1993
The Date Rape and Dating Violence Education Project (DRDV) and the UVic Women’s Centre (now the Gender Empowerment Centre) proposed a full-time sexual assault officer for a campus-based assault center, seeking space, funding, and support.
January 1994
The UVSS allotted space for a Sexual Assault Centre within the SUB expansion, creating a work-study position with the DRDV, while UVic also introduced a Personal Safety Officer on the Campus Security team to address safety concerns.
1995
The DRDV conducted the “Sexual Aggression and Aggression in Intimate Relationships Survey,” revealing that 1 in 6 to 1 in 4 women experienced sexual assault at UVic. Recognizing the services provided by the Victoria Women’s Sexual Assault Centre (VWSAC, now the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre), the Open UVic Resource Sexual Assault Centre (OUR–SAC) sought collaboration with VWSAC to extend their services.
September 1996
OUR–SAC opened, having developed a Recent Sexual Assault Protocol and a joint volunteer training program in collaboration with VWSAC.
1996-1998
OUR–SAC operated with a small volunteer team on a limited budget. In Spring 1998, they approached UVSS for a student referendum for a $2/student per term fee increase to fund the Centre. The referendum passed, allowing OUR–SAC to hire a full-time Coordinator in August 1998.
August 2004
OUR–SAC rebranded as the Anti-Violence Project (AVP) to broaden support and advocacy services for survivors of all forms of violence.
November 2017
Another student referendum resulted in a $2 increase in fees for full-time students ($1 for part-time students) to further support AVP’s work, resulting in our current funding (as of 2024) of $4 per full-time student and $2 per part-time student per term.
March 2019
A Graduate Student Referendum ran successfully bringing $2 increase in fees forfull-time students ($1 for part-time students) to further support AVP’s work. AVP bring in $195,000 per year from student fees ~$17K from GSS and ~$177K from UVSS.
2023-2024
AVP experienced a significant transition period, with a complete staff turnover across. This created a pause in continuity and operations while we prepared to rebuild. Between June 2023 and February 2024 we rehired staff. The year was spent getting ourfooting, reviewing and updating content. There was limited support hours, events and workshops. Shifted gears toward restoring core programming, including consistent support hours, regular workshops and events, Men’s Circle, and a Fall 2024 volunteer training. Getting us back on the ground!
2025-Present
AVP transitioned from an affiliated group to a UVSS service group and began supervising the Peer Support Centre (PSC). The PSC operates within AVP to provide peer support for student concerns beyond the scope of sexualized and gender-based violence.
We are still working out how AVP and PSC can best support each other.