B.C. student group calling for sexual assault support funding
Posted February 15, 2023 10:53 pm.
Last Updated February 16, 2023 5:52 pm.
The Alliance of BC Students (ABCS) is calling for urgent action on sexual violence on campus, and they want the province to make a commitment in it’s upcoming budget.
The organization’s chairperson Aryanna Chartrand says safety changes should be at the top of the province’s priority list.
“We can’t invite students to campuses that aren’t protecting them and that don’t have the supports in place to keep them safe.”
In an open letter Wednesday, with signories representing over 375,000 students, Chartrand’s organization called on the government to commit $5 million for sexual violence support centres at schools every year.
It also asks the government to adopt 11 sexual violence policy standards in the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy Act.
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Aashna Josh with UBC’s Sexual Assault Support Centre says more direct funding would help with the centre’s growing demand for service.
“When we’re limited by student funds, we we’re limited by funding coming in through tuition, it really affects our ability to be flexible and adapt to the changing needs of the student body,” she said. “We’ve seen an increase of 200 per cent, a little bit over actually, since 2018 in terms of the number of people accessing services.”
A StatsCan 2019 safety survey at university campuses says almost three quarters of students had witnessed or experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in the past year.
Minister of Post Secondary Education & Future Skills Selina Robinson says in a statement “Since 2017, this government has been taking action to address and prevent sexualized violence at all public and private post-secondary institutions … we are working with students now on our next steps and welcome student input and advocacy in that process.”
Last year, the province put forward around one-million dollars to fund training programs, and anonymous reporting processes.
“We meet with politicians and decision makers all the time. And, you know, they I think recognize that this is a crisis. But again, we’re having students reaching out, saying that I’m still experiencing this. And so it’s not happening fast enough,” said Chartrand.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the ABCS represented 375,000 students, however, the signories of a collective letter represent over 375,000 students.
