Tag: sexual violence

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News

Striving to end violence against women

Photo by Savanna Craig.
Photo by Savanna Craig.

Hundreds take to Boulevard De Maisonneuve to denounce rape culture and violence

Hundreds came together in solidarity for women’s rights and to challenge rape culture and violence against women, binary and the trans* community on Oct. 26 at Place Émilie-Gamelin.

“On vous croit. On vous croit,” which translates to “We believe you”—the crowd chanted in unison—as supporters marched down Boulevard De Maisonneuve. This chant reflected the crowd’s solidarity with women who have faced violence or have been subjected to rape culture. These are the issues that speakers addressed in an event held just outside of Berri-UQAM metro.

The event, organized by stop à la culture du viol, was created in light of current reports of sexual assault taking place in Université Laval’s Alphonse-Marie-Parent residence. According to the Montreal Gazette, two students who lived in the university residence were arrested on Oct. 21 for break-ins and sexual assaults.

“Violence, and sexual aggressions, are unacceptable,” said President of Quebec’s Native Women’s Association and event speaker, Viviane Michel. Photo by Savanna Craig.

President of Quebec’s Native Women’s Association and event speaker, Viviane Michel,  asked the crowd to take a few moments of silence for the victims. “For me, for her, for you, for us all, we need this moment to underline the importance of these problems,” she said.

“Evidently, there is a huge responsibility that the government has, to give help to the victims, not for the short-term, but for the long term,” said Michel.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Université du Québec à Montréal student and protester, Vivianne Magnan-St-Onge, said addressing this issue is important for all women as situations of sexual violence can happen anywhere, even on a governmental level, such as with comments and actions made by politicians.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Marie-Lou Tang Turcotte, a biochemistry student at Concordia University and protester, said some of the announcers drew on the issue surrounding U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s discriminatory comments towards women. Tang Turcotte agreed with the speakers, and said excusing his language as locker room talk allows our society to think it is acceptable for people to speak this way about women.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

Tang Turcotte reflected on another issue that the event’s speakers discussed, that of Lise Thériault, the Quebec’s ministre de la condition féminine, telling the Canadian Press in March that she does not identify as a feminist. Tang Turcotte said this is problematic because, as minister of women, Thériault should accept feminism as it addresses issues of violence towards women. Tang Turcotte said seeing this in our government is an issue, as it further creates a stigma that rape culture and violence against women is not prevalent in Quebec.

Photo by Savanna Craig.

“Together, we must continue to fight. We must continue, together, to say no to all forms of violence,” said Michel to the crowd.

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News

Survivors unite and shed light

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

Québec Contre les Violences Sexuelles is a social movement created to provide a voice for sexual assault survivors

The social movement Québec Contre les Violences Sexuelles was created a few weeks ago, with the goal denouncing rape culture and discussing the lack of funding for organizations addressing sexual assault issues.

Ariane Litalien, who is currently a student at McGill University, helped create the social movement. She shared her experience with sexual assault while she studied at Harvard University with The Concordian.

“I was an undergraduate student and was seeing a student who was also living in my residence house,” she said. “After a party, I went back to his room where he started kissing me super aggressively and biting me. I asked him to stop, and he told me I should wear a scarf to hide the marks.” Litalien ended up feeling pressured to do things she wasn’t comfortable with, and left the room in tears, she said.

Although she told a few friends what had happened that week, she couldn’t admit to herself that it was sexual assault—until she attended an event where he won a community award.

“I started crying and realized something was really wrong,” she said. That’s when she went to discuss the issue with the residence and Harvard administrators, who made her feel like she was doing all of this in vain, she said. “The only sexual assault policy was 20-years-old, and the administration told me that, under that policy, I couldn’t file any complaints for sexual violence,” she said.

Although there was little she could do at that point, Litalien at least knew the assault wasn’t her fault and she decided not to leave the residence. However, later on, her perpetrator was hired to work at the front desk of the residence. “He had access to my mail, and personal information,” she said.

