News

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? 

Click here for a copy of the chapter.

Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that every individual is equal before and under the law. This principle becomes particularly curious when those responsible for enforcing the law are themselves convicted of crimes, and the consequences are perceived as less severe than those for civilians. In such situations, questions of accountability, transparency, and equality before the law become central.

This study examined the disciplinary outcomes for sworn police officers in the province of Alberta who have been accused or convicted of criminal offences. A troubling double standard emerges when comparing civilian applicants, who must maintain clean criminal records, with sworn officers who remain employed despite violations of the Police Act and the Criminal Code. Union protections, evidentiary dynamics, and opaque disciplinary systems may shift wrongdoing into internal administrative procedures. Compounding this, such cases are often not systematically recorded or published, limiting transparency and oversight.

Drawing on government databases and research documenting violations committed by officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, municipal police services, and First Nations policing agencies within Alberta, this study assessed patterns of misconduct and institutional responses. The findings suggest a persistent double standard and disconcerting outcomes for officers who are convicted of violent versus property crimes. Over 40% of officers who committed violent crime remain employed, compared with ~10% of officers who commit theft or fraud.

person holding a phone that's showing the Tik Tok app

The TikTok Study is a research project focused on the experiences of survivors who have chosen to name the person who harmed them using social media publicly. We want to understand what influenced their decision, as well as the emotional and personal impacts of naming them and sharing their story.

Exploring the intersectional complexities when using social media to identify perpetrators of gender-based violence (The Tik Tok Study).

This study has received ethics approval from Mount Royal University’s Human Research Ethics Board. For any questions related to ethics, contact hreb@mtroyal.ca

To contact the team, email Leanna lireland@mtroyal.ca or Scharie at stavcer@mtroyal.ca

If you’re interested in participating, please email: tiktokstudymru@gmail.com

What’s Involved

We’re interested in learning more about your experiences. We aim to understand what influenced your decision to speak out, as well as the emotional and personal impact of sharing your story publicly. We will not ask you any questions about the harm itself. And you don’t have to re-tell your story.

You must be 18 years or older and currently reside in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, or a country within the European Union. If you live outside these regions, please let us know, as you may still be eligible to participate depending on local laws.

Participants are recruited from TikTok and asked to participate in a 45–60-minute interview, which will be audio recorded. You must be able to converse in English. Interview questions can be found here.

If you’re interested in participating, please email: tiktokstudymru@gmail.com

 

timeline of the project from start in Spring 2025 and end in Spring 2026

The Team

Leanna Ireland: I’m an Assistant Professor in the Criminal Justice Program at Mount Royal University. My dissertation research explored how people respond to societal injustices, including how and why they share their own stories on social media. I’m passionate about understanding the many ways people speak out and take action, often through digital spaces. I feel fortunate to do this work and to learn from the strength and insight of the people and communities I connect with. Outside of work, I enjoy biking, baking vegetables into sweets, and always having a book on the go.

D. Scharie Tavcer: I’m an Associate Professor in the Criminal Justice Degree Program at MRU, and I’ve taught here for over 20 years. I’m passionate about social justice issues specific to gender-based violence, criminal law and sentencing, and reintegration. Having studied sexual violence for years, my focus is on consent education and the importance of including the voices of those with lived experience. I’m the daughter of European immigrants who came to Canada in the 1960s, and I’m proud of that heritage. I acknowledge the people indigenous to this land, I’m an ally to the 2SLGBTTIQ+ community, and I speak loudly when I see injustice to marginalised peoples. I have a teenager and a cuddly labradoodle, and I love movies, books, and sleep.

Research Assistant: Arianna D’Alfonso, 3rd year student in the Criminal Justice Degree Program at MRU. Arianna is a motivated, driven, and compassionate student who has a strong academic background in trauma-informed care, gender-based violence, and research methods. She’s passionate about amplifying survivor voices and learning more about intersectionality and the gender-based violence experience. She’s eager to explore the experiences of those who use social media as a tool to speak out about their previous experiences with violence. 

A 4th edition is forthcoming in 2028. Published by Emond, this is the only text that addresses the criminal justice issues that surround criminalised women, victimised women, and women workers. Women and the Criminal Justice System: A Canadian Perspective is national in scope, and this resource features in-depth case studies focused on important cases in Canadian criminal justice, including a new chapter on Black and racialised women and the criminal justice system with contributions from BIPOC scholars across Canada. The 3rd edition has more pedagogy and classroom-friendly features, such as discussion topics and end-of-chapter questions, to encourage students to engage with the material.

D. Scharie Tavcer and Vicky Dobkins.

This book published by Routledge, is the culmination of three years of research into sexual violence policies and sexual consent education at post-secondary institutions across Canada. The prevalence of sexual violence has not changed in more than 30 years, and its reporting to police or school authorities has only waxed and waned over those years. In response, this book asks what can be done differently to reduce the number of victims and potential perpetrators?

