In the 2018 federal budget, the Liberals promised $5.5 million over five years for the federal government’s Status of Women department to help develop policies around sexual violence on campuses. But, more importantly, they promised to withdraw funding from universities and colleges that fail to develop “best practices” to address sexual assault on campus.
This threat comes in the wake of the government’s attempt to create a budget through a gender equality lens in light of the #MeToo movement. Therefore, if no policies are put in place, Canadian post-secondary institutions face the risk of losing their federal funding.
While this might seem like a bold move, it is the pressure post-secondary schools need to address sexual assault, especially as there have been instances of universities mishandling cases of students who have come forward with allegations.
This budget provision proves that post-secondary schools are not equipped to handle these complaints and that a stand-alone policy is needed. Sexual assault and harassment are serious issues, and universities and colleges should all have policies in place on how to address these kinds of situations. The possibility of losing federal funding will put pressure for these measures to be put in place quickly to address a rising issue.
