North West College will launch the REES program at its North Battleford and Meadow Lake campuses. (photo/ REES website and battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

REES

North West College leads Sask. with program to address campus sexual violence

Nov 25, 2024 | 1:46 PM

North West College (NWC) has become the first post-secondary institution in Saskatchewan to introduce a proactive online program addressing campus sexual violence.

The launch is in partnership with REES (Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors), a 24/7 online platform for reporting incidents. It offers students and employees multiple reporting options and information about on-campus and community resources and support.

“The ideology behind this is that the more reporting, the more we can reduce,” Dr. Priscilla Lothian, vice president of Marketing and Student Experience, said.

“These different avenues of reporting can help the RCMP [and] help the community to reduce crime in the area, be vigilant, and know that there are eyes out there reporting.”

Lothian explained the school established this program to align with the Saskatchewan Employment Act. This legislation requires regulated workplaces to implement strategies to reduce workplace harassment.

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Data from Statistics Canada reveals that in 2019, about one in 10 students who identify as female at Canadian postsecondary schools were sexually assaulted in a school setting, compared with 4 per cent of students who identify as male.

The report indicated that more women than men reported experiencing inappropriate behaviors, including verbal or non-verbal communication, sexually explicit materials, and unwanted physical contact or suggestions of sexual relations.

Although NWC has not yet experienced any known incidents of campus sexual violence, she believes taking proactive measures is essential for fostering a safe environment for victims to speak up.

Citing a 2020 report called Sexual Violence in Saskatchewan, it said fewer than one-third of primary survivors made a formal report to the RCMP.

The report highlighted that victims often fear not being believed, facing blame, and retaliation from the perpetrator’s network. Many also lack awareness that the violations are crimes, have low trust in law enforcement’s handling of sexual assault cases, and fear the criminal court process.

“This is giving them another avenue to release that information and then give them time to build the confidence to be able to approach families, or they can utilize Northwest College Student service teams to go with them to report [to the RCMP],” Lothian noted.

It also provides students and staff with the option to report anonymously if they are not yet comfortable submitting formal reports, she added.

“Trauma-informed and centred on the needs of survivors, REES gather critical data for institutions while bridging anonymous incident reporting with access to information about reporting options, resources, and supports,” REES stated.

With this launch, NWC is joining other post-secondary institutions across Canada in taking a leading role in addressing campus sexual violence through the REES initiative, including Vancouver Community College in British Colombia and St. Clair College in Ontario.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com