University of Calgary's new sexual assault prevention program focuses on consent

A new sexual assault prevention program that launched Thursday at the University of Calgaryhopes to shift the focus from "victimblaming"to a deeper understanding of consent.

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Creating a Culture of Consent is a partnership between the university's Women's Resource Centre and the Consent Awareness and Sexual Education Club.

Organizers say for too longthe focus has been on the victim.

"So many of the sexual assault prevention strategies that we had grown up with were quite victim blaming," said program co-founder Emily Leedham.

"It's like you always had to be on the lookout and we just found that really unacceptable, we wanted a change."

The program zeroes in on consent, respect and communication, Leedham said.

NanakoFuruyamaof the women's centre says under reportingaddsto the challenges of preventingsexual assault.

"Less than one in 10 assaults are reported in Canadaaccording to Statistics Canada," she said.

The program will include workshops, speaker events and improvingexisting peer support services.

"In three years from now we are hoping to see there is no longer blaming the victims of any sexual assault cases and create a sense of respect and ...consent on campus," Furuyama said.