Gendered and Sexual Violence Annual Report 2021-2022

From:    Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management
Date:     October 1, 2022
Re:        Annual Report May 1, 2021 - April 30, 2022 

Reporting Requirements

The Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU) Act requires the sexual violence portfolio to provide its Board of Governors and the MCTU with an annual report on several measures related to the experiences of, and support for, students who have been impacted by sexual violence.  

 The MTCU Act requires the following information:

• The number of times supports, services, and accommodations relating to sexual violence are requested and obtained by students enrolled at the college or university, and information about said supports, services, and accommodations.
• Any initiatives and programs established to promote awareness of the support and services available to students.
• The number of incidents and complaints of sexual violence reported by students, along with information about such incidents and complaints.
• The implementation and effectiveness of the policy.

Supports and Services

The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff supported 201 students impacted by gendered and sexual violence. 127 of those supported were new disclosures.

As a part of the supports and services available for those impacted by gendered and sexual violence:

• 201 students accessed crisis and brief counseling,
• 27 students accessed safety planning support,
• 97 referrals to counseling and medical services were provided,
• 32 instances of financial support were provided,
• 155 academic and campus accommodations were arranged.

The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff also provided trauma-informed care resources, information about the on- and off-campus reporting and complaint options available, systems navigation and resources within the university and the broader community, and advocacy.

Laurier contracted services and had dedicated trauma informed, expertly trained counsellors from the respective Sexual Assault Centres (SAC) in both Waterloo and Brantford available on site and virtually this past year. Those counsellors supported 158 students. In response to the ongoing complications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, most supports were offered online. As part of their responsibilities, Laurier’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff met with impacted students until they were connected to SAC counsellors or other long-term supports. Crisis and risk assessments were carried out on an ongoing basis. The Centres also provided medical and court accompaniments to over 25 survivors. This year, the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region established a Sexual Violence Legal Advocate Program which was accessed by six survivors at Laurier involved in court processes. For complex cases when specialized therapeutic treatments were needed, staff worked to provide limited-term funding for students to connect with other trusted community practitioners.

For survivors living in an environment that made it unsafe to participate in one-on-one counselling for fear of being overheard, we continued to implement opportunities for them to access tools. These tools included the Connected Healing Series (monthly individual therapeutic skill-building workshops for survivors facilitated by different practitioners), psychoeducational/ therapeutic groups, and renewed access to online resources focused on self-care and emotional first aid.  As well, we utilized the Campus Safety Grant to fund two psycho-educational healing groups for survivors. Trauma and the Body was an eight-week group for healing from disordered eating after trauma and was attended by eight students. BIPOC: Building Identities and Perspectives Outside Colonialism was a six-week healing group for BIPOC identified women and non-binary survivors and was attended by 10 students.

At the beginning of the academic year, a high-profile sexual violence case took place at a nearby university. This case resulted in a dramatic increase in discussions of sexual violence in the media, online, and within the classroom. At the same time, students were attending or returning to campus after 1.5 years of restricted social contact. The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff witnessed a ripple effect of these two variables - increased disclosures and casework numbers, more formal complaints and requests for academic interim measures and accommodations, and an expectation for on-line programming and presence. One-time funding was provided by the Laurier Student Union to support this shift in service, education and programming. Externally contracted services were accessed to provide the required additional supports.

Complaints

During the 2021-22 academic year, 16 formal complaints were received. 15 were resolved through early resolution, one also engaged a restorative justice process, and one was moved to investigation.

The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff piloted a new approach to navigating early resolution. Part of this shift included an increase in, where appropriate, Restorative Shuttle Agreements. Restorative Shuttle Agreements allow parties to design a process that can be tailored to their needs. Any resolution reached through the process is voluntary and mutually constructed to meet the needs and interests of all parties. This included increased supports for the respondents, pairing them with a case worker who ensured they were able to access information, mental health supports, accountability coaching, and accommodations. This pilot also included the opportunity for the complainant to request the respondent participate in accountability counselling with external practitioners skilled in this field. Eleven respondents participated in the voluntary accountability counselling program that included an exit interview with a member of the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response team. This pilot significantly increased the process’s ability to meet the safety, wellness and accountability needs of complainants, had a positive response from respondents and will continue as an ongoing service provided by the office.

