Victim of voyeurism in UPEI washroom says university failed her

A victim of voyeurism in a bathroom at the University of Prince Edward Island says her life has been permanently altered because the university did not do enough to address what happened to her.

The incident happened in February 2020 in a bathroom in the Robertson Library on campus.  

A 19-year-old male student was found guilty of trying to record the woman, also a student, on his phone while she was in the all-gender bathroom.

"There was a cellphone at the top of the bathroom stall that was pointing down towards me as I was using the bathroom," she said. "I yelled into the stall beside me and asked him 'What are you doing?'"

Abin Tom was found guilty of attempted voyeurism and given a conditional discharge in March and ordered to stay away from the Robertson Library. 

Police could not access the encrypted images on Tom's phone, and he could not legally be forced to give police his passwords. 

UPEI responding to case

The woman, whose identity is protected by a court order, was in her fourth year at UPEI but told CBC News she dropped out because she was so traumatized, and has had to alter her career path as a result.

She said she didn't feel safe, as she believes Tom is still a student there.

"It seems as though the university is kind of saying that these things are OK to be happening," she said. 

A UPEI spokesperson says the university can't share what actions it is taking or may take, for privacy reasons. It said it does have a sexual violence prevention policy and a student code of conduct and that "the issue is currently going through a process in accordance with these policies." 

The university emailed a statement to CBC News which said in part: "We are dedicated to making UPEI an open, accessible, and welcoming community; creating and maintaining safe, inclusive campus spaces; fostering a culture of consent on campus by supporting survivors; and to the fair treatment of all persons.  

"When any action threatens these goals, we take it very seriously and use University policies and processes to address it. Moreover, the safety and security of all members of our campus community remains our top priority. UPEI does not tolerate actions that are contrary to this priority or to the mission of the University," it said. 

Sanctions in the university's policies range from a verbal warning to suspension or expulsion. 

"I'm just hoping that UPEI does take some action against this, so that other students don't feel similarly unsafe or uncomfortable," she said.

Crown likely to appeal

The victim said she also felt the conditional discharge Tom received in court was too lenient.

The Crown agrees, and says it will likely appeal.

"When we review the case law and review the sentence in this case, there is certainly an argument to be made that the sentence lies outside the fit range," said Crown prosecutor Jeff MacDonald. 

"I think what would have been reasonable in this case would have been a short period of time in custody or a period of time on probation." 

The woman said she hopes speaking out will help bring about changes.

UPEI said the washroom involved was changed so that the walls of the stalls now reach the ceiling. The victim in this case said those changes should be made to every all-gender washroom on campus.

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