By Madi Wong
An updated sexual violence policy (SVP) is expected to be shared this month, according to Ryerson president Mohamed Lachemi.
The SVP was implemented in June 2015 and is intended to reflect Ryerson’s “commitment to addressing sexual violence in all its forms within [its] community and to promote a culture of consent.”
At the Nov. 28 Board of Governors (BoG) meeting, vice-president equity and community Denise O’Neil Green announced that several amendments had been made to the university’s SVP.
These amendments to the SVP come after The Eyeopener reported in March that the provincial government would provide colleges and universities with more funding for on-campus initiatives addressing sexual violence.
According to Green, one amendment is the university’s new obligation to maintain statistics and report them to both the BoG and Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
The report must contain the number of times Ryerson students requested and obtained supports and services for sexual violence-related incidents, information about these accommodations and any initiatives established by the university to promote the awareness of them.
“These changes are here to ensure greater transparency and accountability,” Green told BoG members.
The SVP is moving forward with implementations to five areas including “clarifying the scope and key definitions in the policy, and making our processes more transparent when a complainant makes a report or complaint,” said Lachemi.
A full summary of changes is expected to be posted this month via Ryerson Today.
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