BROCK UNIVERSITY SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE PROTOCOL
Interim September 2015
Responsibility: Office of Human Rights and Equity Services
Authorized by: Senior Administrative Council (September 2015)
Approved by: Board of Trustees
Date: December 2014
Next Review Date: TBD
INTRODUCTION
Brock University will respond to and may investigate all reports of sexual assault and
report assaults to local law enforcement when guided by the law to do so.
Campus Security Services, staff and faculty will follow clear processes when responding
to a report of sexual assault, as set out below.
Brock University supports any members of our community who experience sexual
assault. We will work with community agencies who are experts in sexual assault
response and who can provide immediate advice and support.
Following a sexual assault, the University will provide follow up resources and will work
to create and accommodate alternative living (ie. residence facilities), working and
academic arrangements as appropriate.
The University may also initiate an investigation into a sexual assault complaint, even
where a complaint is not a matter for law enforcement: in this case, the appropriate
disciplinary process will be followed depending on the status of the accused: for students
through the Code of Conduct or Residence Community Guiding Principles and for
faculty/staff through the procedures established by the Respectful Work and Learning
Environment Policy. The University will take every reasonable step to protect
complainants from any possible retaliation stemming from their complaint.
PURPOSE
To clearly define Brock University’s commitment to sexual assault prevention and
response; to clearly communicate the process to seek assistance for individuals who have
been sexually assaulted ; to outline the roles and responsibilities of community members
responding to incidents of sexual assault; to implement a mechanism for tracking
incidents of sexual assault that occur within our community;
DEFINITIONS
Confidentiality- Refers to the maintenance of privacy for the survivor within the
confines of the law. Confidentiality will be broken if there is a risk of harm to the
individual or others, and if a child is at risk for abuse or neglect. Documents may also, in
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certain circumstances, be required to be produced in response to a legal subpoena or
warrant.
Consent - The voluntary agreement of a person to engage in the sexual activity in
question. Consent or a “yes” that is obtained through pressure, coercion, force or
threats of force is not voluntary.
A person can withdraw consent at any time during the course of the sexual encounter,
pursuing sexual contact in any form whatsoever with an unwilling or unconsenting
partner is sexual assault.
There is no Consent when:
• the agreement is expressed by words, gestures, or conduct or any other means by
a person other than the survivor;
• the survivor is incapable of consenting to the activity (drunk, high, asleep);
• the perpetrator induces the survivor to engage in the activity by abusing a position
of trust, power, or authority;
• the survivor expresses, by words, gestures, conduct or any other means, a lack of
agreement;
• the survivor having consented to engage in consensual activity, expressed by
words, gestures, conduct or by any other means, indicates a lack of agreement to
continue in the activity.
• Past consent/ the fact that consent was given in the past does not mean that
consent is deemed to exist for all future sexual activity
• If it is difficult to know whether consent is being given or refused then it should
be considered as “No Consent”. The entire responsibility for correct discernment
is upon the person making the sexual advance.
The entire responsibility for correct discernment is upon the person making the sexual
advance.
Coercion– When an individual uses pressure, threats or intimidation to force another to
act a certain way. Coercion is an attempt to compel by threats or force.
Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault - Many substances can be connected with sexual
assault. The term “drug” includes alcohol; over-the-counter, legal drugs; prescription
drugs; as well as illegal drugs and a number of substances that have been labeled “date
rape drugs.” Alcohol is the most common drug used in sexual assault.
Sexual Assault- Is any unwanted sexual act done by one person to another. Sexual
Assault includes but is not limited to:
• Kissing
• Touching of genitals, breasts, buttocks or elsewhere on the body (clothes on or
off)
• Forced vaginal or anal intercourse
• Forcing someone to perform oral sex
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•
•
Taking advantage of a position of trust or authority to get sex
Threatening to harm someone else if you do not agree to any of these things
Sexual Assault Survivor – The term “survivor” is a positive term recognizing the
strength required to live with an experience of sexual assault. Although survivors had no
control over the assault, they do have options in their response, and are actively involved
in the process of reclaiming their personal power. A sexual assault survivor is a victim
and one who has been the subject of sexual violence.
SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE PROTOCOL
First Response: If you have been sexually assaulted:
After an assault has occurred, go to a safe place. This might be the home/room of a friend
or a family member, a residence don, or any place where you can find physical safety and
receive emotional support.
•
If you feel unsafe, desire to report the assault, or want to discuss any aspect of
your experience, our community members residing in the Niagara Region are
strongly encouraged to immediately contact the Niagara Region Sexual Assault
Centre (NRSAC) using their 24 hour crisis line at (905) 682-4584.
Brock University has a partnership with NRSAC to provide a first point of contact
service to any of our community members who experience sexual assault.
NRSAC provides services in a safe and comfortable environment for survivors of
child sexual abuse, incest and adult sexual assault. They offer a 24 hour crisis
line, emergency services, individual and group counselling, accompaniment and
advocacy through medical and legal proceedings, public education programs and
community events. NRSAC will assist Brock community members to understand
their options and make choices about how to respond to an experience of sexual
assault, including options for reporting the assault, recommended medical
treatment, and counselling/support available. NRSAC will also provide Brock
community members with resources for follow up services available through the
University. Please see www.brocku.ca/sexualassault for additional information
about University resources you may wish to follow up with and what to expect.
