Carleton’s administration is seeking consultation from students on updates to its Sexual Violence Policy (SVP) that was mandated by the Ontario government in 2016.
The updates come as a result of a scheduled revision of the SVP—due for an update in 2019—for which Carleton is seeking input from student stakeholders to highlight key issues that have adversely affected survivors of sexual violence.
The listening phase for the updates began in October this year, opening a forum for the Carleton community to anonymously submit feedback on potential changes to the SVP.
Suzanne Blanchard, vice-president (students and enrolment), said feedback so far has allowed the university to understand concerns of the student population more broadly.
She added student stakeholders have brought up issues with the current policy including a lack of clauses related survivor immunity for being under the influence, and complainants appearing face-to-face with their respondents in formal hearings.
“We’re going to see in the policy if there’s something and anything that we can clarify for students’ concerns so that survivors feel comfortable coming forward,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard also said student stakeholder groups such as Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and OurTurn Carleton have been heavily consulted in the listening phase of the project.
“When we talk about engaging the community, it is always a short timeframe because we want to include everyone in the consultation,” Blanchard said.
Lily Akagbosu, CUSA vice-president (student issues), said the SVP’s language needs to be updated.
“We don’t want the language to be too technical. We have many international students or students who English isn’t their first language. We don’t want the policy to be too difficult for them to interpret,” she said.
“We are very happy not only with the consultation process but also that the university is recognizing the importance of this issue on students’ lives,” she added.
OurTurn Carleton hosted a townhall on Oct. 30 for students to provide their input in a closed session. The group reviewed the policy and also explained key terms participants were unfamiliar with.
The university plans to host similar events called “design-thinking workshops” that will allow students to design their ideal version of the SVP.
The sessions will be hosted five times until Nov. 27. The next phase for updates to the SVP will include a digital compilation of complete feedback from students, and will begin late November.
— With files from Tim Austen
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