Op Ed: McGill and Concordia have no idea what to do about Sexual Harassment.

Photo: Wikicommons

Over the last year McGill and Concordia have seen dozens of accusations alleging widespread, systemic, sexual harassment. McGill and Concordia have come out strongly in support of changing policies to protect and empower students and faculty suffering sexual harassment.

Concordia introduced the, ‘Taskforce on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence,’ in January 2018. McGill introduced the, ‘Principals Taskforce for Respect and Inclusion in Campus Life,’ in December 2017. Both have been touted as the universities flagship programs to combat sexual harassment, engage the student body, and find solution for students by students.

But what have McGill and Concordia actually done, and what are they doing, to combat these systemic problems?

According to Sophie Martin, General Coordinator of the Concordia Student Union, not enough. The union has a raft of complaints with Concordia’s new policies, from the three-month time limit on reporting sexual violence, to a complete lack of anonymous reporting options on campus.

Sahana Ally, a third year Concordia student was sexually harassed during her first year.

“I didn’t know what to do… because the student body I talked to did not really help me,” said Ally of her experience reporting sexual harassment. Ally talks about how difficult she found reporting her experiences being told “it wasn’t that serious” by people she tried to talk to.

So what is there in Concordia’s policy for students like Ally?

Concordia’s taskforce report says, “The task force noted that there is a considerable gap between the community’s perception and knowledge of the available resources and what in fact is available.” The report makes the claim that the problem on campus is not with the university, its actions, or its services, rather that students are unaware how much the university already offers them.

“According to universities own research seventy to eighty per cent of students are aware of the universities reporting services,” said Martin.

Despite repeated accusations that the university does not take reports of sexual harassment seriously, Concordia’s taskforce has figuratively dusted the universities hands of any responsibility. Its report makes no reference to the numerous accusations that the university has failed to protect students, or take accusation of sexual harassment seriously.

Over at McGill, an Access to Information request has shown that McGill spent less than $6000 on its taskforce. One third of this was spent on a graphic. Another quarter was spent on livestreaming an address by the principal. The rest was spent on catering, posters, and books. Nothing was spent employing experts. Nothing was spent on consultants. Nothing was spent on think tanks. Nothing was spent on consultations.

McGill’s report on Sexual Harassment says, “tensions are rising as long-standing academic traditions are challenged by new ways of thinking.”

The report continues, and in its recommendations, makes no reference to sexual harassment, but does refer to, “revamping institutional websites.”

While the actions McGill and Concordia are taking are not nothing, it is hard to believe that they are taking these issues seriously when they will commit virtually no resources to understanding or combating these issues. While engaging with students is valuable, the problem with only consulting young university students is that they are not experts in combating widespread systemic issues.

Neither university has accepted any responsibility, nor addressed the serious concerns levelled against them.

So, what are the universities doing to combat accusations of systemic problems around sexual harassment? Not much.