Are We Getting to the Heart of the Culture of Rape in Universities? I think we have a long way to go in North America. According to a White House report:
"'The dynamics of college life appear to fuel the problem, as many victims are abused while they're drunk, under the influence of drugs, passed out, or otherwise incapacitated."
Campus parties are often the site of the attack
Most people are attacked by someone they know
63% of admitted campus rapists say they have committed six rapes on average
Reporting rates on campus are lower than average, at 12%
A Saint Mary’s University panel appointed by the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, school after a frosh week chant glorifying non-consensual underage sex with girls was posted online makes 20 recommendations aimed at preventing and addressing sexual violence.
But Wayne MacKay, who led the panel, said it will take a societal change to better deal with sexual violence in Nova Scotia.
“It’s not just a chant; it really represents much more,” said MacKay, a professor at Dalhousie's Schulich School of Law and an expert in cyber-bullying issues
“Women still do not receive the equality and the respect they deserve … the chant is not much ado about nothing.”
University president Colin Dodds appointed the panel after a video on Instagram showed student leaders singing the chant to about 400 new students at a frosh-week event in September, 2013.
The 110- page report's recommendations include:
Developing a code of conduct.
Establishing a sex assault team.
Implementing a policy to deal with drugs and alcohol on campus.
The panel said students needs to learn what consent means. MacKay said it was alarming to find out how many students they talked to were clueless about consent. “Grey areas, blurred lines these kinds of thing,” he said.
When it comes to safety, the review recommended creating alcohol-free spaces on campus and a safe place for sex assault victims, extending night patrol hour, and installing cameras in the stairwells, hallways and elevators.
There is also a push for the university to better investigate allegations of sexual assault and discipline perpetrators.
MacKay said he’s not trying to lay blame since sexualized culture is not solely Saint Mary’s problem, but a societal issue that needs to shift. “Universities are a microcosm of the larger society," he said. “Saint Mary’s has a wonderful opportunity to be a role model."
MacKay said only eight per cent of sexual assaults in Nova Scotia are reported.
Dodds promised a university team will monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
Wayne MacKay lead the panel. He was joined by five women and three men who consulted with students, faculty and alumni about ways to avoid other incidents. (CBC)
He added that the university is also examining its relationship with the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association, including organizing Orientation Week.
The report panel included five women and three men who consulted with students, faculty and alumni about ways to avoid other incidents. He said their mandate was to foster a cultural change to promote respectful behaviour.
In the chant’s aftermath, student union president Jared Perry resigned, a Calgary man returned his degrees, and all the 80 frosh week leaders and the entire Saint Mary’s University student union executive was ordered to take sensitivity training.
On the west coast...
The president of the University of British Columbia says the school needs to undergo a "lasting change" to make rape chants "obviously and entirely unacceptable."
UBC president Stephen Toope made the promise at the release of a report into the singing of a chant promoting non-consensual sex with minors at a student orientation earlier this month.
He said in addition, the Commerce Undergraduate Society will make a $250,000 donation to fund a position to provide counselling on sexual abuse, and make a public apology for the chant.
Also, all 81 CUS frosh leaders will have to do community service. Will they have to undergo sensitivity training like St Mary's?
"After serious consideration, we believe it is essential that the CUS and all frosh leaders make tangible amends," said Toope.
"At the same time, the whole UBC community needs to embark upon deeper, transformative and lasting change that would make such chants entirely and obviously unacceptable in our community."
Toope said university officials have also heard unconfirmed media reports that some students were singing chants that were derogatory to aboriginal people during frosh events, and said that the university plans to investigate those allegations.
UBC vice-president Louise Cowin said more than 60 students and four staff were interviewed for an internal report into the incident, which concluded that while nobody was instructed to use the chant at frosh events, it was a oral tradition that student leaders failed to address and stop.
Cowin said the vast majority of first-year commerce students were likely exposed to the chant and student leaders had to be held responsible.
In addition, Toope said the university would be promoting a dialogue across the university aimed at changing attitudes toward sexual assault, and would work to restore the community's trust in the institution.
"We all need to be involved – those who made serious mistakes and misjudgments, and those who didn’t," said Toope. "UBC is seizing this moment to strike at the violence, sexualization and discrimination that still lurks below the surface in pockets of our society."
He was joined by and Sauder School of Business Dean Robert Helsley at the announcement on Wednesday morning.
Earlier this week, Toope apologized for the "appalling" chant sung by commerce students during a frosh week orientation event.
Four of the student leaders of the CUS have resigned since news of the chant first broke on social media.
The university cancelled the remaining CUS frosh events, but has yet to announce disciplinary action against any students.
The incident took place on a bus ride during the Sauder Frosh, a three-day orientation for the Sauder School of Business, organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society.
The chant condones non-consensual sex with underage girls saying, "Y-O-U-N-G at UBC, we like 'em young, Y is for your sister, O is for oh so (deleted), U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for go to jail."
The same chant was recited at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, prompting the resignation of the president of the student association there.
"'The dynamics of college life appear to fuel the problem, as many victims are abused while they're drunk, under the influence of drugs, passed out, or otherwise incapacitated."