In Canada and United States, approximately one in three women over the age of 15 has experienced sexual assault during her lifetime (Benoit et al., 2015; Cantalupo, 2011; Fisher et al., 2000; Holland & Cortina, 2017; Karjane et al., 2002; Krebs et al., 2007; Tjaden & Thoeness, 2000; United States Department of Justice, 2017). Despite, one in five women and one in 16 men being sexually assaulted during their stay at a post-secondary institution (PSI) (Fisher et al., 2000), more than 90% of sexual assault victims do not report the assault to school authorities (Krebs et al., 2007; Krebs et al., 2016). The lack of reporting by PSI students is consistent with general Canadian and American statistics that reveal that only 1 in 10 acts of sexual violence is reported to police officials (Brennan and Taylor-Butts, 2008; Department of Justice, 2017). And furthermore, those statistics have not changed in decades. As a result of these facts, I want to explore what can be done differently – what can PSIs do to reduce the numbers of victims and potential perpetrators too.

The first aspect was an environmental scan of over 120 PSIs across Canada to collate what consent-based education they offer and how it is delivered (in person, online, mandatory etc.). Next, I conducted face-to-face and telephone interviews with students at two PSIs (one in AB and the other in NB). In addition, I interviewed staff at these institutions (residence, security, sexual violence coordinators etc.). And I also held a focus group with sexual health educator experts from the Calgary community. Among other questions, I asked students to define consent and to identify what consent education exists at their university and who receives the education. And I asked them if consent education should be mandatory and if it should be mandatory for everyone on campus, not just students but for faculty, staff, and administrators. 

To get the book.

We have the full version of the module and this shortened Canadian Consent 101 module. Click this link to be redirected.  

The Consent 101 online module is one outcome of my three-year research project on sexual consent education at post-secondary institutions across Canada. The prevalence of sexual violence has not changed in more than 30 years, and its reporting to police or school authorities has only waxed and waned over those years. I queried what can be done differently to reduce the number of victims and potential perpetrators. The project captured over 160 student voices and over 20 sexual violence staff and subject experts. The findings informed the book and led to the creation of the online sexual consent education module. The module educates users on the law, consent & power dynamics, bystander interventions, supporting others, and reporting options and consequences.

Within Canadian criminal law there is reform including how the system approaches its colonial foundations. When teaching this material, I see how imperative it is that educators and scholars must also evolve in the ways in which we think about and teach criminal law. We need to include various learning modalities, pedagogies, and voices, especially if we want to continue to engage the students of today, but especially if we want to effect change. Oxford University Press published this textbook.

My vision is that this text is a medium for change – to support educators to change how they teach criminal law to criminal justice and criminology students. Today’s criminal justice system may have evolved over the century, but it still retains its colonial roots and paternalistic ideology. Therefore, I believe it is imperative that we teach how our laws (and the justice system) have impacted marginalized and criminalized people, and Indigenous peoples and people of colour.

This text is purposely crafted not for law school programs and courses. This text is intentionally directed to students within criminal justice and criminology programs at the undergraduate level in post-secondary colleges and universities across Canada. The text is written in a personal voice to make it reader-friendly. The text is an introduction to criminal law – not from the perspective of a lawyer – but written in a way to support educators and to inspire students to dive into the fascinating aspects of criminal law withand case law examples, ask questions, and role play being a judge. And most importantly, it includes truthful information about our colonial justice system, and poses queries towards reconciliation.

The text is laid out in four parts and follows a path where a person charged with a criminal offence, and players they would interact with, would walk through the justice system. Part 1 is Foundations with three chapters that lay the groundwork for students to understand the overall function of the law, a brief layout of the criminal justice system players, its elements including a brief history of our law’s colonial roots, a refresher on the Constitution Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as how defendants proceed through the justice system, and pre-trial procedures. Part 2 is Liability and Causation that includes two chapters to parallel the two necessary elements for a conviction to any offence: actus reus and mens rea. Each chapter includes its relevant parts – the four components of actus reus and the five components of mens rea, as well as the difference between factual and legal guilt. And both chapters provide the prosecution’s and defendant’s perspectives. Part 3 is Criminal Offences with chapters about specific offences and how the above principles are interpreted and how the above processes work. Although our Criminal Code is filled with thousands of offences, those included in this text are limited – it simply cannot include everything. Furthermore, these offences are chosen with intention because they are conventional crimes – they are most often pursued by the justice system and secondly, there are many recent cases and legislative advancements that will help us illustrate the function of the law to draw in the student. Part 4 is Trials and Sentencing which includes two chapters that take us into the courtroom exploring the defences permitted by law, the burden of proof aspects, how judges determine a disposition, and the possible punishments available in the Criminal Code. I hope you will enjoy reading and using the textbook in your classes.

CCLISAR screenshotNew research by Dr. Irene Shankar and Dr. D. Scharie Tavcer finds that despite members’ intentions, the committees that construct post-secondary institutions’ sexual violence policies  lack essential expertise and produce flawed results. 

READ the article published with the Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy

Dr. Tavcer asks what can be done differently to reduce the prevalence of sexual violence on campus, especially in the face of dwindling budgets and lack of access to programs and services.

She shares details about her study on sexual consent education across Canada and the online consent education module she’s developed.

Read the full write up here: https://www.couragetoact.ca/blog/sexualconsenteducation