{"id":13054,"date":"2016-11-30T12:05:25","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T20:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=13054"},"modified":"2016-12-21T09:23:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T17:23:13","slug":"consensual-change-a-look-at-camosun-colleges-new-sexual-violence-and-misconduct-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2016\/11\/30\/consensual-change-a-look-at-camosun-colleges-new-sexual-violence-and-misconduct-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Consensual change: A look at Camosun College\u2019s new Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a trauma survivor, I think the fact that Camosun has had no formal way to report incidents of sexualized violence on campus is ridiculous. With close to 10,000 full-time students enrolled at Camosun and the statistic that one in three women are assaulted, I find it hard to believe that absolutely nobody has been targeted at the college.<\/p>\n

The trouble is that trauma survivors are taught to keep quiet. Having the courage to speak up starts the flood of ignorant questions or statements. What were you wearing? How much were you drinking? Did you lead them on? Saying \u201cyes\u201d first and then \u201cno\u201d means it wasn\u2019t rape. Not specifically saying \u201cno\u201d means it wasn\u2019t sexualized violence. Boys will be boys. Boys can\u2019t be raped.<\/p>\n

Survivors know they\u2019re a target. Predators know their prey; there is a lot of conditioning and behavioural patterns to overcome before a survivor is free of that. I never could break free of fear. Fear causes safe spaces to become unsafe. Fear creates a hyper-vigilance in unsafe spaces. Right now, Camosun College does not have a policy specific to sexualized violence, and this creates an unsafe space for many students.<\/p>\n

The college is working on a new Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy to be launched in May of 2017. But will it be enough?<\/p>\n

A PERFECT TRACK RECORD, BECAUSE THERE ARE NO RECORDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

What quickly became obvious to me as I was researching for this story is that Camosun didn\u2019t have any reports of sexualized violence because there\u2019s no way for students to report it. Camosun student Rachael Grant is a student representative on the policy and standards subcommittee of the education council, which is one of the groups involved in creating the new Sexual Violence and Misconduct policy; she says the committee has not been active for quite some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat, I would argue, is largely due to a lack of government funding,\u201d says Grant. \u201cCamosun\u2019s been through a very difficult time for some years now, and they\u2019re in a slightly better financial situation more recently. One of the areas they\u2019ve been able to expand is policy development. It\u2019s so long overdue; there\u2019s so much policy to update and create. It\u2019s really exciting to see this one is a priority, but there\u2019s a lot more coming down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This story originally appeared in our November 30, 2016 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Camosun vice president of student experience Joan Yates admits that information has been gathered through roundabout ways at the college in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t keeping hard numbers,\u201d says Yates, \u201cbut we were aware of sexualized violence that might happen off campus\u2014or, conversely, that had happened in the past\u2014mainly because there was often an element of counselling involved in that. That\u2019s how that would make itself apparent to us. Overall, in terms of instant reporting, we didn\u2019t have a mechanism. We were mindful of the fact that it didn\u2019t mean that nothing was going on; it meant that we didn\u2019t know about it. There\u2019s a very big difference between the two.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no getting around the fact that speaking up is hard. Sexualized violence can be described as an act of control; victims are controlled by securing silence through the act of invasion. They are controlled by society\u2019s inability to accept that this is an issue in Canada. This is why Camosun College needs to have the proper procedures in place for people to be able to file reports. But even if the college has better reporting procedures in place, it\u2019s not a fix-all.<\/p>\n

THE UPHILL BATTLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) women\u2019s director Melanie Winter says that being a girl doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that people are going to believe you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t feel like they have a way to express that this is happening,\u201d says Winter about those who have experienced sexualized violence. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody really knows who to even share that with on campus, even with your peers. I don\u2019t think women are safe enough to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the fear that reporting an incident will bring more harm. Survivors frequently become targets after speaking up; Winter says survivors often ask if people will believe them.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I\u2019ve never heard somebody say anything to me in particular, we do have conversations among classmates who say that a person is being inappropriate,\u201d says Winter. \u201c<\/b>But we brush it off as being acceptable when it\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May of 2016, the provincial government passed legislation that makes it mandatory for all post-secondary institutions to have a Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy, which is what Camosun College is currently working on. For those involved in preparing the college\u2019s Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy, the lack of data has been recognized, and steps are being taken to change that. Grant, who is also the CCSS external executive, says that most of the conversation so far has been about rape culture but says that getting data is also part of the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no real means to collect data around sexualized violence on campus or affecting Camosun students prior, so that\u2019s going to be an important thing when this policy is finalized,\u201d says Grant.<\/p>\n

Yates says that the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy must have a large survivor aspect to be effective. Part of that is to have former trauma survivors speak up and to give them someone to talk to. Yates says that survivor stories are an integral part of closing gaps within the policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying hard to do with the policy is make this not just a numbers game,\u201d says Yates. \u201cWe\u2019re incredibly aware that when that policy comes up, we\u2019ve got to have the procedure ready to go. This is where folks who have context for us are so vital and so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

