My perspective - One size fits poorly

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Published on Friday, April 15, 2016

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

Last week, Brandon University found itself making headlines across the country, but it wasn’t the kind of attention they wanted.  In early April, a user of the anonymous posting site “We Believe Survivors” uploaded a photo of a Behavioural Contract that the university made her sign after she reported an alleged sexual assault to the school.  According to Brandon Sun reports, the contract required the signee to "not discuss the event which happened … between you and the male student with anyone other than a counsellor.” Breaking the contract could result in suspension or expulsion from the school.

Corinne Mason, a BU gender and women’s studies professor, was quoted as saying, “According to this contract, survivors of violence on campus are being told what to do and who to speak to about their experiences.” She goes on, explaining that in order to stay within the letter of the contract, the alleged victim couldn’t access the sexual assault crisis line at Klinic, which is a community health centre providing medical care, counselling and education.

This didn’t happen 10 or 20 or 50 years ago, it happened last fall.

In an era when the public is increasingly concerned about the silencing of sexual assault victims, the contract was an ill conceived plan all around. 

The school’s 23 page “Respectful Environment Policy,” which was last updated in August 2011, governs, among other things, the university’s response to cases of sexual violence. It would appear that the school’s behavioural contract has been around for a while and has been used to cover a range of issues that might arise between students. Since September 2013, two behavioural contracts have been used, one of which was for an alleged sexual assault. 

The contract is signed by both parties and one can see how in other situations, such an instrument makes sense– Students who have had issues with one another in the past must remain civil while they continue to attend classes and maybe live under the same dorm roof.  A peaceful environment is important if an investigation is underway, but also, it’s crucial to the campus environment. The contract is a one size fits all approach that I expect fits many situations very poorly, this one especially so. 

The use of the contract in this case was a mistake, everyone seems to agree on that. On April 6, the school’s president Gervan Fearon said that it was a mistake to use behavioural contracts to stop students from speaking about allegations of sexual assault. He was quoted as saying, “It was not appropriate and is not appropriate in this case or in cases of sexual assault, sexual violence and sexual harassment and we acknowledge (the contract) was not helpful to the survivor.”

The university has responded and in October, they set up a task force to look at the issue of sexual assault on campus. On April 6, nine recommendations from the task force were released, however, it wasn’t without controversy.  The victim of the alleged assault says that she was never contacted by the task force and there were complaints that not all stakeholders played a part in the recommendations’ development.

In the past, sexual assault was lumped in with other crimes and breaches of students’ rights and responsibilities. Today, most universities are being encouraged to develop stand alone policies in relation to the prevention of and response to sexual assault. 

In the wake of some high profile scandals at universities and colleges across North America, many critics allege that schools regularly hide or downplay statistics regarding sexual assault on campuses in order to help attract students. This is the atmosphere in which universities operate and any that hope to serve their students, as well as their reputation, must ensure that their actions don’t have the effect of silencing victims. For a variety of reasons, victims of sexual assault tend to err towards the side of silence and what amounts to a gag order is inappropriate in every way.