Submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy
Bill 132: Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act
(Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and
Harassment), 2015
Presented by:
David McMurray, Vice President, Student Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University,
Chair of the COU Reference Group on Sexual Violence
Janet Morrison, Vice-Provost Students, York University,
Member of the COU Reference Group on Sexual Violence
Lisa Rae, Senior Policy Analyst, Council of Ontario Universities
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Summary
Ontario universities stand behind Bill 132 and the Premier’s Action Plan on Sexual
Violence to eradicate sexual violence and harassment in all parts of life, including
universities.
We agree that universities and colleges should develop standalone policies on sexual
violence and that policies should be developed with student input and engagement.
We have several suggestions that would help to strengthen Bill 132. These suggestions
focus on where the Bill will impede universities’ ability to respond and offer services to
survivors in a way that is in line with best practices as identified through research, and the
experience of community-based service providers to survivors of sexual violence.
We know that students and members of the violence against women (VAW) community
also share many of these concerns.
Recommendations:
1. Expand the scope of university and college policies required under the Bill to
include the entire community – including students, faculty and other employees.
2. Allow post-secondary institutions to distinguish between disclosure(s) and
reporting and to ensure that survivors have the right to access confidential
services and supports.
3. Ensure a multi-pronged approach to meeting the requirements listed under
Information to the Minister, that respects a survivor’s ability to access confidential
services and supports.
a. A climate survey to capture the times supports, services and
accommodations are accessed relating to sexual violence are requested;
and
b. Information on formal reports of sexual violence made to the university
security or police, or office or body responsible for complaints, where the
expectation is that formal action be taken against an alleged perpetrator.
About the Council of Ontario Universities (COU)
COU is a membership organization consisting of Ontario’s 20 publicly assisted universities
and one associate member, the Royal Military College of Canada.
COU works with members to find consensus on a wide range of university issues and
advances them with government and other stakeholders.
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Ontario universities stand behind Bill 132 and the Premier’s Action Plan on Sexual Violence
to eradicate sexual violence and harassment in all parts of life, including universities.
Universities in Ontario have been collaborating with students to review and develop policies
on sexual violence and on improving and enhancing the supports, services and prevention
programs that are available.
We have several suggestions that would help to strengthen Bill 132. These suggestions
focus on where the Bill will impede universities’ ability to respond and offer services to
survivors in a way that is in line with research and best practices. We agree that universities
and colleges should develop standalone policies on sexual violence and that policies should
be developed with student input and engagement. We know that students and members of
the VAW community also share many of these concerns.
1. Scope of sexual violence policies (MTCU Act, S.17(3)(a), in Schedule 3 of Bill
132):
The current scope of the policies on sexual violence required by Bill 132 for colleges and
universities is explicitly focused on students 1. At universities, the lines between students,
faculty and staff may be blurred and members of the community may not fall neatly into one
category. There is much overlap. Students may be teaching assistants, which makes them
employees, and staff may take courses, making them students.
The exclusion of certain members of the campus community – namely staff and faculty – is
problematic because, among other challenges, it means that a survivor may be subject to a
different policies or procedures depending on their affiliation to the university at a given
time. This could be particularly problematic where a survivor is both a student and staff such
as in the case of many graduate students or undergraduate students who secure part-time
employment on campus. Universities may also be faced with competing compliance issues
when, for example, a report of sexual violence involves a student-survivor and a member of
faculty/staff (for example, the Occupational Health and Safety Act requirements related to
Workplace Violence and Harassment).
We also know that students, faculty or staff may perpetrate sexual violence and
harassment.
A survivor-centric approach would afford all members of our community impacted by sexual
violence with a clear, consistent, timely and high standard of response and support
regardless of whether they are students, faculty or staff.
Ontario universities believe that a policy that applies to everyone will alleviate the potential
for policy loopholes, and assist universities in communicating to their communities that
1
Bill 132, Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and
Harassment), 2015. Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Schedule 3, (3) (a). “specifically and solely addresses sexual violence
involving students enrolled at the college or university;” Online:
http://ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&BillID=3535&detailPage=bills_detail_the_bill
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sexual violence will not be tolerated and that there are supports, resources and avenues for
complaints available to survivors.
We believe that allowing universities and colleges the ability to expand the scope of their
policies will complement and strengthen the changes in the Bill related to the Ontario Health
and Safety Act.
We recommend that the Committee amend the Bill to expand the scope of university
and college policies required under to include the entire community – including
students, faculty and other employees.
