1 in 4 experiences sexual victimization on Quebec campuses, study finds
New study suggests levels of sexual victimization on Quebec campuses similar to those in U.S.
Sexual victimization remains a major issue on Quebec universities and is a common occurrence at social events on and off campus, according to a new study by researchers at several francophone universities across the province, including UQAM and Université de Sherbrooke.
The study found that a quarter of students at six French-language universities across the province, including Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Montréal and Unversité Laval, experienced some form of sexual victimization, including sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual coercion.
Geneviève Paquette, one of the researchers, said while most of the findings fall in line with research conducted over the past 20 years, some widely held assumptions about where sexual violence is most likely to occur don't hold.
"We think it is in big events like initiations, but, no, that's the second place these things happen,'' Paquette said in an interview.
''The first is bars and other social events.... so the context in which sexual victimization occurs [is wide]," she said.
She said education is the key to preventing sexual victimization on campuses.
Numbers similar to U.S.
The survey, involving close to 9,000 male and female students and staff, looked into levels of sexual victimization in university settings.
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Nearly 60 per cent of respondents who said they had experienced a form of sexual victimization were in their first year, though the study does not speculate as to why.
The majority of these incidents were perpetrated by peers, as opposed to teachers or staff members.
Paquette said even though the figures might be striking, they are not out of the ordinary.
"[These figures] are more than what we think, but it's not so high when we compare our results to studies conducted in the U.S,'' said Paquette.
"Just because you do not hear about this stuff happening doesn't mean it doesn't happen."
Societal shift needed
Half of the respondents claiming to have been victims of sexual victimization told their loved ones about the incident, according to the study.
One out of 10 victims show symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Paquette said that universities need to make sure victims of sexual victimization can turn to their institution for support.
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"I think victims need to know what kind of support they can expect from the university," said Paquette, adding that the perpetrators of victimization must also be made aware of the consequences of their behaviour.
She said victims still fear being shamed or embarrassed if they come forward to report an incident.
"We still live in a society that tolerates in a certain way sexual victimization. When a victim tries to talk about her [experience], she receives, 'Oh, I don't think it's that,' or 'What were you doing?'" said Paquette.