Missed Opportunities Education Resources

CREVAWC has had wonderful success using Missed Opportunities, a forum theatre play to educate a broad range of audiences on how to recognize the signs of woman abuse and how to intervene safely and effectively when the warning signs appear. Missed Opportunities was developed to compliment and enhance the resources of the Neighbours, Friends and Families campaign.

We have provided a short Neighbours, Friends and Families PowerPoint presentation which is to be used as an introduction to the Missed Opportunities play. Neighbours, Friends and Families provides important background and context for the play.

The play is about a number of caring friends, employers and professionals who miss opportunities to intervene on behalf of a woman who is experiencing abuse in her intimate relationship. The play is performed once, where we see the violence escalate. Then it is performed again, but this time, members of the audience have an opportunity to take the place of one of the actors in a by-stander role. Once they are part of the play, they can act differently, in order to change the course of events and emerge with a different outcome.

In 2008, CREVAWC received funding from the Ontario Victim Services Secretariat of the Ministry of the Attorney General to host 5 performances of Missed Opportunities. Workshop evaluations indicated that 96% of the participants felt the content needed to be made available to larger audiences. A filmed version of the play on DVD and a facilitator’s manual allows many more people to gain insights into the trauma and complexity of domestic violence while providing concrete information and resources about how to support the family.

Some Cautions!

This material is very powerful and can have a deep impact on audience members. Please ensure that you have support people on hand in case someone is triggered by the Missed Opportunities play. You can contact your local shelter or Violence Against Women counselling agency to help you find appropriate support people. Warn your audience that they might be upset by what they see in the play and identify the support people that are on hand in case they need to talk with someone.

We encourage you to use these resources in your own community. Everyone has a role to play in ending woman abuse! Download these resources:


To order the Missed Opportunities DVD, please contact:

Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women & Children
1137 Western Road, Room 1113 A
Faculty of Education Building, University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, N6G 1G7

Telephone: (519) 661-4040
Fax: (519) 850-2464