To: Ian Wishart - Minister of Education and Training , Government of Manitoba
What you can do for #metoo in Manitoba
Create oversight mechanisms to ensure that sexual violence prevention policies are effectively implemented in post-secondary institutions.
Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions, student groups, and community organisations so that they are able to implement sexual violence prevention policies thoroughly.
Why is this important?
1 in 5 Canadian women will experience sexual assault while at university. Evidence suggests that these numbers are actually much higher due to the systemic barriers to reporting assaults that many women face. [1]
Universities have the means to prevent women from experiencing sexual assault and harassment on campus, but they need sufficient policies put in place to do that. Currently, almost no Canadian universities have adequate policies, and many have none at all. [2]
The provincial government needs to provide the funding necessary for them to do so, and create oversight mechanisms to hold those institutions to account.
Quebec just announced it will spend $23 million over 5 years to support post-secondary institutions develop and implement sexual violence prevention policies -- and we need Manitoba to do the same. [3] Without funding, programs will not be able to be thoroughly implemented.
Sources:
[1]http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/4106721/Our-Turn-Action-Plan-Final-English-2.pdf
[2] http://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/universities-across-canada-implement-sexual-violence-policies/
[3] http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-to-invest-23-million-to-fight-sexual-violence-on-campuses
