Carleton’s stand-alone sexual assault policy in moving forward, with groups on campus having their voices heard through focus groups.
The student workers focus group, which included teaching assistants and other students who are employed by the university, was held April 6. Participants of the student workers meeting said they wanted to make sure there were clear definitions of sexual violence in the policy, that there is a definition of rape culture in the preamble, and defining who is covered by the policy.
Joan Riggs, a partner at Catalyst Research and Communications, was brought in to support Carleton in developing the stand-alone policy. She said the three main groups on campus—the university, the unions, and the student groups—have congruency.
“I think it’s about the balance between risk management and making sure we provide the best services to the Carleton community members should they identify sexual violence as a part of their life at Carleton,” she said, noting Carleton’s draft policy is more in-depth than other universities.
“The reaction is so consistent that it is making me feel really good about the draft policy . . . Equity Services was really committed to a process. Other universities did it fairly quickly where they did a survey and wrote the policy, and that’s not the same as engagement.”
The policy is the result of the Ontario government passing Bill 132, Ontario’s Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act, which states every post-secondary institution must have a clear stand-alone sexual assault policy in place.
The legislation, passed March 8, also dictates Carleton would be required to report to the government on any incident of sexual violence, and what services or responses were used. However, this requirement does not mean the names of the survivors would be released, according to documents provided by the focus group.
Sexual assault at Carleton was previously handed through the sexual harassment section of the university’s Human Rights Policies and Procedures. The drafting of the policy started in March 2015, and is expected to be implemented by June 2016.
Leigh-Ann Worrell, the sexual assault outreach co-coordinator with the Graduate Students’ Association, advocated during the focus group for an intersectional approach when drafting actionable steps in the policy.
Intersectionality understands different communities of people experience oppression differently based on race, sex, or class structures. She has worked on the project since the beginning.
“I think overall trying to include as many students as possible [in the process] has been a really good foundation,” Worrell said. “Sexual violence is becoming something that we can’t ignore anymore.”
Lauren Montgomery, the chair of the CUPE 4600 women’s caucus, said student workers need to have their voices heard specifically due to their unique position on campus. She added having a comprehensive survivor-centred policy is critical to combatting sexual violence at Carleton.
“Right now the draft does not state upfront that it is a survivor-centred policy, it does say that it is survivor-focused, but I would much rather see the policy be rich in the rhetoric of survivor-centred, and I would like it to be mentioned in the preamble,” Montgomery said.
The university said in a statement it strongly endorses a stand-alone sexual assault policy.
“Equity Services, with the help of an external consultant, has led discussions with a 25-member committee comprised of students, staff and faculty members,” said the statement. “The draft sexual violence policy will be shared with 4,000 randomly selected students and 500 faculty and staff for comments before it is finalized.”
Interested students can participate in the student focus group held April 7 at noon in room 433 of Paterson Hall.