•
Community members attending the Hamilton campus are encouraged to contact
Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton Area using their 24 hours support line at
(905) 525-4162, or a Sexual Assault Centre in the area they reside in (see
www.casac.ca for a listing).
There are also follow up resources available at the university to community
members from the Hamilton campus – please visit www.brocku.ca/sexualassault
for more information on options.
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•
If you have any immediate security/safety needs or believe there is an ongoing
threat to others in our community, you are encouraged to immediately contact
Campus Security Services for assistance at (905) 688-5550 x 3200 (St.
Catharines Campus), (905) 688-5550 x 3623 (Hamilton Campus) or via any of
the Emergency Phones on either campus.
Follow Up Response: Seeking support, counselling and health care:
The following departments are explicitly trained in how to work with survivors of sexual
assault and can provide follow up support when a community member returns to campus.
However, there may be many others on campus willing and able to support you.
• Human Rights and Equity Services
[email protected]
Staff of Human Rights and Equity Services can be reached from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday. At other times, Campus Security Services can often arrange a
connection.
• Personal Counselling Services
Students: (905) 688-5550 x 4750
Students can access Personal Counselling Services free of charge. Counsellors at
Personal Counselling Services can be reached from 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon and 1:00 p.m. 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday by using the direct phone line at the Student
Development Centre (4th Floor, Schmon Tower) or by calling x 4750. For after hours
emergencies, please call (905) 327-2244. Be sure to leave the University extension where
you can be reached if you are calling from a University phone. Personal Counselling will
provide students with confidential support, help them work through their feelings and
make decisions about how they wish to proceed.
Staff: 1-800-387-4765
Information on the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is available from
Human Resources and within the benefit packages of University staff. Brock’s EFAP
Provider for staff is Shepell-fgi, and can be reached at 1-800-387-4765 or
www.workhealthlife.com.
Faculty: (905) 688-5550 x 4266
Faculty members have coverage under Greenshield and can contact Denise Nagy (ext.
4266) in Human Resources for details.
• Department of Residences
(905) 688-5550 x 3706 or x 4311
Residence Life Staff (Dons and/or Head Residents) can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week for students living in residence via the Residence Service Desks. Residence Life
Staff can provide care and assistance and will facilitate other connections you might want
to make. Residence Life Staff will be required to report the assault to their Residence
Life Coordinator but that report will stay confidential. You can also choose to seek
confidential help directly from one of the Residence Life Coordinators.
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• Student Health Services
(905) 688-5550 x 3243
Staff of Student Health Services can be reached from 8:45 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. Monday
through Thursday, and Friday 8:45am-4:30pm. They are closed each day during the
lunch hour (12:00 – 1:00 p.m.). Evening clinics are also sometimes offered – please
contact the office for availability. Student Health Services can provide important medical
care and help you understand the potential health impacts of the assault (pregnancy,
sexually transmitted diseases, depression, anxiety) and can facilitate other connections
you might want to make regarding your health care needs.
Please Note: Where you seek support from university personnel other than the
departments/services listed above, please understand that there may be obligations for
staff and faculty members to disclose the assault (without sharing identifying
information) for the purposes of keeping statistics, or to fully disclose the details of the
assault. Please review the section below: What to expect regarding confidentiality for
additional guidance.
Follow up Response: Additional reporting of the assault:
If you believe you have been sexually assaulted, you may want to tell somebody other
than a friend or family member. You may choose to discuss the assault with University
personnel for the purposes of seeking emotional support and/or for the purposes of
obtaining help in making a report about the assault to university and/or law enforcement
officials.
If you wish to make a report, you have two options (as set out below); a person may
pursue any and all forms of recourse. Only you can decide what to do. In most cases you
can decide what material you will and will not disclose when you report.
NOTE: Reporting and Investigation of a Sexual Assault Perpetrated by a University
Employee. Brock University has a legal responsibility to provide a safe living, working
and learning environment. Where an employee of the University becomes aware of an
allegation that a sexual assault has been perpetrated by another University employee,
there is a requirement to immediately report the incident to the Associate Vice-President,
Human Resources (or designate) who will coordinate the investigation and University
response. Any resulting disciplinary action will occur according to established university
procedures and/or the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.
The University will be supportive of any member of its community who has been
assaulted or reports an assault to University personnel. We generally utilize a clientcentred approach that empowers the survivor to make her/his own decisions about how to
proceed. You can expect kindness, assistance and information, at the time of the assault
and subsequently, from well informed University personnel who are following a written
and understood procedure. If you do not receive this type of response, please contact
Human Rights and Equity Services at x 5657.
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Your options are for making a report are:
A. Reporting to the Local Police Department (Niagara Regional Police for St. Catharines
campus; Hamilton Police Service for Hamilton Campus, and local police services in
satellite campus locations) is recommended although Campus Security Services can also
assist you with this process.