Litalien was eventually diagnosed with depression, and she realized she needed to speak out, so she detailed her experience in an article for her school’s daily student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. “Strangers would share it on social media, which made me feel the validation that the administrators didn’t really give me,” she said.

The article was a turning point in Litalien’s life. She was interviewed for a documentary about sexual assaults called The Hunting Ground. She shared the stage with Lady Gaga and other sexual assault survivors at the 2016 Oscars, where the singer performed “Till It Happens to You.”

Upon returning in Montreal last year to pursue her studies at McGill University in medicine, Litalien said she realized Quebec did not have a law mandating that universities report on sexual violence or have a policy on sexual violence. This is why Litalien created Québec Contre les Violences Sexuelles, with the help of Kimberley Marin and Melanie Lemay who are also sexual assaults survivors.

“It’s really meant to be a social organization for anyone fed up of the way sexual violence is handled in our society, with rape cultures and with universities not answering well to the complaints of sexual assaults,” said Litalien.

Concordia University implemented its policy on sexual violence on May 20, 2016, outlining its commitment to creating and maintaining a sexual violence-free campus.

The Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) coordinator acts as a point of contact for first response in the case of sexual violence, according to Concordia’s website. With the consent of the survivor, the coordinator then provides support and manages the case both internally and externally.

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho

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News

CRARR calls for review of harassment policy

Fo Niemi (left), director of CRARR, with Mei Ling (right) in 2015. Mei Ling’s case was one of several complaints to the Quebec human rights commission. Photo by Marie-Pierre Savard.

The civil rights organization is advising students to suspend ongoing internal complaints

A non-profit civil rights organization is urging Concordia University to fix what it considers to be inconsistent sexual harassment policies.

In a written statement issued on Friday, the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) also advised students currently filing a complaint internally at Concordia to immediately suspend their complaint.

Citing its work on multiple cases of discrimination against the university to the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission—including Mei Ling’s case in 2015 and Felicia’s case this year—CRARR said Concordia needs to improve the consistency of sexual harassment policies across the university to better protect victims of gender-based discrimination and other forms of harassment.

“We strongly encourage the university to immediately work with different stakeholders to harmonize these different policies and ensure that a single definition of sexual harassment that corresponds to the standard of the law is available to students and staff in Concordia’s complaints process,” said CRARR executive director Fo Niemi, in a written statement.

CRARR said the university’s Sexual Assault Working Group (SAWG) did not address what they consider inconsistencies with several definitions of sexual harassment in different policies.

“The fact that there are different definitions at Concordia, all of which can be deemed to fall below established legal standards of sexual harassment, may give rise to the possibility that victims of sexual harassment have been inadequately treated in all human resource practices and student support services at Concordia,” said Katrina Sole-Kähler, a member of the CRARR Working Group reviewing Concordia’s harassment policies.

Specifically, CRARR is criticizing differences in Concordia’s 2016 policy regarding sexual violence—which covers all members of the Concordia community—and three other policy agreements: the Concordia University Part-Time Faculty Association collective agreement which covers all part time faculty; the university’s policy on harassment as outlined in 2011, which covers all staff, faculty members and university administration; and the 2010 update of the Code of Rights and Responsibilities which encompasses all members of the university.

However, Concordia senior advisor of external communications, Cléa Desjardins, said all of the university’s collective agreements are meant to be read together with all the university policies.

“The definition of sexual harassment in CUPFA collective agreement is not intended to limit the scope of what constitutes sexual harassment,” she added.

Desjardins also said that the recommendations from the university’s SAWG, which was established in 2015, included making a standalone policy on sexual violence update and “harmonize” the Code of Rights and Responsibilities with the new sexual violence policy.

“Currently, a revision of the Code of Rights is underway and any appropriate modifications of the Code will be made during this process,” she said.

