It’s an initiative that began one year ago after the federal government invested nearly $200, 000 towards a University of Lethbridge project. Now after months of research, the school says it’s nearly ready to launch its campaign created in partnership with the YWCA and the Sexual Violence Action Committee with a number of changes planned for the new year.
“It’s been in the works for quite a long time and it’s been really wonderful to see through the audit process and the focus groups it’s already doing its work in terms of promoting greater awareness about violence on campus,” said Judith Lapedat, Vice President Students at the U of L.
The issue of gender based violence has always been prevalent but the YWCA says the problem is, it’s rarely addressed.
“There’s less than one per cent of sexual violence that’s actually reported to police,” said Lethbridge YWCA Special Projects Coordinator Jennifer Lepko. “So we hear about that, then there’s 90 per cent of victims, survivors that aren’t receiving any help, or are scared to tell anybody.”
The university says it’s those alarming numbers that serve as a large focus of the campaign.
“We know that overall in gender based violence not all incidents are reported, so with greater awareness we hope that will promote the feeling of students feeling supported and knowing who to go to if such incidents were to happen,” added Lapedat.
The student lead project has hosted months of focus groups and safety audits on campus and while details of the project will be kept under wraps until its launch in January, those involved in the partnership say the majority of campus populations indicate more needs to be done in promoting awareness.
“It’s really exciting that students are so interested and when they do get the opportunity to speak that they have so much to say and they’re really coming from a smart place,” said the university’s Mental Health Coordinator Auburn Phillips.
But it doesn’t stop on campus the hope is, this initiative will start a nation wide movement.
“Sexual violence happens all over the place and it’s not talked about. It’s something that’s hidden under the table, brushed under the carpet,” said Lepko.
“It’s very important to get the word out there, create those supports for victims and survivors of sexual violence and make a difference-have everybody, the whole community stand up and say- that’s not okay, that’s not right.”
The university says creating the campaign also involved integrating a number of supports on campus, including its security team who will be implementing some notes taken during safety audits on campus.
The campaign launches in January and is set to run all winter semester, many hoping that it will continue on long after the school year ends.
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