Campus parties are often the site of the attack
Most people are attacked by someone they know
63% of admitted campus rapists say they have committed six rapes on average
Reporting rates on campus are lower than average, at 12%
Nevertheless, at universities on opposite coasts of Canada, the process has begun. Is there the will to see it through to completion? We can hope and pray that these universities will find someone like Anne-Marie Roy (see post immediately below) with the drive to push the agenda.
Is it time for universities to have formal consequences for excessive drunkenness and drug use? Certainly female freshmen should be warned of the dangers, and males should be made aware of what consent means. And they should be made aware that there will be serious consequences for non-consensual sex.
And then there must be serious consequences - a zero tolerance policy - one strike and you're out. Current kid gloves policies establish and enable the culture of rape in universities. You would think university deans would be smart enough to figure that out.
On the east coast...
A Saint Mary’s University panel appointed by the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, school after a frosh week chant glorifying non-consensual underage sex with girls was posted online makes 20 recommendations aimed at preventing and addressing sexual violence.
But Wayne MacKay, who led the panel, said it will take a societal change to better deal with sexual violence in Nova Scotia.
“It’s not just a chant; it really represents much more,” said MacKay, a professor at Dalhousie's Schulich School of Law and an expert in cyber-bullying issues
“Women still do not receive the equality and the respect they deserve … the chant is not much ado about nothing.”
University president Colin Dodds appointed the panel after a video on Instagram showed student leaders singing the chant to about 400 new students at a frosh-week event in September, 2013.
The 110- page report's recommendations include:
Developing a code of conduct.Establishing a sex assault team.
Implementing a policy to deal with drugs and alcohol on campus.
The panel said students needs to learn what consent means. MacKay said it was alarming to find out how many students they talked to were clueless about consent. “Grey areas, blurred lines these kinds of thing,” he said.
When it comes to safety, the review recommended creating alcohol-free spaces on campus and a safe place for sex assault victims, extending night patrol hour, and installing cameras in the stairwells, hallways and elevators.
There is also a push for the university to better investigate allegations of sexual assault and discipline perpetrators.
MacKay said he’s not trying to lay blame since sexualized culture is not solely Saint Mary’s problem, but a societal issue that needs to shift. “Universities are a microcosm of the larger society," he said. “Saint Mary’s has a wonderful opportunity to be a role model."
MacKay said only eight per cent of sexual assaults in Nova Scotia are reported.
Dodds promised a university team will monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
 |
| Wayne MacKay and part of panel |
He added that the university is also examining its relationship with the Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association, including organizing Orientation Week.
The report panel included five women and three men who consulted with students, faculty and alumni about ways to avoid other incidents. He said their mandate was to foster a cultural change to promote respectful behaviour.
In the chant’s aftermath, student union president Jared Perry resigned, a Calgary man returned his degrees, and all the 80 frosh week leaders and the entire Saint Mary’s University student union executive was ordered to take sensitivity training.
On the west coast...
The president of the University of British Columbia says the school needs to undergo a "lasting change" to make rape chants "obviously and entirely unacceptable."
 |
| UBC president Stephen Toope |
He said in addition, the Commerce Undergraduate Society will make a $250,000 donation to fund a position to provide counselling on sexual abuse, and make a public apology for the chant.
Also, all 81 CUS frosh leaders will have to do community service. Will they have to undergo sensitivity training like St Mary's?
"After serious consideration, we believe it is essential that the CUS and all frosh leaders make tangible amends," said Toope.
"At the same time, the whole UBC community needs to embark upon deeper, transformative and lasting change that would make such chants entirely and obviously unacceptable in our community."
Toope said university officials have also heard unconfirmed media reports that some students were singing chants that were derogatory to aboriginal people during frosh events, and said that the university plans to investigate those allegations.
UBC vice-president Louise Cowin said more than 60 students and four staff were interviewed for an internal report into the incident, which concluded that while nobody was instructed to use the chant at frosh events, it was a oral tradition that student leaders failed to address and stop.
Cowin said the vast majority of first-year commerce students were likely exposed to the chant and student leaders had to be held responsible.
In addition, Toope said the university would be promoting a dialogue across the university aimed at changing attitudes toward sexual assault, and would work to restore the community's trust in the institution.
"We all need to be involved – those who made serious mistakes and misjudgments, and those who didn’t," said Toope. "UBC is seizing this moment to strike at the violence, sexualization and discrimination that still lurks below the surface in pockets of our society."
He was joined by and Sauder School of Business Dean Robert Helsley at the announcement on Wednesday morning.
 |
| Sauder School of Business, UBC |
Four of the student leaders of the CUS have resigned since news of the chant first broke on social media.
The university cancelled the remaining CUS frosh events, but has yet to announce disciplinary action against any students.
The incident took place on a bus ride during the Sauder Frosh, a three-day orientation for the Sauder School of Business, organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society.
The chant condones non-consensual sex with underage girls saying, "Y-O-U-N-G at UBC, we like 'em young, Y is for your sister, O is for oh so (deleted), U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for go to jail."
The same chant was recited at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, prompting the resignation of the president of the student association there.
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