Content warning: Mentions of sexual violence McGill launched a new version of its mandatory “It Takes All of Us” program, an online tool meant to educate the McGill community about sexual violence, on Jan. 30. The updated version was created by the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education[Read More…]
Tag: sexual violence
Staffing shortages led to temporary closure of McGill’s main sexual violence support service
As a result of staffing shortages, McGill’s central sexual violence support service, the Office for Sexual Violence, Response, Support, and Education (OSVRSE), was forced to close temporarily during the Fall 2022 semester. All active cases were immediately transferred to the Office of the Dean of Students (ODoS), whose case managers[Read More…]
‘Meet Me’ provokes reflection through interactive theatre
In the “post”-#MeToo era, consent, sexual misconduct, and cancel culture have become hot-button topics present throughout news articles, thinkpieces, movies, and TV shows alike. From fiery op-eds insisting that there is a stark difference in severity between sexual assault and sexual misconduct to columnists who disavow complaints about ‘cancel culture’[Read More…]
Revised McGill sexual violence policy allows survivors to know disciplinary results of their cases
Content Warning: Mention of sexual violence Survivors who report allegations of sexual violence to McGill can now request information about the specific disciplinary or administrative action taken by the university against their aggressor. Quebec’s Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information had[Read More…]
OSVRSE hosts week-long ‘Knock Down the Walls’ campaign addressing sexual violence at McGill
Content warning: Sexual Violence Each term, the Office for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education (OSVRSE) hosts a week-long event with the aim to educate the public about resources available to survivors of sexual violence. This semester’s campaign, titled “Knock Down the Walls,” ran from Jan. 24 to Jan. 28.[Read More…]
Peng Shuai resurfaces, but justice for survivors is nowhere to be found
Content Warning: This article discusses sexual violence. On Nov. 2, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai posted a statement to Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, accusing former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexually assaulting her in his home three years prior. Shortly after, the statement was deleted from the platform and[Read More…]
The women behind the headlines
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, there have been 14 reported cases of femicide in Quebec. A femicide, sometimes called ‘feminicide,’ is the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender. Despite the recent spike in reported femicides, this kind of gender-based violence has[Read More…]
McGill Senate presents annual report on sexual violence
The McGill Senate convened on March 24 to vote on several motions and present annual reports from various branches of university governance, including the Senate Nominating Committee and the Board of Governors (BoG). Governors approved PGSS Academic Affairs Officer Sophie Osiecki’s appointment to the Senate’s Committee on Student Grievances and[Read More…]
The limits of innocent until proven guilty
One in 10 female-identifying students at Canadian post-secondary institutions experienced sexual assault in 2019. According to a survey from 2014, only about five per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police. As sexual assault garnered more attention through the #MeToo movement, many used the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”[Read More…]
Tribune Explains: SSMU’s endorsement of the Sexual Violence Petition
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) endorsed a petition on Oct. 29 demanding that the Quebec National Assembly amend its current privacy laws. The change would allow universities to disclose to survivors of sexual assault the sanctions institutions apply to their aggressors. Since its release, the petition has garnered[Read More…]