Sexual Violence on Campus
Written by Martina Faitakis
Photo by Eric Ward on Unsplash
Warning: The following article contains content on sexual violence including at Saint Mary’s University and students are cautioned to read at their own discretion. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, campus resources are available here or you can contact SMU’s sexual violence case manager by phone at (902) 496-8778 or email at sexualviolence@smu.ca.
Photo by Johannes Krupinski on Unsplash
Sexual violence is a public health crisis and is a pervasive problem in our society. Sexual violence can impact all individuals regardless of gender, age, or race, and can leave long-lasting trauma on survivors and their family/friends. Statistics are one way to emphasize the importance of this issue and this article will summarize some of the statistics involving sexual violence on campuses. However, it’s important to note that these statistics are likely smaller than true prevalence rates, as sexual violence is one of the most underreported crimes.
In 2018, Statistics Canada conducted the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces which found that more than 11 million Canadians have been physically or sexually assaulted since the age of 15, over 1 million of whom were victimized in the last 12 months. Women were more likely than men to be a victim of sexual assault, and to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour or harassment in public (one in three women; 32%). Women were also more likely to have experienced more negative emotional consequences than men as well.
In terms of campus sexual violence, the Student Voices on Sexual Violence Survey was developed by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and administered to undergraduate students in universities in Ontario in 2018. Over 100,000 students responded to the survey and 23% (nearly a quarter!) of university students who responded indicated they experienced a sexual assault since the beginning of the 2017/2018 academic school year. A whopping 63.2% responded to the survey indicating they had experienced sexual harassment at least once. Perpetrators of sexual violence were typically other students (64.7%) and most often were not known to the victim (38.2%). It’s important to discuss the statistics because most sexual violence on campus seems to be dealt with quietly and is generally kept out of the media.
However, some university campuses have had high-profile cases of sexual violence. One infamous example is that of Chanel Miller or “Emily Doe.” She was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner on the Stanford University campus in 2015 behind some garbage bins, and her perpetrator was sentenced to six months of jail time. This incident of sexual assault caused outrage nationally and her victim impact statement was read by over 1 million people. Two months after the Chanel Miller case, a documentary entitled The Hunting Ground, was released which outlines the problem of sexual violence on U.S campuses, including the cover-ups that occur, the victim blaming, and the effects on survivors. I highly recommend watching this documentary to learn more about this issue. Watch the trailer here. You can find this documentary on Amazon Prime.
Although the documentary focuses on sexual violence at American universities, Canada is not immune to these issues. At SMU we’ve had at least two major incidents in the last decade alone. In 2013, SMU was plastered all over the news with an incident related to a Welcome Week chant which condoned non-consensual sex with underage girls. The chant is a form of sexual harassment and puts into question SMU’s culture of consent. SMU responded to this incident by making 20 recommendations which included “developing a code of conduct, establishing and communicating to students what consent is and implementing policy to deal with drugs/alcohol on campus.” SMU also developed a new 2 day training session for Welcome Week leaders to learn about topics such as sexual consent, diversity, alcohol, mental health, and leadership. The second major incident is more recent. A SMU groundskeeper was charged for the second time with sexually assaulting a student at a Dalhousie residence after meeting the student at The Dome. Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents and occur on our campus more than we want to believe.
Screenshot from Youtube
Post-secondary institutions are supposed to be a safe space for students to learn, make friends, go out and party, find their interests, and grow into adulthood. With the prevalence of sexual assaults on campus it is imperative that universities are aware of these problems and are taking steps to mitigate them. One of the most important things that campuses can do is to discuss and promote a culture of consent, stop victim blaming, and create and amend sexual violence policies. Promoting a culture of consent and victim blaming are two concepts that are intertwined and are important to know. Consent is actively agreeing to engage in sexual activity with another individual, and anything other than an enthusiastic “yes” is a “no.” Blaming survivors or victim blaming perpetuates rape culture and the idea that it was the victims fault they were assaulted, which is NEVER the case. A great way to fully understand the concept of consent is to watch this short video clip (See photo) comparing consent to having tea with someone.
Sexual violence policies are important documents that need to be created for every university. The SMU sexual violence policy was most recently amended in September 2019 and can be found here. The university policy states that it commits to assisting those who have been affected by sexual violence and ensure that they will mitigate the safety risk of individuals, and to collaborate with university departments to effectively manage all cases. The SMU policy above outlines that potential consequences of sexual violence may include but are not limited to: “a written warning or letter of reprimand, change of job/class assignment, suspension, probation, expulsion or termination in conjunction with existing disciplinary procedures and/or collective agreements etc.” The university also outlines that the policy will be reviewed every three years and amended as needed.
Although this article only scratches the surface of campus sexual violence, I wanted to write this article to bring into light the prevalence and severity of this issue and to remind students that it is rampant even on our own campus. In the second part of this series, I would like to discuss the SMU sexual violence policy with current or graduated SMU students who have experience dealing with the sexual violence case manager resources either by disclosing or reporting, or those who had friends utilize SMU’s services. If you or someone you know is willing and able to anonymously discuss your experience with me (phone, email, Zoom or whatever your preference) you can contact me at martina.faitakis@smu.ca to get in touch. Everything will be kept 100% confidential and anonymous and both positive and negative experiences are welcomed.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, campus resources are available here or you can contact SMU’s sexual violence case manager by phone at (902) 496-8778 or email at sexualviolence@smu.ca.
References
https://smu.ca/webfiles/6-2019_SexualViolencePolicy.pdf
https://ontariosuniversities.ca/student-voices-on-sexual-violence-survey
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2017001/article/14842-eng.htm
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2018001/article/54979-eng.htm
https://globalnews.ca/news/819744/saint-marys-university-frosh-chant-cheers-for-rape-underage-sex/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBNHGi36nlM