#ConsentIsNotCancelled began as a mini-campaign under the Simon Fraser University’s Active Bystander Network social media to contextualize the biannual Consent Matters campaign at Simon Fraser University. The campaign is an invitation to reflect on how consent ought to be prioritized as an ongoing practice in our daily lives, including when engaging in sexual activity. Courage to Act hopes that the #ConsentIsNotCancelled campaign can be used by other institutions this fall to inspire conversations about consent, gender-based violence and bystander intervention, especially in a time of social distancing.

As gender justice advocates, many if not all of you are in the midst of moving all or most of your programming and initiatives into the online world. This transition won’t be easy or seamless and we know that you are adaptable, creative, and innovative and, ultimately, you know what’s best for your campus's unique population of students, staff, and faculty. To help support you in this work, we are sharing some of the great tips and tools we’ve been drawing upon in our work.

Despite the fact that many PSIs have developed and implemented educational programs and support services to respond to GBV in university communities, this approach tends to miss a vulnerable population on campuses: those Students from International Pathways (SIPs).

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:

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. 

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.

Possibility Seeds Consulting launched its Courage to Act: Developing a National Framework to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence at Post-Secondary Institutions report today at Ryerson University. The report was developed through funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada, and identifies recommendations, promising practices, and gaps in preventing and addressing gender-based violence on post-secondary campuses in Canada.