Sexual Harassment Funding

Last year McGill and Concordia were rocked by accusations of widespread sexual harassment, and an administration uninterested in helping students.

In response both universities introduced taskforces to identify ways they could combat sexual harassment on campus. McGill introduced the, Principals Taskforce on Respect and Inclusion in December 2017. Concordia, the Task Force on Sexual Misconduct in January 2018. Both have recently released their reports.

Through an Access to Information request it was revealed that McGill spent less than $6000 on its taskforce. A third of this was spent on a graphic design for the report. Nothing was spent on consultations, experts, or think tanks. McGill administration has so far not responded to requests for comment.

The Concordia report claimed that one of the chief problems with sexual harassment was that students were not aware of support services. However, according to the Concordia Student Union (CSU), polls have suggested that over three quarters of students were aware of the processes offered to support victims of sexual violence.

Sophie Martin, general coordinator of the Concordia Student Union says that the CSU is disappointed with the taskforces new policies. She says that the CSU wants a focus on anonymous reporting and a removal of the current three-month reporting time limit.

Concordia has been promising extra funding for the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC), since 2016.

Asked to comment, Jennifer Drummond coordinator of SARC said that the university is integrating its reporting services. When asked about how SARC’s budget has been affected and what has changed since the report. Desmond said that the organisation is aiming to bring in another full-time employee to help process people faster.

Despite the insistence that they take sexual harassment seriously McGill and Concordia only introduced their taskforces after the passing of Bill 151, which mandates that Universities take action to combat and monitor sexual harassment on Campus.