Quebec lawmakers need to force schools to deal with sexual violence, activists say

Quebec schools need to have standard legal protocols for dealing with sexual harassment and assault, according to a collective of community and women's groups.

"What we're asking for is a law to ensure that every school has a protocol to prevent and respond to sexual violence," said Vicky Zois, an intervention worker with the group Mouvement contre le viol et l'inceste.

"Right now, it's at the schools' discretion. It comes down to each school's capacity to voluntarily want to do something to respond to this issues."

This was one of several recommendations the group put forward at a news conference today at the Maison d'Haiti. 

It also wants better training for educators, increased security in locker rooms and school yards and funding for schools to hire experts to assist victims of sexual assault or harassment.

The demands come the same week as several teens were charged with sexual assault after an incident at a house party that was filmed and distributed on social media platforms WhatsApp and Snapchat.

Four teenagers — one girl and three boys — were charged with sexual assault and possession, production and distribution of child pornography in connection with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl.

Spectrum of sexual assault

Young people are growing up in an era of increased sexualization and there's significant pressure on young women to behave a certain way, said Lilia Goldfarb, director of youth services at the Montreal Women's Y.

According to 2013 data from the province's public security ministry, around 66 per cent of the victims of sexual assault are under the age of 18 and 20 per cent of the aggressors are minors.​

It's difficult to quantify and study how many young women have experienced some form of sexual misconduct, but anecdotally discussions in their focus groups show it's happening more than anyone may expect, Goldfarb said.

"All the girls said how they'd been touched and how this happened and lifting the skirt and pulling on the bra … it starts there. They're talking about those things because they are more marginal. It's easier to talk about those things," she said.

"It's happening everywhere. It's part of the culture. It's part of a culture of misogyny, of pornification where kids think this is normal and these are the things they are supposed to do."

She said recent recent events that appear to be fuelled by an inflated and distorted vision of masculinity show the toxic environment many women still encounter daily and demonstrate the need to address these issues immediately. 

Teaching consent 

While significant attention is directed at combating sexual violence at the university level, the collective, known as the Committee against sexual violence in schools, said not enough is being done at the elementary and high school level.

It wants to see mandatory training for school employees on behaviour and risk factors, protocols adopted for reporting incidents, long-term measures to assist victims with recovery and action taken against aggressors to ensure they understand the impact of their actions and to prevent future incidents.

Goldfarb wants to secure funding for education programs on consent and boundaries. She said even adults have a hard time understanding boundaries and how to intervene if things get out of hand.

"Sex ed is important, but it's not about sex. It's about relationships. It's understanding and respecting others," Goldfarb said.