In response to CRARR’s call for students to suspend ongoing internal complaints at Concordia, Desjardins said the university still encourages any member of the community who feels that they have been the victim of violence or harassment to seek support either with Sexual Assault Resource Centre, the Office of Rights and Responsibilities or the Campus Wellness and Support Services.

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Student Life

The steps to standing up to sexual violence

Photo by Andrej Ivanov

Concordia’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre hosted a workshop on bystander intervention

Concordia’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre hosted a bystander intervention workshop for students as part of Concordia’s CSU Wellness Day on Sept. 15. The purpose of the workshop was to increase safety on campus and provide support for survivors of sexual assault.

Jennifer Drummond, coordinator of the Sexual Assault Resource Center, led the workshop. She explained that sexual violence is an umbrella term that includes sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual harassment. She defined sexual assault as involving non-consensual sexual contact such as kissing or penetration, while sexual harassment constitutes unwanted looks, comments or jokes of a sexual nature.

Drummond said “bystander intervention” is when a person sees a potentially dangerous-looking situation and speaks up about someone else’s language or behaviour, whether it is inappropriate, hurtful, abusive or dangerous.  “It’s about preventing situations from escalating to sexual violence. We teach people how to intervene and to become active bystanders. It helps to shift the culture to one of consent and respect,” she said.

Drummond said it is important to have these kinds of workshops because sexual violence is all too common. According to Statistics Canada, one in four women will experience some form of sexual violence during their lifetime—the most vulnerable period being between the ages of 18 and 24. In addition, one in six men will face sexual violence, but it is usually more common during childhood.

Drummond said that there are many reasons why a bystander would not want to intervene, including due to the “bystander effect.”

“[The bystander effect] is a phenomenon [where] the more bystanders are witnessing a violent situation, the less likely … anyone will do anything because everyone thinks that someone else will intervene and no one does,” Drummond explained.

Many bystanders tend to feel awkward about intervening or think that it’s none of their business, but it is better to be safe than sorry, Drummond said. Another barrier for intervention is safety. Drummond said she does not encourage people to intervene if it would put their own safety at risk. In such cases, Drummond suggested getting support from friends, other bystanders or even the police.

Photo by Andrej Ivanov

Drummond also explained the four “D”s of intervention strategies, which are crucial actions for every bystander think about before taking action. The fours “D”s are distract, direct, delegate and delay. The first “D” is about distracting the victim or the attacker with an irrelevant question. This takes the victim of the harassment away from the situation, allowing them to find an escape route. “Direct” intervention is about directly addressing the situation and calling out the attacker’s inappropriate behaviour. The “delegate” method involves getting immediate help from other people such as friends, other bystanders or an authoritative figure to intervene in the situation. “Delaying” works as a last resort. If for some reason or other, a friend insists she or he doesn’t need help, or is comfortable with the person or people accompanying them, then you can delay your intervention to the next day. You basically don’t want to force your help on, but you want to check in with the victim as soon as possible.

The Sexual Assault Resource Centre also offers other workshops, trainings and presentations about consent and bystander intervention.

If you are a victim of sexual violence, please contact the toll-free helpline for victims: 1-888-933-9007, or visit Concordia University’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre located at the Sir George Williams Campus in room GM-300.27.

For immediate danger on campus, you can reach security at 514-848-3717.

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News

The Night is Not Enough protest takes over Phillips Square

The march aims to be more inclusive of all people battling sexual violence

On Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. the A Safer Concordia campaign, run by the university’s Centre for Gender Advocacy, hosted a march called “The Night is Not Enough,” which took place at Phillips Square in downtown Montreal. The goal was to demonstrate that the annual “Take Back the Night” march is not inclusive enough, as women are not the only ones who may face sexual violence.

Photo by Ana Hernandez.

According to Jada Joseph, a volunteer for the A Safer Concordia campaign and a Concordia psychology and child studies student, “The Night is Not Enough” aims to be a more inclusive protest for all people who have faced sexual assault, not just women.