2. Reporting, disclosure, and survivor choice:
We know from experience and from dialogue and partnerships with the VAW sector that
survivors need choices, the ability to access confidential advice and services, as well as
formal reporting options including formal mechanisms for reporting complaints.
It is imperative that survivors of sexual violence be afforded the opportunity:
I.
to report sexual violence formally to the university (which involves an expectation
that formal action be taken against an alleged perpetrator); and
II.
to disclose experiences of sexual violence confidentially (where a person who
experienced sexual violence may not be seeking a formal resolution but rather is
seeking support and an opportunity to discuss various options, including the option
of formal reporting).
We recommend that the Committee ensure that the Bill allows universities to
distinguish between reporting and disclosure.
3. Information to the Minister (MTCU Act, S.17(7)1., in Schedule 3 of Bill 132).
The lack of distinction between reporting and disclosure is particularly apparent in the
section on Information to the Minister that will require universities to provide information on
supports, services and accommodation requests, while respecting privacy. We believe that,
depending on how universities are required to collect and report on this information,
survivors will not have opportunities to seek entirely confidential services and supports. This
could be a deterrent to disclosing and accessing supports.
We also know that counting the number of times supports are accessed in any office or
service will not provide an accurate measure of the problem. Many survivors will not come
forward or access services of any kind. Research shows there are many reasons that
people do not report incidents of sexual assault or sexual violence to authorities. Further,
concerns about privacy and confidentiality is one of the key reasons that survivors do not
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access formal or informal supports 2. What will be captured by tracking reports likely will be
a fraction of actual occurrences.
The legislation as drafted requires granular reporting. The level of campus resources that
will be required to develop systems to report on the number of times “supports, services and
accommodations” relating to sexual violence are requested and obtained by students
(including those related to, for example, petitions, counseling, deferred exams, temporary
housing, etc.) will be substantial, given the wide range of offerings available and the number
of persons and offices providing them. In addition, universities will need to invest in
coordinating meaningful reporting that does not violate privacy legislation and/or our
commitment to protecting confidentiality. This is a complex and resource intensive exercise
given the multiple offices and supports that exist within a university.
For these reasons, universities are advocating for the development and deployment of a
campus climate survey for use across universities in Ontario. A climate survey would also
allow universities to dig deeper to understand the attitudes, experiences and behaviours of
students and campus community members.
We recommend the Committee ensure a multi-pronged approach to meeting the
requirements listed under “Information to the Minister,” that respects a survivor’s
ability to access confidential services and supports.
Specifically, we think that information requirements related to supports and services and the
number of incidents and complaints should be met through the following methodology:
•
A climate survey to capture the times supports, services and accommodations are
accessed relating to sexual violence are requested; and
•
Information on formal reports of sexual violence made to the university security or
police, or office or body responsible for complaints, where the expectation is that
formal action be taken against an alleged perpetrator.
Consider the Adequacy of Resources
We would like to note that by increasing awareness of services and supports, we will
increase demand for community resources, particularly those in the VAW sector whose
funding is insufficient and unsecure.
While outside the scope of this Bill, to honour our commitment to survivors, we recommend
that the government commit to considering the adequacy of resources in the VAW sector.
We have heard from leaders in the VAW sector that while they welcome stronger
partnerships with universities including the inclusion and distribution of information about
2
Government of Canada, Department of Justice. Bill C-46: Records Applications Post-Mills,
A Caselaw Review. Section 3.4.2. “Privacy and confidentiality issues for victims.” Online:
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/ccs-ajc/rr06_vic2/p3_4.html
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supports and services available for university community members in the community (as will
be required under regulation), this will increase the demand for those services. We echo the
statements made by the VAW sector on this front and draw public attention to what could
become a significant access issue.
In closing
Ontario universities stand behind Bill 132 and the Premier’s Action Plan on Sexual Violence
to eradicate sexual violence and harassment in all parts of life, including universities.
Universities in Ontario have been collaborating with students to review and develop policies
on sexual violence and on improving and enhancing the supports, services and prevention
programs that are available.
We would also like to ensure that the Committee is aware that universities are in the unique
position of - in some cases - having both parties to a sexual violence complaint as members
in their communities. It is therefore important to recognize that universities have many
obligations to constituents of a complaint or incident of sexual violence: universities have a
responsibility to survivors, universities have a responsibility to community safety and
universities have an obligation to ensure due process and procedural fairness.
We would like to thank you for your commitment to improving the legislative framework for
supporting survivors of sexual violence and in challenging sexual violence and harassment
in Ontario.
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ISBN: 0-88799-526-8
COU No.: 916
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