Kim
TW (Trigger warning) / Discussions of sexual assault
“Being a woman to me means strength and compassion, poetically versatile and powerful.”
Kim is a compassionate entrepreneur who is determined to learn and grow from every experience. Not long ago, she was sexually assaulted by someone she trusted. This traumatic experience led Kim on a fight to ensure a safer future for girls and women everywhere. She has set up a non-for-profit community group called Like a Girl which advocates for and raises awareness on gender equality and women’s rights. Here, young girls can have open and honest conversations on a range of topics. She is a survivor who is actively working to tear down stigmas and make this world a safer space where girls and women not only feel safe but are empowered. Meet Kim. This is her story.
P: Please introduce yourself!
K: My name is Kim Rioux, I am originally from Montréal, Québec, Canada and am currently teaching the 3rd grade in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as well as finishing up my Master’s in International Development part-time! Recently, I began a non-profit community association called ‘Like a Girl’ an extracurricular girls group that supports gender equality, women’s rights and promotes open-dialogue of women’s issues, such as period stigma, body image issues, safe sex practices, consent, sexual assault and violence against women. The program is offered to all students that identify as femme currently enrolled in grades 9-11 (girls of the age range of 14-17).
P: Describe or define yourself in your own words.
K: I would describe myself as an educator/advocate, and leader. I think I have had the privilege of having lived many different experiences. From each respective experience I try to think that I have either learnt something from the given experience, or been able to impart my knowledge onto another thus helping me continue to grow as a person and as a woman.
P: What is your favourite thing about yourself?
K: I think that my ability to be warm and social with new and unfamiliar people or places has helped make people around me feel at ease and comfortable, which is a great feeling to have!
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that has defined you or made you stronger?
K: In 2018, I was sexually assaulted by a trusted medical professional. This experience changed the course of my life. Up until then, I had felt fairly invincible, I did not believe someone “like me” who was both mentally and physically strong, as well as highly educated could ever be unknowingly taken advantage… The fact of the matter is, none of that mattered to the man who sexually assaulted me. This made me recalibrate my life, this happened, and I needed to find an outlet to turn this negative experience into something positive. It made me want to create something that helped educate, support and empower other, younger women and give them the necessary tools to both recognize the signs of a sexual assault before it occurs and how to properly begin to process it if it has already occurred.
P: What is one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
K: Learn/work on loving yourself, every damn day.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
K: Being a woman to me means strength and compassion, poetically versatile and powerful.
P: Who is woman that inspires you? What would you say to her if she were here now?
K: Leymah Gbowe: “How did you/do you deal with all the red-tape? What made you persevere through all the opposition you faced”?