Joseph said the march is not only calling out to all genders to participate, but also to all races as well as sex workers and individuals from the LGBTQ+ community.

Spoken word artist Shanice Nicole performing before the march. Photo by Ana Hernandez.

“We’re definitely taking a more inclusive alternative to the ‘Take Back the Night,’” she said. Joseph explained that “Take Back the Night” implies that gender violence only occurs at nighttime, when in fact gender violence is a continuum—it can start with cat-calling and escalate from there. “We are saying that the night is not enough,” she said.

Photo by Ana Hernandez.

“Sexual violence and gender violence is very pervasive in our society,” said Madison Kompagna, a Concordia student majoring in sociology and minoring in women’s studies. She said there is a very strong narrative in our society in which sexual violence only happens to women and only occurs at night. “It’s important that this event exists because it’s more inclusive of everybody,” Kompagna said.

If you or someone you know has encountered sexual violence and would like support, Concordia has resources on campus to help.

The Centre for Gender Advocacy is located at 2110 Mackay St., Sir George William campus. Hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

You can call The Centre for Gender Advocacy at (514) 848-2424 ext. 7431. For peer support call (514) 848-2424 ext. 7880.

The Sexual Assault Resource Centre is located at GM-300.27. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can reach them at (514) 848-2424 ext. 3461 or ext. 3353.
If you are in immediate danger at Concordia University call campus security at 514-848-3717.

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Opinions

Rape culture in our own backyard

Sparks are flying in India after the country was left in shock and disgust following the gang rape, brutal beating and subsequent death of a young Indian student.

Many are quick to criticize India and its so-called rape culture, yet they seem to forget that this mentality isn’t sedentary, it travels far and wide. It isn’t one country’s problem — it’s our problem as well.

Let’s take a look at North America. One in six American women and one in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

According to a 2004 Statistics Canada General Social Survey, only one in 10 women report sexual assault to the police. Why? The same survey states 58 per cent of women thought it wasn’t important enough.

Now tell me, what backwards society do we live in where a sexually assaulted female is conditioned to believe that what happened to her is “not important enough?”

I’ll answer my own question.

A society filled with victim blaming and slut-shaming from both genders that makes me cringe. A society filled with those who claim a woman is “asking for it” by the way she dresses. There is no way to invite rape because the opposite of rape is consent.

It’s where we see examples of children who become sexual offenders. According to an article published in The Telegraph last year, a slew of elementary school students were arrested in the United Kingdom for sexual assault and “suspected rape.”

It’s a culture desensitized to such a brutal act of power and control that we don’t even realize how pervasive it is. Where pornography glorifies rape, and the media portrays violence as sexy and sex as violent.

It’s a society where young women have to worry about walking home after supper, putting up with drivers slowing down to catcall and shout out profanities.

It’s a country where a Canadian woman is sexually assaulted every 17 minutes, according to the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

Julie Michaud, an administrative coordinator for the 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy, believes that a real tolerance has blossomed towards people trivializing rape.

“The fact that rape and sexual assault are unfortunately much more common than they should be doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be seen as a big deal,” she said.

It isn’t just bad people who rape. We like to cast villains in life to make things simpler, but in most cases it’s the people we trust. While women are standing up, men also play a large role in making change.

“It’s not enough to be a guy that doesn’t sexually assault, they need to take an active role,” said Michaud.

I don’t want to raise my future children in such a small-minded and frankly dangerous culture. I want them to be open and free, and not worry about their innocence being stolen. We cannot put all the blame on our justice system for not being tough enough while we sit back and breed these characters.

So, don’t put up with the demeaning comments and remarks. Don’t encourage the trivialization of a severe issue. Don’t be so smug when criticizing other countries for their shortcomings. Promote respect and healthy relationships. Enough is enough.

The Gender Advocacy Centre is campaigning for a Sexual Assault Centre for victims of abuse. If interested in volunteering, visit www.centre2110.org

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