York University has issued a notice of action to Toronto Life after the magazine called York “a hunting ground for sexual predators.”
In an article titled “Fortress York,” in its October 2013 issue, the Toronto Life article describes numerous sexual assaults at York in recent years.
York spokesperson Joanne Rider clarified the actions the university has taken toward launching a libel suit.
“York has very rarely given notice of libel, but has not sued for libel. We have given notice of action to Toronto Life,” she said.
Toronto Life has not made the article accessible to the public online in light of the notice. Brian Rogers, a lawyer specializing in media and libel law, said a university suing for libel is a rarity.
“I know of no other university libel suit in Canada,” Rogers said. “As for why, there might be a number of reasons. As bastions for free speech, they might think it would be hypocritical to sue over critical speech.”
“A university’s reputation is not like a person’s, or even a corporation’s, and it might be difficult to establish harm or any real damage,” he said. “Defences based on public interest have been strengthened by our courts and would clearly apply to defamatory speech about universities.”
York president and vice-chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri said “York is safe” in a press release.
“Toronto Police Service data shows that ‘York University Heights’ had 17.7 reported sexual assaults per 10,000 residents in 2011; the downtown neighbourhood that encompasses the University of Toronto had 27.1 sexual assault incidents per 10,000 people; and the ‘Church-Yonge Corridor,’ where Ryerson University is located, had 21.2 occurrences per 10,000 people,” Shoukri said.
“While there is no acceptable number of sexual offences, York’s incidence rate is lower than similar-sized communities . . . Instead of spreading distortions and misinformation, Toronto Life would better serve its readers by sticking to the facts and focusing on sexual violence as a societal concern, rather than portraying this serious issue as someone else’s problem.”
Julie Lalonde, the project manager of draw-the-line.ca, a province-wide, anti-sexual violence campaign, and the co-founder of the Coalition for a Carleton Sexual Assault Centre at Carleton University, said universities tend to shy away from discussing incidents that take place on their campuses.
“It is evident that universities actively silence any conversation related to sexual assault on their campus,” Lalonde said.
“Whether it be Carleton University, York, Queen’s, or Saint Mary’s, university administrations view dialogue about sexual violence as inherently bad for their reputation. In turn, they try various means of silencing any attention paid to this issue,” she said.
“All campuses experience high rates of sexual violence,” she said. “What sets certain campuses apart is their response to it.”
