Sexual Violence In Canada

In Canadian society, the numbers of sexually violent incidents in universities continue to grow. Every year, approximately 58.7% of first-year female students experience forms of sexual violence, a growing concern for universities (Senn et. al. Results). Women constantly say they will never be victims of sexual violence, yet studies show that one in four women have been sexually assaulted (Senn et. al. 2). Although sexual violence will never completely be resolved, the policies created by universities across Canada have proven to be ineffective when compared to student efforts. Also, Canadian universities lack a sufficient number of policies that address sexual violence and have a high number of sexual assaults, which demonstrate the ineffectiveness

of their policies.
The policies of Canadian universities have proven to be ineffective in preventing sexual violence and have forced university students to initiate campaigns in order to bring awareness to sexual violence. Over the years, Canadian universities have implemented training programs designed to teach women how to assess risk and defend themselves. Of the 50% of women consulted three months after the completion of the course, 39% had become victims of sexual violence (Senn et. al. 3). The methods of prevention programs prove to be ineffective in eliminating sexual violence in Canadian universities and have forced students to take the initiative in order to make a change.

For instance, Holly Jarrett created the #AmINext movement after the passing of her aboriginal cousin Loretta Saunders who attended Saint Mary’s University. Since 1980 “1,181 indigenous women [have] disappeared or [have] been killed,” resulting in a threat that is “four times greater than that faced by non-Aboriginal women” (Giese par. 10). Through this movement, Jarrett aimed to “put a human face on the grim statistic and help push the federal inquiry” (Giese par. 12). Her efforts instigated numerous posts on social media across the country and brought awareness to the issue of sexual violence. This campaign was an individual effort that was not affiliated with a university policy and made citizens aware of sexual violence on a global scale. Her efforts assisted in the reduction of sexual violence in not only her community, but nationwide and had a greater involvement from citizens than a university prevention program. Another campaign that spreads awareness of sexual violence is the annual “Slutwalk” located in Toronto. Participating individuals of the walk “dres[s] in feather boas, lacy bras[,] and Converse sneakers,” while protesting issues of “women’s sexual safety and liberation” (Giese par. 21). This protest inspired Columbia University student Emma

Sulkowicz to carry a fifty-pound dorm mattress until the man she accused of raped was punished. Both these protests were not affiliated with a university and effectively spread awareness of sexual violence nationwide. To date, more than 130 universities have signed up to participate in the “Carry That Weight Protest” and more than 200 communities around the world have developed versions of the “Slutwalk” (Giese par. 22). The actions of these individuals were done without the affiliation of a university or policy and managed to effectively reduce sexual violence nationwide. Due to the lack of action and minimal success rate of policies in Canadian universities, students are forced to act individually and create campaigns and protests that inform citizens of sexual violence. Since students are taking the initiative to reduce sexual violence, current university policies cannot be considered effective. As a result, students are creating awareness campaigns and protests to further the knowledge of sexual violence and reduce crimes of sexual assault in today’s society.
In addition to individual campaigns and protests having a greater effect than university policies, the lack of university policies in Canada has further contributed to its failure to reduce sexual violence. Although Canadian universities do offer prevention programs such as the “Ontario Women’s Directorate” and “Draw the Line,” universities must pair prevention programs with “effective policies that address the impact of sexual violence on victims and deter perpetrators” (Gunraj 4) to result in an effective change. Post-secondary institutions across Canada must take responsibility for students and prioritize student safety by making appropriate policies and practices in order to end sexual violence and create a safer learning environment. Despite the research and news reports stating otherwise, “there is little evidence that female students are less at risk of sexual assault” (Gunraj 5) in today’s society. This proves that university policies are ineffective at addressing the issue and ineffective at reducing the frequency of sexual assaults. Many of the procedures developed in educational institutions “focu[s] on women controlling their behavior,” but it is found that “one in nine college men would force a woman into having sex” (Flannery par. 15). This statistic suggests that a greater emphasis must be placed on a male’s involvement in a sexual assault. In an attempt to reduce sexual violence, the University of British Columbia, the University of Guelph, the University of McGill, and the University of Concordia have launched consent workshops to increase prevention education. Although the workshops addressing consent are beneficial, “there is no evidence that the misunderstanding of [. . .] consent is [what] cause[s] [. . .] sexual assault” (Flannery par. 18). Universities need to develop bystander education programs similar to the University of Windsor to inform students of “everything from sexism to street harassment to sexual assault” (Flannery par. 22) and by doing so it will reduce perpetration by educating students on how to safely intervene and stop sexually related incidents before they develop. Although Canadian universities do offer various workshops, they fail to develop effective policies that reduce sexual violence on campus. Educational institutions need to focus on not only the victims of sexual assaults but also the perpetrators in order to build effective policies and procedures to reduce sexual violence.
Although there are a small number of policies in regards to sexual violence, the high number of sexual assaults in Canadian universities demonstrates the ineffectiveness of developed policies and procedures.

To date, “between 10 to 40 percent of female students [. . .] have been raped while [. . .] up to 60 percent of males students [have] commit[ed] actions that meet the legal definition of sexual assault” (Bretz 19). This percentage demonstrates the ineffectiveness of university policies and signifies a drastic change to procedures is in order if educational institutions want to see improvement. In order to see an effective change, policies must “explicitly define key terms such as “‘consent’, ‘force’ [,]‘incapacity’ and cover [a] range of sexually violent behavior” (Gunraj 9). Furthermore, since the age of fourteen 58.7% of females “ha[ve] experienced one or more forms of victimization[. . .] 35.0% ha[ve] experienced at least one completed or attempted rape and 23.5% ha[ve] been raped” (Senn et. al. Results). First-year female students are not prepared for the perpetrators they will face on campus, and as a result, are more vulnerable to sexual violence. Universities need to develop effective policies and procedures to not only prepare women for the challenges they may face but to reduce the overall number of sexual assaults and make school a safer environment for

students.
It is apparent that university policies are considered ineffective when compared to the success of individual efforts. Furthermore, the failure of universities to implement an abundance of policies and the occurrence of sexual assault being quite high demonstrates the incompetence of Canadian university policies. Although sexual violence will never completely be resolved, proper education and the integration of new policies will lead to a reduction of sexual violence and will make universities a more productive and safer learning environment.