B. A person may report a sexual assault to Campus Security Services and/or the
Department of Residences (where the assault occurred in residence facilities), to learn
about the option of an investigation and disciplinary action at the University. Every
effort is made to keep this path confidential to the extent that circumstances permit; this
path is unlikely to result in any disciplinary action of the alleged perpetrator unless the
survivor’s complaint moves forward with the co-operation of the survivor. It is important
to know that the survivor may have a supporter (see suggestions in section above) present
when the survivor attends with University officials to report the sexual assault and during
any subsequent disciplinary processes involving the perpetrator which the survivor must
attend. The University will investigate all sexual assault incidents and reports of
incidents.
The University will encourage survivors of sexual assault to bring criminal charges or
campus disciplinary action against a perpetrator, but it generally cannot compel them to
do so. The University, however, maintains a higher standard for personal behavior than
that of the Criminal Code of Canada, as reflected in Respectful Work and Learning
Environment Policy and other policies/codes that guide behaviour of our community
members. Therefore, the University may bring charges and initiate internal disciplinary
procedures against an alleged perpetrator, and will generally seek the survivor’s approval
before proceeding. Decisions within the context of any University process will be made
on the basis of balance of probabilities and not the criminal standard of beyond a
reasonable doubt.
What to expect regarding confidentiality:
The University does its best to respect the confidentiality of all persons. However, where
the University becomes aware of an allegation of a member of the University community
against another member of the University community, the University has an obligation
under the Ontario Human Rights Code (since sexual assault falls within the ambit of
sexual harassment under the Code) and if the survivor is an employee, possibly under the
Occupational Health and Safety Act, to take steps to ensure that the matter is dealt with
as required by those statutes.
The confidentiality of all persons involved in a report of sexual assault must be strictly
observed, except where disclosure is required in order to comply with the University’s
statutory obligation and/or policies to investigate and deal with allegations of sexual
assault. Certain University administrators are informed about an assault on a “need to
know” and confidential basis, but not necessarily of the identities of the persons involved.
Human Rights and Equity Services collects statistics on incidents of sexual assault on
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campus, and Campus Security Services and the Manager of Residence Life and Student
Affairs keep statistics on incidents of crime and misconduct on campus. Therefore,
reports of the incidence of a sexual assault without details should be passed on to these
departments even where the survivor has chosen not to take any further action so the
University is able to collect statistics that increase its ability to understand and address
issues relating to sexual assault on our campus.
Third Party Reporting of Sexual Assault
The Anonymous Third Party Report program is managed by the Niagara Regional Police
Service in partnership with the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Program –
Niagara (SA/DVTP) and the Niagara Regional Sexual Assault Centre (NRSAC).
This program gives survivors of sexual assault the opportunity to anonymously provide
police with information relating to a sexual assault and receive counseling and support
following a sexual assault.
This also gives the survivor the choice to decide whether or not s/he may want to be
contacted at a later date, for example, in the event of a trial or investigation.
Follow up Response: Campus disciplinary procedures
For Students: Sexual Assault is a violation of the Code of Conduct and Residence
Community Guiding Principles. It is considered a serious offense and will be addressed
in conformity with other serious offenses. It is important to know that the survivor may
have a supporter present during the reporting and any subsequent disciplinary processes.
Please see the Code of Conduct and Residence Community Guiding Principles for more
details on each disciplinary process.
For Faculty and Staff: Sexual Assault is a violation of the Respectful Work and
Learning Environment Policy. Faculty and staff members will be addressed by using the
procedures set out in that policy. Ultimately, if the complaint is sustained by an
investigation, Human Resources will decide on disciplinary actions consistent with the
collective agreements and policies regarding discipline.
The status (student, faculty, staff) of the accused determines which process will be used.
EDUCATION AND COMPLIANCE
The education of our entire community: students, administration, faculty and staff will be
undertaken for the purpose of informing all members of their obligations and rights. The
responsibility for such education is shared across many departments on campus,
including: Student Services departments and Human Rights and Equity Services. The
objective of the education should be to:
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1. Enable persons to understand and recognize the nature and dimensions of sexual
assault.
2. Provide members of the community with the means for confronting potential or actual
sexual assault, or accusations of sexual assault. Education and discussion about sexual
assault are encouraged within the curriculum wherever appropriate.
Dissemination of this Document and Related Statistics
This Sexual Assault Response Protocol document is a resource for referral and education,
available to all members of the Brock University community. As survivors of sexual
assault may initially seek support and assistance from any member of our community
(fellow students, staff and/or faculty members), it is important that all members of our
community are familiar with the University’s Sexual Assault Response Protocol and with
the departments and community agencies available to assist survivors.
This document is available to all students, faculty and staff, as well as alumni, friends of
the University and the general public. Copies of this policy also appear in the student,
faculty and staff handbooks.
Statistics on incidents of sexual assault will be collected by Human Rights and Equity
Services and published annually.
REVIEW
Human Rights and Equity Services will maintain records and engage in an annual
administrative review and evaluation, in consultation with other campus departments
(Human Resources, Campus Security Services, Department of Residences, Student
Health Services, Personal Counselling, etc.), of the efficacy of this policy.
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