11/18/2021
As a united front, the undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Alberta demand that the leaders of our campus community take action to prevent and meaningfully respond to sexual violence, so survivors receive the justice they deserve.
Post-secondary students across Canada face endemic sexual violence. Statistics Canada estimates that among post-secondary students, one out of 10 women and one out of 25 men experience sexual assault each year.1 At UAlberta, that would equate to 2,500 undergraduates and 600 graduate students per year, even without considering staff, instructors, and other members of the campus community. The past year has seen numerous survivors come forward about being assaulted — not only by other students in social settings, but in their residences, and by instructors.
However, the pervasive harm of sexual violence often goes unnoticed. For a wide variety of systemic reasons, sexual violence is chronically underreported across post-secondary education. At UAlberta, many survivors encounter unclear complaint pathways, unjust reporting or investigation mechanisms, insufficiently trained staff and instructors, lack of clarity on their rights, failure to meet standards of procedural fairness, or harmful stereotypes. Others report being simply ignored or even silenced.
Read our full joint letter to the University of Alberta, including our list of 10 demands, at: http://bit.ly/csvjointletter