The Restorative Justice Community of Practice (RJCOP), initiated in Winter of 2020, continued toward its collective goal of embedding restorative principles, transformative justice, and community accountability practices in response to experiences of harm across all areas of the university. 12.4 The Prevention of Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures is one area being considered for further non-punitive accountability opportunities. Non-Punitive Accountability practices offer a unique, anti-oppressive, trauma informed framework that centres the needs of those harmed, holds those who have caused harm accountable, and recognizes the broader community as both impacted by, and critical in responding to, the ripple effect of harm and violence. The vision of the RJCOP includes the goals of collaboration, communication and transparency, education and training, information sharing, and a unified philosophical approach to problems in our community. The COP includes representatives from the OHRCM, Residence Life, Student Affairs, Athletics, Centre for Student Equity Diversity and Inclusion, Indigenous Services, AVP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office, Student Wellness Centre, and Faculty. In the Spring of 2022, 50 staff members at Laurier participated in a four-part Restorative Practices Certificate led by the Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management (OHRCM).

Education and Awareness

The Sexual Violence Education Action Group (SVEAG) continued adapting the education and programming plan, considering the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Coordinated by the OHRCM, the group consists of Wellness Educators, Sexual Assault Centre partners, the Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the Student Wellness Centre, and Advocates for a Student Culture of Consent.

This year’s collaborative programming was six weeks in length and included: We Believe Survivors Week; Social Justice and Solidarity Week; 16 days of Activism to End Gendered Based Violence; Consent on Campus Week; Consent and Sexual Health Week; and Pride Solidarity.

The Covid-19 pandemic continued to create barriers for students’ attendance as well as challenges for innovative programming. For the last two years we saw a massive decrease in Orientation Week attendance which created a significant decline in the number of first year students accessing SVEAG related programming at the beginning of the year. In response, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff partnered with multiple other universities to expand the kinds of online programming offered. Notably among this programming was: Begin by Listening: Student Activism on Sexual Violence Symposium; Stories Spark Change: Roxane Gay in Conversation with Eternity Martis; We Deserve Healing Not Harm: Five part speaker series focused on the ongoing widespread criminalization and punishment of survivors of gender-based violence; and the Curiosity Lab: A Shame-Free, Interactive and Collaborative Learning Series about Building Healthy Relationships.

A pillar of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response education model is the Sexual Violence Response Certificate. This certificate creates an opportunity for students to attend any one of nine workshops that help to build capacity, skills, and knowledge to better understand and respond to experiences of sexual harm. By attending a minimum six workshops of the nine, students received a certificate on their Student Experiential Record. The project included workshops such as Making Sense of Trauma and Its Impacts, Unpacking Sexual Violence Through an Anti-Racist Framework, Building Collective Care in Response to Secondary Trauma, and Bystander Intervention.  The project had a total of approximately 310 students in attendance at the workshops.

This year, the team piloted the Body Sovereignty Certificate in partnership with Student Wellness Centre and Centre for Student Equity Diversity and Inclusion. The series contained five workshops, and if a student attended three of the five workshops, and included a written reflection, they received a certificate. The program included Nourishing Our Bodies Without Shame, Desirability Politics and Sexual Violence, and Self Compassion and the Body.  The project had a total of approximately 175 students in attendance at the workshops.

