Lethbridge post-secondary institutions adopt new tool to report sexual violence – Lethbridge | 24CA News
An on-line reporting platform will assist people attending and dealing at each post-secondary establishments in Lethbridge to report gender based mostly and sexual violence.
REES, the platform’s identify, is an acronym for “Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors.”
The 24-hour, seven day per week service gives elevated choices for folks to share info on an incident with their college or search assist anonymously in the event that they aren’t ready to submit a proper grievance.
According to Mary Lobson, founder and CEO of REES, it helps present trauma-informed pathways for survivors and permits the varsity to gather knowledge that can be utilized for prevention.
“Findings came out in Alberta related to sexual violence on campus with approximately half of students indicating that they’ve experienced some form of sexual violence on campus or unwanted sexualized behaviors,” stated Lobson.
“I think this is a significant call-out to the powers that be, both as institutions and government, to really listen to that and see what can be put in place to create more pathways for people to come forward.”
In 2019, a Statistics Canada survey on “Individual Safety in the Post-Secondary Student Population” indicated that 71 per cent of scholars witnessed or skilled unwelcome sexualized conduct over the yr, and fewer than one in 10 truly spoke about what occurred with somebody related to their college.
With some college students attending each faculty and college of their tutorial careers, the adoption of a standard reporting system is anticipated to create familiarity with the platform.
“We recognize that for an issue such as gender based and sexual violence, having access to anonymous spaces to report rather than having to talk to someone really reduces barriers, so we wanted to make sure that we provided an option that was more survivor centered,” Carmen Guenther, supervisor of wellness companies at Lethbridge College, stated.
“We’re really focused on flourishing students and that’s where this platform also provide value, because its only when we feel safe we can truly flourish and thrive in any context, and that is especially true in an academic context,” Mark Slomp, govt director for pupil companies on the University of Lethbridge, defined.
The U of L and Lethbridge College are the newest colleges to hitch a rising variety of post-secondary establishments throughout the nation who’ve already applied REES.
Lobson stated extra colleges throughout the province ought to look to creating higher alternatives for his or her college students.
“When we look at the province of Alberta, about half of the institutions only have email reporting,” stated Lobson. “So, thinking about it from a trauma perspective, from a privacy and data security perspective, that’s not really the way that institutions of higher education should be gathering sensitive information like this.”
“Whether its adopting REES or not, they could certainly reflect on the ways that they are creating pathways to come forward for people and making sure that they’re available, accessible, and ones that are respecting of people’s privacy.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
