PROGRESS UPDATES

Announcements from committee chair Lisa Ostiguy

· Lisa White has been appointed Executive Director of Concordia’s new Equity Office.

· The Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) will soon be a part of the Equity Office.

· As per the recommendation regarding a liaison officer by the Task Force on Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Violence, a small group of liaison support has been assigned to effectively assist community members through the complaints process.

Training Update by Jennifer Drummond, manager of the Sexual Assault Resource Centre

· The updated base module was released as planned in the Fall 2020 term. The new intersectionality module was delayed but it is currently in production and will hopefully be released by the end of March, 2021.

· The next module on rape culture will be worked on this summer with a release goal of the Fall 2021 term.

Rape Culture Module Presentation by Mark Underwood, facilitator at the Sexual Assault Resource Centre

· Mark presented a draft of the rape culture module.

· The module includes definitions, a rape culture pyramid as well as several scenarios based on: “it’s just locker room talk”, “non-consent of photos/videos” and “victim blaming”.

· The training will conclude with a recap on the effects of rape culture, a call to action/commitment and resources.

Feedback from Members included:

· Some expressed concern over the tern “rape culture” as potentially off-putting if not carefully introduced or thoroughly explained. Suggestions include better contextualizing rape culture definition with some examples as well as perhaps explaining what it isn’t.

· Use of direct instruction concepts.

· Grounding concepts with concrete tools and tips to expand and correct behaviours, i.e. guidelines, expectations.

· Adding a scenario in a classroom setting demonstrating how an instructor handles a specific situation.

· Adding scenarios that demonstrate power imbalance.

· Adding a scenario or example for bystanders.