On March 19, 2019, the Ontario Government released its summary report on the Student Voices on Sexual Violence Survey. More than 160,000 post-secondary students across the province completed the voluntary survey last spring. This is an important Survey and we would like to thank all of the students at Carleton and at other universities who participated. By understanding the experiences of students, universities across the province will be able to do further enhance education, prevention and response to sexual violence on campus.
Sexual violence is a societal problem and we know that people of university age have a greater likelihood of experiencing sexual assault or harassment. Within this demographic, individuals who experience intersecting forms of oppression, including by not limited to: Indigeneity, racialization, gender identity, religion, ability, and sexual orientation, are disproportionately affected by sexual violence. We are committed to ensuring a safe, supportive and healthy campus for everyone, and to provide full support to anyone directly affected by sexual violence. We look forward to using the announced increase in Women’s Campus Safety Grant funding to provide intersectional, innovative, and individualized supports for everyone on campus.
Along with the survey results, Minister Fullerton unveiled some new measures aimed at addressing sexual violence on campus, including the creation of a task force at each institution. To meet this requirement, we will work with stakeholders to transition our established Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee into a task force. This group’s membership will continue to include both undergraduate and graduate student representatives from diverse backgrounds. It will co-create a Campus Strategy on Sexual Violence Prevention to increase our preventative programming on campus.
As part of Carleton’s Sexual Violence Policy that was approved in December 2016, we have an established annual reporting process to our Board of Governors. The 2018 Annual Report on Sexual Violence will be presented to the Board of Governors at its meeting on March 28, 2019, where we look forward to a conversation with members of the Board about how we can ensure Carleton University is a safe, equitable space for all our students to live, work, and learn. This year, Carleton undertook an extensive consultation and review of our Sexual Violence Policy. The final version of the revised policy will be presented to the Board of Governors for approval at its April 25, 2019 meeting,
Over the coming months, we look forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the complete survey, once released. At that time, we will use the data to inform additional prevention programming, campus-based supports, and communications about sexual violence. While these processes unfold, we encourage all students who experience any form of sexual violence to contact the Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre at (613) 520-5622 or by visiting the Sexual Assault Support Centre in 3800 CTTC Building.
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 in Campus News
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