REGINA – The University of Saskatchewan student president is open about his experience with sexual assault because he wants other people to also come forward.
“I myself, as a survivor of sexual assault, (know) there are a lot of individuals who feel uncomfortable disclosing,” said Jack Saddleback.
Now students at both of the province’s university campuses, have some strength behind them in the form of new sexual assault policies.
“So you see the university responding, by setting policy, building awareness, training, etc. evaluating supports. I’m also going to be looking to students on the campus, to colleagues, to set an environment, to set a culture where we intervene,” Patti McDougall, U of S vice provost of teaching and learning explained when she unveiled the draft policy in September.
The University of Regina Board of Governors also approved a new policy last month.
“We needed to formalize the policy for our students, as did the U of S. Because of the recent events across Canada and the United States, it was timely,” said
Vianne Timmons, U of R president.
The move was partially motivated by high-profile assault cases – the video of NFL player Ray Rice physically assaulting his wife in a hotel elevator and allegations against Canadian broadcaster, Jian Ghomeshi and actor Bill Cosby.
Much has been made about how university campuses across North America handled – or mishandled incidents of sexual assault.
Women’s centres applaud Saskatchewan’s universities’ decision to address this issue.
“I think this is huge – the institution coming out and saying we want to develop a consent culture,” said Dylan Lambai-Raine, U of S Women’s Centre co-ordinator.
However, creating that culture could be harder than it seems. A recent Canadian Women’s Foundation survey found 67 percent of Canadians don’t know how to give or get consent.
Their new campaign tries to make the concept simple.
You can watch more about this discussion on Focus Saskatchewan October 24th and 25th at 6:30pm.
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