{"id":26293,"date":"2022-09-08T14:12:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T17:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=26293"},"modified":"2022-09-09T12:10:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T15:10:27","slug":"students-frustrated-with-delay-in-approving-new-sexual-violence-policy-before-the-red-zone-arrives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/students-frustrated-with-delay-in-approving-new-sexual-violence-policy-before-the-red-zone-arrives\/","title":{"rendered":"Students frustrated with delay in approving new sexual violence policy before the Red Zone arrived"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two students are calling out \u201ccomplacency\u201d by Mount Allison University regarding sexual violence on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara-Ann Strong and Hannah MacIntosh are concerned that a new policy on sexual violence is stuck awaiting approval from the university\u2019s senior administration, at a time when occurrence of sexual violence is at its highest: the so-called Red Zone in the first six to eight weeks of the school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara-Ann Strong is in her final semester at Mount A and previously served on the school\u2019s Advisory Committee on Sexual Violence Prevention chaired by Vice President Anne Comfort. She\u2019s says the lack of an approved policy at the beginning of another school year is \u201cfrustrating to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong says many people are doing their part to reduce incidence of sexual violence on campus this year, including taking bystander training, one of the elements of the school\u2019s new education and prevention strategy that has been implemented by Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator Tasia Alexopoulos in her first 11 months on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Tasia Alexopoulos is Mount Allison University’s sexual violence prevention and education coordinator. Photo: mta.ca. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alexopoulos says a lot has been accomplished in the roughly two years since the campus erupted in protest over how the school handles sexual assault and harassment. \u201cWe\u2019ve really created a much more sophisticated approach to working with respondents, or people who have been accused of sexual violence,\u201d says Alexopoulos. \u201cWe\u2019re offering things like intensive education in order to understand accountability and repairing harm, rather than simply relying on punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Procedures for people who report sexual violence have also been revamped to be \u201cvery trauma informed and survivor centered,\u201d says Alexopoulos. There\u2019s the REES reporting system <\/a>which allows people to disclose incidents anonymously and\/or without filing formal complaints, which can be a deterrent to reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have some really great resources as part of the Wellness Centre team,\u201d says Alexopoulos. \u201cThe counsellors, social worker, the harm reduction educator. We’ve been doing a lot actually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big part of Alexopoulos\u2019s first year has been revamping the university\u2019s sexual violence policy, the top tier document that complements other procedures and actions. \u201dWe\u2019ve overhauled the old policy,\u201d says Alexopoulos. \u201cIt\u2019s completely new. And whenever that is approved, we’ll be able to implement it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexopoulos handed off a draft to the university\u2019s upper echelons earlier this summer, which is why Strong and MacIntosh are disappointed that it hasn\u2019t been approved in time for new students to arrive in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it’s the president, if it’s the Board of Regents, I don’t know the intricacies of the power dynamics,\u201d says Strong. But number of volunteers have committed time and energy over the past two years to seeing a new policy come forward, she says. There\u2019s been \u201cso much time and effort, trying to get something moving along the chain, as part of the system that would would fit into our institution and our bylaws. And it gets stunted,\u201d says Strong, in exasperation. \u201cAnd I mean, this is the most dangerous time of the school year for incoming students, especially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Zone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s lots of excitement in the air in the first few weeks of a new school year, especially on college campuses, with first year students arriving who might be making their first steps into independent or resident living. But along with the excitement comes since increased risk. Researchers have identified and named something called the Red Zone, the first six to eight weeks of the school year on college and university campuses, when more than half of the annual incidents of sexual violence will occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To hear more about the Red Zone and how campuses are dealing with it, listen to this interview with Mount Allison\u2019s Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator, Tasia Alexopoulos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n