IT\u2019S TIME TO TRY HARDER<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I started at Camosun, I had no idea what was going on at the college, or even where I could go to find out. Enrolling at post-secondary as a survivor is an incredibly triggering process. I found it difficult to find information past how to give the college money and the deadlines to do so. As it turns out, there\u2019s more to the Camosun website than info on your courses. But students often don\u2019t realize that.<\/p>\n

Grant says that it\u2019s difficult to get the word out about the policy to students, but they\u2019ve had a fair amount of pickup from those wanting to be supportive and get involved (the college wants student input during the policy-development phase). The information has been posted on Camosun\u2019s website, shared on social media and the CCSS app, and given out through various clubs and CCSS student board members. But what happens if you\u2019re not connected to any of those resources? Winter says the only way those students could find out about the policy would be through word of mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople wouldn\u2019t just go looking for policies on their own,\u201d says Winter. \u201cThe policy people coming to students starts the thread of us talking to at least one other person. Hopefully that gets the word out, but people are not going to look for it on their own. I think one of the pieces to the policy is an education piece, so, obviously, this consent workshop is part of the education piece. The college has to do something to have it visible for people to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not that simple. I can say that, as a trauma survivor, I sped right by the tents containing information on those supportive groups during my first week of class. Running home as fast as I could was more appealing than joining those crowds of people. While I have had to look up policies before, I generally don\u2019t go looking for them unless they\u2019re needed.<\/p>\n

As I asked students on campus about the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy for this story, I found that none of them had even heard about it; the only person who had was a faculty member. Most students couldn\u2019t comment on what they\u2019d like included in the policy, having never heard of it. A few said that they\u2019d like more awareness raised about it and that it was an important topic; one said that he\u2019d like some kind of enforcement of protection and a spread of information about the policy so that everyone was aware.<\/p>\n

From now until January 2017, those involved in preparing the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy need student and survivor input. Grant says that the contact information is available on Camosun\u2019s website; she urges students to get involved in any way possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a policy that\u2019s going to impact students and the college community for years,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s an important one to speak up about, and there\u2019s lots of space for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

GETTING EDUCATED<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every Tuesday during November, Camosun hosted consent education workshops for students, faculty, and staff. Grant was the lead facilitator for these workshops; she was assisted by the University of Victoria Anti-Violence Project sexualized violence policy advisor Kenya Rogers. Groups like the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre (VSAC) acted as community advisors for the workshops, which were offered on a trial basis. (This issue went to press before the trial period was over; see Camosun\u2019s website for details about whether or not they\u2019re continuing.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are our external bodies that support and build reputations in areas that are super relevant in this policy,\u201d says Grant. \u201cThey\u2019ve been brought in to be at the table and have some input into what services exist in town, what language is being used, what the realities are of someone who is a survivor of sexual assault. They\u2019ve been really integral partners in fleshing out the realities of what this policy impact will be and how to best make a policy that best supports students and makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

VSAC clinic coordinator Karen Wickham says that the number-one issue is telling people exactly what consent is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were significant changes to the consent laws in terms of age of consent,\u201d says Wickham. \u201cThe case law has made it quite clear that it\u2019s not a question of indicating or saying \u2018no.\u2019 You have to say \u2018yes\u2019 to receiving any sexual activity\u2014having both parties in a stable place, so there\u2019s not a lot of intoxicants on board, and able to say \u2018yes\u2019 to each other for everything that they choose to do. And if one party then says they\u2019re done, even if there has been prior consent, that consent is withdrawn and that activity stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consent workshops that Camosun is offering as part of the policy help people to learn more about rape culture and about how consent is a large part of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the parts of that that I\u2019m involved in is the consent-culture training,\u201d says Grant. \u201cIt talks about what creates an environment where we have a rape culture, what supports that, and then looking to actively dismantle it by learning language and practices of consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant says that starting the conversation has been an amazing thing to see at Camosun.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere may be thirst for more [workshops], but it\u2019s kind of testing the waters and seeing if this is a good way to start a conversation about consent culture on campus,\u201d says Grant. \u201cThere was a good mix of students and college administration at the first one; just having a mix of students and employees of the college in the same room was a powerful dynamic. We\u2019re talking about something that impacts all of us, and it really highlights how seriously this work is being taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Camosun may not have bars\u2014with the exception of the Dunlop House Pub\u2014or residencies, that doesn\u2019t mean that students don\u2019t go out drinking at clubs and parties. Wickham says that a big issue that comes up with people of college and university age is drug- and alcohol-facilitated sexual assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are in an extremely vulnerable state when they\u2019re intoxicated,\u201d says Wickham. \u201cUnfortunately, there are some folks out there who will choose to exploit that. It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that everybody\u2019s out to get someone else, but there are some folks who target people who are extremely vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAFETY FIRST<\/strong><\/p>\n

