This story contains details viewers may find disturbing. Those in need of support can call the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line at 613-238-3311 or the Carleton Sexual Assault Support Centre at 613-520-5622.
Carleton’s department of Equity and Inclusive Communities (EIC) is offering online peer support for sexual violence via Google Hangout Monday to Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Two students at Carleton University published a call-to-action demanding an increase in sexual violence prevention on campus on Sept. 20.
The call comes weeks after recent reports of sexual assault at the University of Western Ontario.
Anthony Valenti and Tiana Thomas, co-authors of the call-to-action letter, said they were shocked and disheartened about the limited conversation about sexual assault at Carleton.
The ongoing battle for sexual assault prevention is one that Thomas and Valenti have always felt passionate about, the reports from Western were the final push the two needed to act.
“Western did a terrible job protecting their students,” Thomas said. “So how can we protect ours?”
Thomas also spoke with multiple survivors of sexual assault about their experiences and thoughts.
“I put myself into the shoes of survivors and first-year students living on campus, and thought ‘What would I like to see?’” Thomas said.
The university will be conducting a full review of its sexual violence policy this year, Bacon said in a public statement Sept. 22. The policy was last reviewed and approved in 2019.
Bacon also mentioned that the school will be actively seeking feedback from diverse voices in the Carleton community.
Acting president of CUSA Ahmad Hashimi stated in an email to the Charlatan that CUSA is committed to educating students on how to identify, respond and prevent sexual violence on campus.
CUSA’s “beFOREPLAYask” program has been an educational tool to inform students on how to engage in sexual relationships in a safe, consensual manner, Hashimi said. CUSA is also planning to hold more stakeholder events, public forums and educational sessions over the course of the academic year.
“CUSA will continue to use our status and platform as the undergraduate student association to lobby for inclusive, progressive improvements to the university’s existing strategy,” Hashimi said.
Sami Islam, president of RRRA, said it is nice to see students inviting a call-to-action on something that’s very important.
“While we agree with the principle of it and thought it was a great cause, there were some asks of RRRA that weren’t in our mandate,” Islam said.
Islam said the call to action which states residence fellows should train students on campus is not under RRRA’s control but is the responsibility of the Department of Housing.
For now, RRRA is still meeting with stakeholders, including CUSA, the Department of Housing, the Department of Equity and Inclusive Communities (EIC) and health and counselling services to determine what next steps need to be taken.
“We don’t want to go ahead and start doing things if there’s no data-driven proof that it will work,” Islam said.
Islam said sexual violence on campus needs to be looked at from the root causes of the issue, addressing things like toxic masculinity.
In a meeting with housing and residence life services after the letter was received, Thomas said they acknowledged the gaps in education and support surrounding sexual assault on campus.
The call-to-action cites education as a key issue for the university to focus on, arguing that awareness is an essential first step in prevention.
Thomas and Valenti cited in the call-to-action that less than one quarter of Carleton students knew where to access campus resources regarding sexual violence, according to a 2018 survey conducted by the Government of Ontario.
“If people don’t know where to access these services, then what good are they doing?” Valenti said.
Thomas said that more awareness is necessary and education needs to be thorough enough for everyone to understand the consequences of sexual violence. Valenti and Thomas said they believe that survivors of sexual violence need a safe space to share their experiences and have a say in the necessary changes, instead of the school deciding what’s best for them.
Carleton students have been very supportive of Valenti and Thomas in response to their call-to-action by sharing social media posts, sending supportive messages and agreeing with their demands. On Instagram, Thomas and Valenti’s posts about the call-to-action received over 400 and 200 likes respectively.
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“Knowing this means something to students just reinforces why we did this in the first place,” Thomas said.
Valenti said he has received messages from sexual assault survivors agreeing that these changes are long overdue.
“We didn’t plan for this to be as big as it is, but I’m not upset it got the attention it deserved,” Valenti said.
The road ahead could be a long one, but Valenti and Thomas are happy with the feedback and interest they have received thus far. Thomas said she is focused on holding the university accountable for being transparent with her and all students at Carleton.
“We are fully devoted to taking further actions to hold the university accountable,” Valenti said.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
