Sexual Violence at Canadian Post-secondary Institutions
Canadian post-secondary institutions (PSIs) try to address sexual violence through policies and processes. Still, as many as 33% of Canadian female university students report being assaulted (Canadian Federation of Students Ontario, 2015; DeKeseredy et al., 1993; Newton-Taylor et al., 1998; Quinlan, 2017). Sexual violence is one of the most underreported crimes in Canada and the United States. The rate for reporting to police has not changed in over 30 years. (Benoit et al., 2015; Butler et al., 2019; Brennan & Taylor-Butts, 2008; Conroy & Cotter, 2017; Cotter & Savage, 2019; Kaufman, 2008; Luce et al., 2010; RAINN, 2020b; Rotenberg, 2017; Statistics Canada, 2017). Thus, efforts to address an reduce sexual violence are not working. A key characteristic of sexual violence is the absence of consent (Beres, 2007; Jaffe et al., 2021; Moyano et al., 2022), which can be a challenging concept to understand; however, very few PSIs include consent education in their repertoire of sexual violence prevention education, and even fewer make it mandatory. This deprioritization contributes to gender-based violence (GBV). Sexual consent is convoluted when it is influenced by rape culture, myths and stereotypes, media, policies, and social-cultural norms. The literature demonstrates that students have an undulating understanding of consent; therefore, mandating sexual consent education would work to clarify understanding and provide prevention education in a way that is consistent, comprehensive, and economical.
Sexual violence is preventable. It is both an individual experience and a confluence of structural forces (Quinlan, 2017) and its impacts are significant and long-lasting. The prevalence of sexual violence in Canada has not changed for decades and will remain that way unless we adopt new strategies. Mandatory online consent education is not the panacea, but it can be added to the existing repertoire of sexual consent education efforts. What’s wrong with adding another strategy, another type of programming, to address sexual violence?
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