Tag Archives: Sexual Assault

Let’s Talk About Changing the System

On Thursday, June 16, three panelists, including our very own Janine Benedet, will explore the fallout from the Jian Ghomeshi verdict and discuss how legal, policing and community systems can better support survivors of sexual assault and violence. The panel discussion will begin at 6:15pm, following the YWCA Annual General Meeting.*

*Only interested in attending the public event? No problem! Feel free to arrive at 5:45 for refreshments.

See the poster for event details. Click here for more information on the panelists and to register!

The Ghomeshi Verdict: What's Next

The Ghomeshi Verdict: What’s Next

 

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by | May 20, 2016 · 10:40 am

*Sixteen Women*

*Sixteen Women* is an online exhibition by Nlaka’pamuxand Diné artist Cherry Smiley that seeks to give women survivors of sexual violence a platform to speak back to the man or men who have attacked them. A photo of a survivor and her words, directed to the man or men who have raped or sexually assaulted her, will be released each day of the 16 Days of Action Against Violence Against Women, from November 25 – December 10, 2014.

http://sixteenwomen.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/32/

You can see more of Cherry’s work here www.cherrysmiley.com and contact her at clsmiley@gmail.com

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Lectures Captured – Fall 2013

This term, we have been experimenting with the lecture capture system at Allard Hall, and have a number of our lectures now available on video. As you will see, we are still working out some kinks, including issues with the audio cutting in and out. Hopefully with some practice we’ll get it all down to a science. In the meanwhile, see below to catch a lecture you missed, or re-listen to one of your favourites!

1 October 2013 – Corinne Arthur, Special Projects Coordinator, Surrey Women’s Centre
“We are SMART: A Regional Response to Violence Against Women and Girls”

8 October 2013 – Adrienne Montani, Provincial Coordinator, First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
“Child and Family Poverty and Public Policy: A Women’s Issue?”

15 October 2013 – Judith Daniluk, Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology UBC
“Careers and Motherhood: Can Women Really Have It All?”

22 October 2013 – Claire Young, Professor, UBC Faculty of Law
“Taxing Times for Lesbians and Gay Men: 20 Years Later”

29 October 2013 – Annie Rochette, Associate Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal
“The Gender Dimensions of Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation: Silos & Possibilities”

5 November 2013 – Melina Buckley, Vancouver Lawyer & Member of the Equality Effects’ 160 Girls Legal Team
“The 160 Girls Project: Using the Law to End Violence Against Girls in Kenya and Malawi”

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Statement on the Rape Chants at UBC

Statement of the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies on the Rape Chants at UBC

The Centre for Feminist Legal Studies (CFLS) is a research centre at the Faculty of Law, UBC.  Our purpose is to foster research, teaching and collaboration with the women’s movement on matters relating to law and feminism.  Our faculty members research and teach in a wide variety of areas relating to law and sex equality, including sexual violence and the law.

We are outraged that some members of the UBC community encouraged one another to repeat chants that trivialize sexual violence and colonialism.  We are saddened that this behavior was apparently repeated over many years and was considered by those who led these programs to be an enjoyable part of their introduction to university and to one another.

We are encouraged that the UBC administration has pledged to take these events seriously and to consider their implications not only for the programs in which they occurred but also for the entire university.  As an initial contribution to that end, we offer the following analysis and suggestions:

Sexual violence against women and girls is unfortunately commonplace.  While the exact incidence of sexual assault is difficult to measure, a conservative estimate is that at least 1/3 of women will be sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lifetime.  Rates of sexual violence are highest for adolescents and young women.

Reporting rates for sexual assault are low.  Official estimates suggest that no more than 15% of sexual assaults are reported to the police.  When women do report they too often face police who treat them with suspicion and decline to lay charges, or prosecutors who refuse to proceed without corroborating evidence.  These and other systemic barriers mean that less than 1% of sexual assaults will result in a conviction or other legal disposition.

The women’s anti-violence movement has fought for decades for reform at the level of law and policy, but also to expose and counter the rape culture that relies on widespread impunity for sexual violence to normalize and trivialize it.  Specifically, the sexual assault of teenage girls is too often dismissed as “statutory rape,” only a technical crime rather than an act of violence rooted in inequalities of sex and age.  Men charged with such offences continue to argue in their defence that they believed the girls were older, ushering in the same old stereotypes based on young women’s appearance, dress and behavior.  At the same time, girls are eroticized through being classified as “jailbait” or, as in the UBC chants, as “tight.”

The basic principles of Canadian sexual assault law are clear.  Canadian law defines sexual assault as any sexual contact with a person who does not consent to that contact, or who lacks the capacity to consent.  Non-consent is measured according to the state of mind of the victim – if she does not want the sexual touching to take place, there is no consent.  There is no requirement of physical or verbal resistance; passivity is not consent in law.  The defendant must point to a communication of affirmative consent by words or conduct.  Consent must be contemporaneous; it cannot be given in advance.

The law also recognizes that where women lack the capacity to consent, for example through intoxication or disability, the abuse of a position of power, or where they are below a specified age (which varies depending on the age of their partner), this is also a sexual assault.  Sexual assault is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

We believe that all university students should be given a basic education that includes this information.  Students, and especially student leaders, also need to be reminded that many of the incoming students they “welcome” have already had direct experience with sexual violence.  We believe that students should be encouraged to develop a sexuality based in empathy, respect and non-violence rather than domination, conquest or humiliation.

UBC has a legal obligation to provide students with a learning and living environment that is free from harassment and discrimination.  Rape chants and racist chants are a form of discriminatory harassment.  UBC must:

  • Draw from existing feminist expertise here at UBC, in a variety of disciplines, to understand and respond to sexual violence and sexual harassment;
  • Provide adequate funding and support to those groups and programs already working to combat sexual violence and racism on campus, including SASC;
  • Ask those groups and individuals what they need and where money should be spent;
  • Offer education to all incoming students, as part of orientation, on sexual violence in its legal and social context;
  • Train student leaders on how to offer events that are inclusive and non-discriminatory;
  • Focus on prevention and accountability, not just counseling and victim services; and
  • Recognize that the normalization of sexual violence is endemic and visible, rather than exceptional and hidden.

We appreciate the additional analysis of these events, and in particular of the racist Pocahontas chant, by the First Nations Studies Program and the Institute for Race, Gender and Social Justice and offer this statement in solidarity with their efforts.

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