place in June in alignment with Pride celebrations, the event will celebrate queer bodies not as something to hide or regulate, but as something worthy of understanding, care, and celebration.

The Stand Up For SRHR project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada, provided through Global Affairs Canada, and the generous Canadian public.