The one thing students I spoke with for this story could agree on was that they all felt safe at Camosun, night or day. One reason for that is the CCSS Walk Safer program, which offers students rides in golf carts to their car or to the building they\u2019re heading to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel pretty safe,\u201d says Camosun student Taylor Hunter. \u201cI have a night class, but at the end of it the past couple times, there\u2019s been a couple people in a golf cart asking if I want a ride to my car.\u201d<\/p>\n

One student mentioned wanting some kind of enforcement of protection, but Yates says there is already a college group, Safety Net, that is able to help students who are in crisis on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that I think is really terrific is that we\u2019re working to integrate more between students around security issues,\u201d says Yates. \u201cPeople may not see it; I hope it\u2019s because they don\u2019t need security. I hope it\u2019s for good reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the creation of the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy, Camosun has made a point of giving students the space to contribute and to be heard. Grant says that it\u2019s an inclusive developmental policy by anyone\u2019s standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken particular initiative in this policy because I think it\u2019s a really important one to have the student voice incorporated into,\u201d says Grant. \u201cThere\u2019s a series of working groups that have been created; one of them is a student working group. The college has been really inclusive with the student voice, including the steering committee, which is a pretty big deal because not a lot of institutions will allow a student to be on the steering committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winter says that the policy, workshops, and student input give people the chance to speak up if something has happened to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they notice it happening, they can be more aware or take responsibility for their own well-being by encouraging students to participate in this policy work,\u201d says Winter.<\/p>\n

According to Yates, the committee is aware that they need to have someone in place to help the students and to record data.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the elements that we\u2019re considering is something akin to a case manager that will be available for students,\u201d says Yates. \u201cIndividuals may do a report; it allows us an element of keeping track statistically so we understand the scope of the problem. It also allows us to be able to say, \u2018Here\u2019s what\u2019s available, what do you want to do, how can we help you do that, what do you need at this juncture?\u2019 Along with the reporting piece, it\u2019s about, \u2018okay, how do we move you so that you\u2019re getting what you need in respect to the situation?\u2019 That\u2019s being developed now, but we know we need to do that. It\u2019s an incredibly important part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant says that more people participating helps the policy development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s always more room for student feedback,\u201d says Grant. \u201cCamosun College is an incredibly diverse population as far as students go. There\u2019s always more room at the table for other perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wickham says that Camosun has been informed of VSAC\u2019s services and hopes that Camosun would be passing that information on to survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of a survivor accessing services,\u201d says Wickham, \u201cwe expect survivors to make that reach out themselves as part of their healing process and feeling in control of their information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant encourages anyone who is interested in helping to develop the college\u2019s new policy to get involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an amazing opportunity to speak up and contribute to something that impacts students so much,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a really wonderful thing to be involved in, and very impactful. It\u2019s really important to have survivors be a core contributor to this type of work. A survivor-first focus is really integral.\u201d<\/p>\n

I grew up being told that my voice didn\u2019t matter. I learned that schools, companies, employers, and co-workers would allow assaults to happen to me. Above all, I learned to stay silent. Camosun is offering the opportunity for survivors to speak up against what has been done to them in a way that will help students in the future.<\/p>\n

And I intend to speak up.<\/p>\n

THE NEXUS<\/i> GUIDE TO WHAT CAMOSUN\u2019S NEW SEXUAL VIOLENCE POLICY NEEDS\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Part of the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy is education and training. The education portion could include the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre\u2019s four available workshops. Continuing the consent education workshops, which happened at Camosun on a trial basis in November, is also important.<\/p>\n

If education and training are to be a part of this policy, they need to be advertised. All education needs to be opened to the whole school, not just to the students who are in certain groups. It isn\u2019t enough that the policy will exist and that workshops are being shared in certain circles; there needs to be huge and obvious advertising to get students\u2019 attention. As we found during this story, students are just not aware of this policy. The college needs to do more to raise awareness.<\/p>\n

Camosun needs to bring in a person who is completely independent of the school for students to report to; someone affiliated with the school has the potential to be biased and to take the school\u2019s welfare into greater consideration than the victim\u2019s. Institutions, organizations, and employers can say what they want about it being safe to report to a person, but experience shows a greater interest in the well-being of whoever\u2019s signing the paycheques.<\/p>\n

The person being reported to also needs to be inclusive of all genders. Frequently, a victim\u2019s story is ridiculed because they, as some like to say, \u201cdon\u2019t have the right parts\u201d for assault, or the person they are trying to talk to isn\u2019t aware that there are more than just men and women out there. Victims need to feel safe and not dismissed because of how they identify or present.<\/p>\n

The college needs to have a way for students to report an incident anonymously. Speaking up is the hardest part, and the victim needs to be able to do it in whatever way makes them comfortable. They need to know that no further harm will come to them. They need to know that the college will protect them.<\/p>\n

-Quinn Hiebert<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a trauma survivor, I think the fact that Camosun has had no formal way to report incidents of sexualized violence on campus is ridiculous. With close to 10,000 full-time students enrolled at Camosun and the statistic that one in three women are assaulted, I find it hard to believe that absolutely nobody has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-november-30-2016"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13055,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13054\/revisions\/13055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}