Lakehead University's sexual violence policy ranks 3rd best in Canada by national student panel

While the provincial government has just completed a survey asking post-secondary students in Ontario for their insight and experiences with sexual violence on campus, a national panel of students have decided to evaluate those school polices and have ranked Lakehead University as the third best in Canada.

"The policy covers our response to sexual violence," Lakehead University's director of human rights and equity, Dreeni Geer said, "it sort of lays out what constitutes sexual violence, who does the policy cover, what can the university do to support survivors, as well as deal with complaints."

She said the university's one-year-old policy defines sexual violence broadly, like the legislative definition, which "includes everything from sexual harassment all the way to sexual assault," with the focus on who the violence occurs to, rather than the location.

"Our policy takes the approach that it's not about where the incident occurred but to whom it occurs to," Geer continued, "so if its anybody in the university community that is a survivor of sexual violence, the policy is very clear with the supports, what the office of human rights and equity can do for survivors ... and what next steps can be done by the survivor."

Multiple ways to handle sexual violence

There are several different ways a survivor of sexual violence can handle the incident, according to Geer, as they have the option to either disclose, report or file a complaint.

"A disclosure is when a survivor or a bystander ... wants to tell their story ... and it doesn't necessarily mean they want any action taken or if they even want to reveal who they are," Geer explained, "the next stage is the report and that's when the survivor says this is what happened to me and I want to tell you who did it."

She said just because an individual reports the incident, it does not mean the survivor wants to come forward and be identified. 

The final option is a complaint, Geer said, and "that's when a survivor says I want to tell you my story, I want to tell you who did it and I want to take action."

She said survivors also have the option to remain anonymous if they fear for their safety.

"If we think there's a safety concern beyond that person, the university itself may be the complainant."

A sexual violence assessment committee

Once a survivor has filed a complaint, Geer said an assessment committee of three people will take the written report and determine the safety concerns and create a short term action plan while also giving the respondent a chance to tell their side of the story.

"The next stage then is it goes up to the the adjudication panel," Geer explained, which consists of three people who have nothing to do with any of the individuals involved in the incident.

She said from there the panel will determine if there is enough evidence and information to uphold the accused individual.

A safe, dedicated place to go

In the last year and a half, Geer said Lakehead University's Thunder Bay campus has opened a new office, dedicated to helping survivors of sexual violence.

"The Office of the Human Rights and Equity is a new office ... and within our office we have a sexual violence coordinator," Geer said, "and just having an office and a dedicated person is new," which helps survivors feel more at ease as they know they are supported by a trusted expert.

She said in the last year, they've also translated their quasi-legal sexual violence policy document to plain language to help people better understand without the legal jargon.