WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT
This story contains mention of sexual assault. Those in need of support can call the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line: 613-238-3311 or the Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre: 613-520-5622.
Carleton University’s Department of Equity and Inclusive Communities (EIC) and the office of the vice-president (students and enrolment) presented the 2021 annual report on sexual violence to the Board of Governors (BoG) on June 9. The BoG also approved an update of its sexual violence policy in the virtual meeting.
The annual report revealed there were 92 disclosures of sexual violence to the university in 2021. Of the 92 cases, 71 were categorized as sexual assault, 36 took place on campus and only two went to a formal investigation.
In 2020, there were 67 disclosures—25 fewer than in 2021. The report said the increase in sexual violence disclosures “indicate[s] greater trust in the capacity for institutional response.”
The rise in sexual violence reports could instead point to an increase in sexual violence on campus as the university hasn’t done anything to gain students’ confidence in its procedures when it comes to sexual violence, he explained.
Carleton was ranked ninth out of 15 universities in student satisfaction with sexual assault prevention in the Maclean’s 2022 university rankings.
A 2019 report by the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics found 71 per cent of students at Canadian post-secondary schools witnessed or experienced sexual violence in an academic setting. There were 31,409 students enrolled at Carleton in 2021-22, meaning 22,301 of those students were likely to have witnessed or experienced sexual violence in a single year according to the report’s findings.
The updated sexual violence policy
Carleton’s inaugural sexual violence policy was approved in 2016. It must be updated every three years and requires the release of an annual report on sexual violence.
During the 2021-22 academic year, students and community members gave feedback on the policy through several consultation meetings and online submissions. Meetings were also held with Carleton’s major student governments.
But Valenti said attendance was very low in the meetings he attended.
“People still don’t feel comfortable speaking to the university openly about these issues,” he said.
Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) president and former BoG undergraduate governor Anastasia Lettieri echoed this statement in an email to the Charlatan, saying there were only 20 to 30 responses on the student feedback section during the consultation process.
CUSA recently amended its safety devices policy to allow the distribution of non-weapon personal safety devices to women and non-binary people.
The revised sexual violence policy includes few changes. Those that are made mostly deal with language. However, some major changes include the addressal of systemic forms of oppression; clarification on the conflict of interest process in investigations; and a new section that disallows asking survivors “irrelevant questions.”
The newly added Section 8.13 states, “A person who discloses their experience of sexual violence … will not be asked irrelevant questions during the investigation process by the investigators or any officials involved in the process, including irrelevant questions relating to the person’s sexual expression or past sexual history.”
During the BoG meeting, the EIC also provided its annual report on Honouring Each Other: Building consent cultures on campus, the university’s sexual violence prevention strategy.
The strategy was developed in 2019 through Carleton’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Committee (SVPEC) following the last sexual violence policy revision and is updated every three months with new initiatives.
In the report, EIC said it would implement a “robust communication strategy” this fall to ensure community members are aware of the strategy and can provide feedback through its online portal.
“The university has missed the mark.”
No major changes were made to the SVPEC or to education and prevention as a whole in the revised sexual violence policy despite calls from students to improve in those areas.
Lettieri said the revised policy fails to prioritize the safety of Carleton’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities.
“The university should have collected relevant and current data, conducted mass consultation, and developed a sexual violence policy that actually addresses the severity of this harm both on and off campus,” she wrote. “The university has missed the mark.”
The next BoG meeting is scheduled for Oct. 4.
Featured Graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
