TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2010 − Orientation includes learning the secrets to dating....

Dating and relationship educator Mike Domitrz will teach York University students how to ask the really tough questions during his “Can I Kiss You?” show on Wednesday evening.

Domitrz, who speaks at schools, universities and other institutions across the U.S. and Canada, draws audience members into his show to role-play awkward dating moments. In the midst of the laughter are some hard-hitting lessons about intimacy, including the importance of respecting personal boundaries.

How do you know how far your partner really wants to go with you? and how do you let your partner know what you want without being too subtle, too bossy, or making the mistake of just “going for it?”

Asking first, says Domitrz, makes all the difference.

In addition to teaching York students how to ask for what they want sexually or intimately, Domitrz will teach them precisely how to handle a “No.” He goes beyond the traditional “No Means No” approach, however, by asking students to consider this question: “Do You Ask?”

The responsibility must fall on the person who initiates this type of personal contact,” says Noël Badiou, director of York’s Centre for Human Rights, which organized the event. “We want audience members to understand the importance of respecting each other’s boundaries.”

York students who attend the event will not only gain valuable skills to use in their own relationships, but will learn how to intervene appropriately in potentially-dangerous situations with their friends, including when alcohol is involved. Domitrz will be holding small training sessions with student leaders and student services staff prior to the main event to train them in how to handle these kinds of situations and how to teach others to do the same.

Organizers of the event will be promoting it on campus on Wednesday with pathways of “lips” leading to a “kissing booth.”

Domitrz is executive director of the Date Safe Project, which provides organizations with educational materials and programming about healthy intimacy and sexual assault awareness.

WHAT: “Can I Kiss You?” event

WHEN: Wed. Sept. 8 at 7pm

WHERE: Centre of Excellence in the Rexall Centre, York University

Building 8 on Map

INFO: http://www.yorku.ca/rights/CanIKissYou-Sept82010.htm

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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Media Contact:

Keith Marnoch, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22091 / marnoch@yorku.ca

Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22101 / wallsj@yorku.ca