Approximately 88 workshops, class talks, trainings and events were hosted at Laurier. Some of these initiatives included:

• Curiosity Labs: Breakups and Rejection
• The Missing Story of #Me Too: Police Sexual Violence and Criminalization of Survivors
• Trauma Food and the Body Workshop
• Bystander Intervention
• Bringing Pride to Work Training
• Curiosity Labs: Sexual Communication
• Speaking Your Healing
• Towards a Justice That Heals: Exploring Transformative and Restorative Justice Models to Address Sexual Violence on Campus.
• Other Bodies: Unpacking Gendered Islamophobia, Power and Body Politics
• What Does Your Heart Need to Hear?: Attachment Focused Healing for Survivors of Trauma
• On Solidarity and Resistance with Catherine Hernandez
• When Your Friend Has Caused Harm Workshop

The SVEAG, and/or its individual members, provided education opportunities related to sexual violence, consent, healthy relationships, and building skills to provide support to over 5,600 Laurier students, staff and faculty.

Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff continued to grow their communication and online strategy by updating the Gendered and Sexual Violence website, maintaining and expanding a bi-weekly self-care newsletter for survivors and those working in solidarity with them, ensuring a daily presence on all social media sites, developing psycho-educational resources for online engagement, running Instagram Live learning sessions, and creating resources such as the Radical Self Love Calendar and the Moving Beyond a Consent 101 video.

Gendered and Sexual Violence Policy

Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff coordinated a community consultation process for Laurier’s Sexual Violence Policy. The request for feedback on the policy was sent out to every student with multiple avenues to participate which included an online questionnaire, focus groups, and one on one feedback appointments. The online survey was focused on general feedback, ensuring that the language within the policy was accessible and in alignment with student understanding. The focus groups and one on one conversations used a design-think model that asked students to reflect on what they appreciated about the policy, what they would like to see different in the next iteration of policy, what would exist in an ideal policy, and what were the questions that we don’t have answers for. Many students provided input into our consultation process with 37 students showing up to the five focus groups, 353 students participating in the online survey, and four students asking to provide direct feedback with a staff person. The results from the feedback have been turned into a summary report which is currently being used to direct the review of the Sexual Violence Policy.

In previous years, Laurier’s Gendered and Sexual Violence Task Force’s role was to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the Sexual Violence Policy. In 2021-2022, the Task Force has transitioned toward an Advisory Committee focused on providing feedback and directives for specific Sexual Violence Portfolio projects.

Three working groups continue to work underneath/alongside the Gendered and Sexual Violence Advisory Committee (GSVAC): The Sexual Violence Education Action Group, The Sexual Violence Response Working Group, and the Student Consent Culture Advocacy Group. The last two working groups offered feedback and support of the Policy Review and Consultation process.

The mission of the Gendered and Sexual Violence Response Working Group is to support Laurier's efforts to address and eliminate gendered and sexual based violence on campus and beyond, by ensuring that Laurier's internal supports and services are responsive, timely, survivor focused, evaluated, and relevant to our dynamic and ever-changing environment.

The student led Consent Culture Advocacy Group (CCAG) is a passionate body of student leaders dedicated to combatting gendered and sexual violence in the Laurier campus community. They provide recommendations and feedback to the GSVAC to ensure a student perspective in institutional decision-making. As well, CCAG oversees the Building a Consent Culture Student Fund, valuing up to $10,000, which comes from the Campus Safety Grant. They recognize the intersectional nature of gendered and sexual violence and are committed to creating safer and more accountable spaces for all students on campus.

Conclusion

The 2021-2022 year presented some significant opportunities and challenges. The increase of discussions about sexual violence on campus and in social media worked to normalize conversations that staff struggle to get prioritized with first year students. At the same time, students were returning to campus after an extended period of decreased physical interactions with their peers. This combination seemed to fuel an increase of disclosures and individuals seeking support. The OHRCM Sexual Violence Prevention and Response staff worked to adapt to the urgent needs, heavily relying on our collaborators for support and resource sharing. We are grateful for these ongoing partnerships that continue to help us help those who seek support through our office.