In September 2020 Statistics Canada released four research reports regarding gender-based violence, sexual violence and discrimination. The following are key highlights from the reports.
The Do's and Don'ts of Meaningful Consultation with College Administration
Building meaningful dialogue with college administration is key to having a positive impact on your campus and creating win-win solutions that will ultimately benefit your student population and your school as a whole. If your administration involves you in their decisions on a regular basis, and vice versa, there is a greater opportunity for both parties to come to a constructive solution before issues escalate. COVID-19 has undoubtedly made meaningful discussion more difficult without the ability to have in-person meetings. We have compiled a list of dos and don’ts for meaningful dialogue with your college administration that can be used to help increase the impact of your sexual violence prevention advocacy on your campus!
6 Ways Campuses Can Collaborate with Gender-Based Violence Community Organizations
As post-secondary institutions (PSIs) look towards a school year where “campus” itself will likely be extended into online spaces, it’s important to consider how gender-based violence will manifest differently, and how prevention efforts will need to adapt. It is important to build relationships with community-based gender-based violence (GBV) organizations i.e. sexual assault centres, violence against women shelters, Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit groups and LGBTQIS2 organizations. Our shared goal of ending gender-based violence requires collaboration between community organizations and PSIs. Here are six ways that gender-based violence organizations and PSIs can work well together:
Key Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Gender-Based Violence
It is easy to assume that our work on campuses to address and prevent gender-based violence will lessen as students return home to self-isolate, however, the reality is that home is not always a safe place for everyone. We saw this tragically unfold in Nova Scotia where a mass murder of 22 people began with acts of intimate partner violence. Courage to Act is deeply concerned about the ways in which many students, staff and faculty face increased risks of gender-based violence under the COVID-19 pandemic.
Strategies for Remote Work to Address Gender-Based Violence
Deep breath. Covid-19 has shifted work for so many of us and our team wants to be of support. Possibility Seeds is currently leading Courage to Act, a national two-year project to address and prevent gender-based violence on post-secondary institutions built and led by our communities. In this spirit of collaboration, we have created the following resource for people working in post-secondary institutions about meeting the emerging needs of campus community members affected by gender-based violence. It is not an exhaustive list but a start of ideas, hopes and questions, not definitive answers.