Victoria – Government is introducing legislation and an action plan to strengthen support for post-secondary communities in preventing and responding to sexual violence.
“Sexual violence is never acceptable, and it’s critical that post-secondary institutions and community members be equipped with the tools, resources, and training needed to prevent and respond to sexual violence effectively and compassionately,” said Jessie Sunner, Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. “We are taking meaningful action to foster safe, respectful, and inclusive learning and working environments across post-secondary institutions, so people can feel supported, empowered and protected in their communities.”
The proposed sexual-violence policy act will help improve prevention of and responses to sexual violence in the public post-secondary sector. The act will strengthen consultation requirements, increase accountability and transparency in annual reports, reduce barriers for people when making formal allegations of sexual violence and help support institutions to develop policies that are guided by a trauma-informed approach.
For the full action plan, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/post-secondary-education/sexual_violence_prevention_action_plan.pdf
For the Province’s sexual violence prevention and response initiatives, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safe-campuses-bc/sexualized-violence-prevention-and-response-initiatives
To access resources available in post-secondary institutions, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safe-campuses-bc/help-on-campus
In recent years, the ministry has received feedback from students, staff, Indigenous partners and community organizations about opportunities to strengthen and improve the current act’s provisions and implementation. In response, the ministry undertook a comprehensive review of existing policies and engaged with post-secondary communities and partners to inform the development of new legislation.
The proposed sexual-violence policy act will replace the existing Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy Act, and close gaps in the current framework and strengthen institutions’ responses to sexual violence. This reflects government’s priority to create safer communities and ensure the approach to responding to sexual violence in post-secondary communities is trauma informed and survivor centred.
To build on existing efforts to prevent and respond to sexual violence, the Province is also releasing a new Post-Secondary Sexual Violence Action Plan with a commitment to 12 actions. Actions 1, 3 and 8 have been completed in recent months. Once fully implemented, the action plan will help create safer post-secondary environments, reduce barriers for survivors seeking support, and strengthen institutions’ responses to sexual violence throughout B.C.
