UBC’s response to sexual assault – next steps

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To: Faculty, staff and students in Vancouver and the Okanagan

In October, Professor Santa Ono issued a message to the UBC community regarding a new Steering Committee on Sexual Assault. As he stated in his message, the Steering Committee has begun to:

  • Provide input and advice to the Policy Committee on feedback, drafts, and key questions;
  • Create an action plan to address the recommendations from the University Sexual Assault Panel and feedback provided during the policy consultation;
  • Work with existing groups and/or establish representative subcommittees to accomplish specific tasks related to creating an effective response to sexual assault through education, prevention and support.

The Steering Committee began its work with an invitation for new members—thank you to all those who expressed interest. The new members are as follows:

  • Lina Gomez, undergraduate student, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, UBC Okanagan
  • Rabia Mir, graduate student, Educational Studies, UBC Vancouver
  • Dr. Erin Graham, Sessional Instructor, Faculty of Education, UBC Vancouver
  • Avneet Mann, Client Services Representative, UBC Robson Square
  • Dr. Juliet O’Brien, Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, UBC Vancouver
  • Dr. Stephen O’Leary, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, UBC Okanagan

In recent weeks, the Policy Committee has been collating and considering feedback received through an open consultation on the draft policy that ran between June and October. Thank you to all those who took the time to review the draft policy and provide input. The Policy Committee is currently reviewing all of the comments that were received and is making significant changes to the draft in response to feedback from the UBC community and other interested parties. A new draft of the policy will be presented to the Board of Governors in February 2017 and, in view of the major changes that are anticipated, a community consultation on the new draft is expected to run from February to April.

The issue of sexual assault impacts all areas of UBC. You can read more about the Steering Committee and access updates about the policy development process at http://equity.ubc.ca

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight that December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women in Canada. A series of events have been organized at UBC. We encourage you to read more at http://equity.ubc.ca/2016/11/21/ubc-remembers-dec-6th/

As Professor Ono stated in his October message, it is important that we facilitate meaningful engagement around these issues. Thank you once again to all those who took the time to submit feedback.

Louise Cowin
Vice-President, Students

Hubert Lai, Q.C.
University Counsel