Several student-run service centres collaborated with Carleton Equity Services to organize this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Week.
Running from Feb. 8 to 12, the week’s events, including workshops, speakers, performers and an information fair, were jointly planned by Equity Services, Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA), and service centres such as the Carleton Disability Awareness Centre and the CUSA Womyn’s Centre.
“It’s the university’s week, but [Equity Services] did a really good job reaching out to all the stakeholders on campus,” said Maddie Adams, CUSA vice president (student issues). “Each group was given a day, and we were to plan something on that day.”
Jenna Spagnoli, administrative co-ordinator at the CUSA Womyn’s Centre, said the Womyn’s Centre hosted a few events, including an event called #briefmessage, where students were invited to write short notes to sexual assault survivors on pairs of underwear and share them on social media.
“It’s on display at the Womyn’s Centre this week,” Spagnoli said. “It’s to show support and raise awareness in an interesting way that goes beyond just a piece of paper.”
She also noted that the serious nature of sexual assault means that smaller events on the topic can be easier on students.
“I think it makes a lot of students uncomfortable—maybe they have mental health issues, or maybe they’re just not interested—or maybe something’s happened to them or a friend, or it’s triggering for them,” she said. “Usually having intimate events or conversations, it’s like quality over quantity.”
Spagnoli added that the Womyn’s Centre also hosted an event organized by the Carleton Disability Awareness Centre, a talk by speaker Lori Alphonse on gender-based violence in the attendant care community.
On Wednesday evening, the GSA and the Consent Culture Committee held a consent-themed art and poetry competition, featuring art works on display as well as spoken word performances from students.
Kristen Jardine, a first-year English and women’s and gender studies student, performed a spoken word poem at the event.
“I am part of the LGBT community,” Jardine said, “and we do have higher rates of assault than cis-gendered and heterosexual people do, so that’s sort of a huge cause for me that I really am inspired to champion.
“People just don’t get what the word ‘no’ means still. I’m really angry about that,” she said, “and I really like writing poetry, so it kind of fit together.”
Leigh-Ann Worrell, co-coordinator of both the GSA’s Consent Culture Committee, and Sexual Assault Outreach for the GSA, said she believes the week is important for starting conversations on campus that might not happen otherwise.
“It’s an important week because when it comes to sexual assault there are a lot of things that are left unsaid,” Worrell said, “and there’s a culture of silence around this topic, especially when it comes to our universities.”
“It needs to be spoken out about more so that people feel more comfortable coming forward if it happens to them,” Worrell said.
The week concludes on Thursday Feb. 11 with a workshop on community advocacy.
