- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,224
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
The union that represents Carleton professors has compiled a list of more than 20 changes it would like to see in the university’s sexual violence prevention policy.
Under provincial legislation, the policy must be passed by the end of the year. The university published a draft policy two weeks ago. Tuesday night, the Carleton University Academic Staff Association, which represents about 850 academic staff, met with the Graduate Students’ Association and CUPE 4600, which represents teaching and research assistants, to discuss its response to the draft policy.
Most of the changes the faculty union wants revolve around three issues: prevention, confidentiality and representation in hearings. Preventing sexual violence is the top of the list, said Dawn Moore, as associate professor of law and equity chair of the faculty union.
The draft policy contains no clear statement of how resources for education would be allocated. The union is asking that a position be funded for the sole purpose of addressing and preventing sexual violence on campus and wants the university to fund training for front-line staff including physicians, nurses, counsellors and academic advisors.
Moore said the importance of prevention has been underscored by the recent spotlight on the University of Ottawa after a student newspaper revealed details of a pub-crawl contest in which students were given a list of challenges with points awarded for stunts like taking off their clothes in public and having sex with those judging the competition.
“It’s clear that whatever training they do at frosh week is not enough.”
At Carleton, students take a mandatory online sexual violence prevention module as part of their orientation. But in a culture that is saturated with messages about sexuality and misogyny, an online course won’t shift attitudes, she said. “I want students to have fun, exciting sex lives. But they’re getting really mixed messages.”
The faculty union wants assurances that those who have complaints about sexual violence can be confident that their concerns are kept confidential, as well as being allowed to have an advocate to make representations in hearings. The union also wants representatives other than administrators on the university’s appeals committee.
The draft policy allows for complainants to learn about the result of a hearing, but not if disciplinary action has taken place. The union would also like to see that changed.
“The complainant needs to take care of their own safety in the end. So they need to know if the person they claim assaulted them has been, for example, banned from campus so they know to call campus security if they see the person,” said Moore.
The draft policy included a definition of the controversial term “rape culture” in its preamble (“a culture in which dominant ideas, social practices, media images and societal institutions implicitly condone sexual assault by normalizing or trivializing sexual violence and by blaming survivors for their own abuse”). But there were no other references in the 23-page document.
Using “rape culture” to describe campus atmosphere has been contentious. Moore believes the term doesn’t have to be used in the body of the policy. “I think terms are only useful as far as helping to forward the debate. The term itself has become a distraction,” she said. “We can achieve the ends we want without using a politically-loaded term.”
Lauren Montgomery, the women’s caucus chair at CUPE 4600, which represents 3,000 contract instructors and teaching and research assistants, said she is deeply disappointed by the draft policy. “It isn’t anything like what we asked for.”
She shares many of Moore’s concerns and wants funding designated to prevention programs. Meanwhile, she says she doesn’t need to see the term “rape culture” used as long as the university acknowledges that universities are part of a culture that perpetuates sexual violence.
“All we need is acknowledgement that universities are part of this.”
The campus community has until Oct. 28 to respond to the draft policy, and administrators will have another two weeks to answer. The policy goes to the board of governors in early December.
With incidents like U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks about grabbing women and the University of Ottawa’s pub crawl still fresh on the public radar, the right policy can make Carleton a leader among Canadian universities, Moore said.
“We managed the turn the tide on racism. We managed to turn the tide on homophobia. We can turn the tide on sexual violence,” she said. “The teachable moments are fleeting. And now we’re in one. I want my university to be getting it right. I know my colleagues feel the same way.”
jlaucius@postmedia.com
查看原文...
Under provincial legislation, the policy must be passed by the end of the year. The university published a draft policy two weeks ago. Tuesday night, the Carleton University Academic Staff Association, which represents about 850 academic staff, met with the Graduate Students’ Association and CUPE 4600, which represents teaching and research assistants, to discuss its response to the draft policy.
Most of the changes the faculty union wants revolve around three issues: prevention, confidentiality and representation in hearings. Preventing sexual violence is the top of the list, said Dawn Moore, as associate professor of law and equity chair of the faculty union.
The draft policy contains no clear statement of how resources for education would be allocated. The union is asking that a position be funded for the sole purpose of addressing and preventing sexual violence on campus and wants the university to fund training for front-line staff including physicians, nurses, counsellors and academic advisors.
Moore said the importance of prevention has been underscored by the recent spotlight on the University of Ottawa after a student newspaper revealed details of a pub-crawl contest in which students were given a list of challenges with points awarded for stunts like taking off their clothes in public and having sex with those judging the competition.
“It’s clear that whatever training they do at frosh week is not enough.”
At Carleton, students take a mandatory online sexual violence prevention module as part of their orientation. But in a culture that is saturated with messages about sexuality and misogyny, an online course won’t shift attitudes, she said. “I want students to have fun, exciting sex lives. But they’re getting really mixed messages.”
The faculty union wants assurances that those who have complaints about sexual violence can be confident that their concerns are kept confidential, as well as being allowed to have an advocate to make representations in hearings. The union also wants representatives other than administrators on the university’s appeals committee.
The draft policy allows for complainants to learn about the result of a hearing, but not if disciplinary action has taken place. The union would also like to see that changed.
“The complainant needs to take care of their own safety in the end. So they need to know if the person they claim assaulted them has been, for example, banned from campus so they know to call campus security if they see the person,” said Moore.
The draft policy included a definition of the controversial term “rape culture” in its preamble (“a culture in which dominant ideas, social practices, media images and societal institutions implicitly condone sexual assault by normalizing or trivializing sexual violence and by blaming survivors for their own abuse”). But there were no other references in the 23-page document.
Using “rape culture” to describe campus atmosphere has been contentious. Moore believes the term doesn’t have to be used in the body of the policy. “I think terms are only useful as far as helping to forward the debate. The term itself has become a distraction,” she said. “We can achieve the ends we want without using a politically-loaded term.”
Lauren Montgomery, the women’s caucus chair at CUPE 4600, which represents 3,000 contract instructors and teaching and research assistants, said she is deeply disappointed by the draft policy. “It isn’t anything like what we asked for.”
She shares many of Moore’s concerns and wants funding designated to prevention programs. Meanwhile, she says she doesn’t need to see the term “rape culture” used as long as the university acknowledges that universities are part of a culture that perpetuates sexual violence.
“All we need is acknowledgement that universities are part of this.”
The campus community has until Oct. 28 to respond to the draft policy, and administrators will have another two weeks to answer. The policy goes to the board of governors in early December.
With incidents like U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks about grabbing women and the University of Ottawa’s pub crawl still fresh on the public radar, the right policy can make Carleton a leader among Canadian universities, Moore said.
“We managed the turn the tide on racism. We managed to turn the tide on homophobia. We can turn the tide on sexual violence,” she said. “The teachable moments are fleeting. And now we’re in one. I want my university to be getting it right. I know my colleagues feel the same way.”
jlaucius@postmedia.com
查看原文...
