Sexual Violence on University Campuses - Selected Resources

The “Preventing Violence Against Women at St. Francis Xavier (StFX) University” project was developed as part of a call for proposals for “Engaging Young People to Prevent Violence Against Women on Post Secondary Campuses.” This two‐year project ran from April 2012 to July 2014, and was led by the Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association (AWRC&SASA). The project was funded by Status of Women Canada.

This is the comprehensive and collaborative guide to improving the policies and procedures that address violence against women and gender-based violence on campus that accompanies the main report.

This one-page Appendix that accompanies the Preventing Violence against Women at St. Francis Xavier University Report is a list of statistics related to the project.

This report reflects on how campus community members at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX), primarily students engage in discussions surrounding violence against women and gender-based violence, as it is experienced by individuals and groups on campus, and how this violence impacts the entire campus community. Discussion Groups led by Student Team UnSilence the Violence (through the Preventing Violence against Women at StFX Project) were conducted to assess this. This report incorporates the results of surveys completed by Discussion Group participants.

This report reflects on how campus community members at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX), primarily students, are aware of and understand violence against women (VAW) and gender-based violence (GBV), as it is experienced by individuals and groups on campus, and how this violence impacts the entire community. Focus Groups were conducted to assess this.

To understand how violence and oppression impacts the safety of everyone on campus and in particular, the needs of various groups who are most affected by violence and oppression, a group of students reached out to the StFX community – students, faculty, and staff – and the Antigonish community to participate in walkabouts (also known as campus safety audits) of the campus. The Student Team, known as UnSilence the Violence, was hired, as part of the larger project Preventing Violence against Women at StFX, to conduct these walkabouts to gather information from their peers and other campus community members.