Dr. Allyson Jule, an expert on feminism and a TWU professor, has commented on B.C.’s new legislation requiring universities to have sexual misconduct policies.
Listen to Dr. Allyson Jule talk with Terry Moore about this on CFAX radio.
“According to statistics commonly cited by campus sexual-assault centres, no fewer than one in five women will be the victim of rape or attempted rape by graduation. This seems to align with a diminishing of feminist studies on many university campuses,” said Jule.
“I think the new policy is an important step in the right direction. There can be a view by both students and university administrators that what happens on campus stays on campus, but this attitude has meant a cover-up of cases that should have involved the police. Students who report such offences to the university rely on the university to act in their best interests, but what is more troubling is how many never report it. Perhaps the numbers are much higher than we have the statistics for.
“The rise of sexual violence on university campuses is a disturbing reality. Even with the rise of 'girl power,' there exists a deep reluctance to report sexual violence or to proceed through the courts to prosecute the perpetrator. We saw this most recently with the Jian Gomeshi case. Even when women do report, it’s very rare to have a conviction, and the entire process remains with them their whole lives.
Most universities have some policy in place, but a government mandate adds more weight to the urgency on violence against women.”
Allyson Jule is a professor of education and the co-director of Trinity Western University's Gender Studies Institute. She is also the president-elect of Canada's Women's and Gender Studies et Recherche Feministe.