The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has announced they will be creating a Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Framework Committee to deal with gaps they feel exist in the university’s sexual violence policy.
Caitlin Salvino, chair of the committee, said the focus will be to change the culture on campus regarding how people understand sexual violence.
CUSA president Fahd Alhattab said the committee was created to respond to student reaction to the sexual violence policy.
“Obviously, we know many students were not happy with the final draft . . . Many students wanted some changes,” he said.
In an email to students, CUSA said, “We are disappointed by the administration’s unwillingness to reform the university’s Sexual Violence Policy to be more survivor-centric. This initiative will seek to fill the gap left by the administration, which we feel has not taken enough concrete steps to prevent sexual violence on campus and support survivors.”
Jen Sugar, director of student affairs at Carleton, said CUSA has not yet reached out to the administration to discuss the committee, but Carleton will be meeting with Salvino in the near future. Sugar said she did not feel comfortable commenting further on the committee, as she does not know much about it yet.
Salvino said the committee does plan to have the administration involved but is still in the early stages of development. She said she agrees the university is doing important work, but believes a culture change on campus would be more effective coming from a student level.
“Collectively, we can make Carleton a safer campus next year,” Salvino said.
She said the committee plans to focus on individual training so people, such as residence fellows and Frosh facilitators, can recognize the signs of sexual violence and step in. In addition, she said the committee hopes to educate students about sexual violence so they can recognize if they are a victim or a perpetrator.
On the victim level, she said the committee plans to have one member help survivors through every step of the process so they’re not bounced around the system.
Salvino said a core group of CUSA members will be working on ideas this summer.
Currently, the committee is made up of CUSA representatives, with the support of the Graduate Students’ Association, according to an email sent out by the committee. They also plan to have consultation from as many different groups as possible, such as representatives from Athletics, residence, and the Greek associations.
Alhattab said the three main objectives of the committee are to end sexual violence through education, to approve and expand support to survivors, and to develop a plan for advocacy efforts. He said the committee hopes to be as inclusive as possible.
In their email, CUSA also asked for students to get involved with the committee so they can share their experiences. Alhattab said they have received around 70 responses so far.
