UVSS Responds to Sexual Assault – September 28, 2015
The student community at the University of Victoria is devastated to hear about a sexual assault that happened on campus early Saturday morning. The University of Victoria Students’ Society (UVSS) encourages anyone with any information to please come forward.
When such a devastating incident of violence happens, it is important to remind the campus community about the Anti-Violence Project (AVP). AVP is your on-campus sexual assault support centre and works hard to address sexualized violence on campus and to provide survivors with an empowering and safer space.
AVP also works with people who have caused harm and tries to break down the systems of violence that perpetuate rape culture on our campus, in our communities, and beyond. Part of their work also includes a Men’s Circle program where masculine identified folks can come together and discuss issues of power and oppression as well as receive training in consent and bystander intervention. Other support resources on campus are the Wellness Centre and UVic Counselling Services.
This tragic event highlights not only the magnitude of violence that exists within our communities, but also the extreme importance of educational and preventative measures that help to break down that violence. We also recognize that instances of sexualized violence often happen behind closed doors, by someone that survivors know, and usually go unreported.
The Anti-Violence Project and the UVic Students’ Society will continue to work towards making our campus free of harm, and we urge our community to be involved in this process. Together we must support survivors, work with those who have caused harm, and call out or interrupt violence when it happens. Together we can shift our culture to one of consent.
We encourage our campus and community to join us in the Farquar Auditorium on Wednesday Sept 30th for Laci Green’s keynote address on “Taking Down Rape Culture”.
Together we can end the violence.
