Carleton U professor to study on-campus sexual violence

A Carleton University legal studies professor will lead a study on sexual violence on Ontario campuses with the help of a $236,000 funding boost from the province.

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A rape survivor herself,Dr. Dawn Moore said her study will focus primarily on those who experience sexual violence.

She said the long overdue study will also explorewhether or not schoolstake a victim-centred approachto investigating the reports, and examinethe relationship between police services and post-secondary institutions.

We can't act fast enough.- Dr. Dawn Moore, Carleton University

"It should have happened 20 years ago. We've known that there was a crisis of sexual violence on campus," Moore said.

"Every day that we wait on trying to implement preventative measures is one more day that another woman gets assaulted. We can't act fast enough."

Moore said her research team hopes to complete a report by mid-April, so that it can inform the final draft of Bill 132, the Ontario government'santi-sexual violence bill.

Reporting sexual violence

Moore said her team will study the experiences of both those who report sexual violenceand those who chose not to report and why they made those decisions.

According to the province,an estimatedone in three Canadian women experiences sexual assault but less than four per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police.

Moore said the study also aims to find out if those who did report sexual violence felt supported, believed,and in the end satisfied with the result.

"The million dollar question is, do they feel safer on campus after having reported? Did it have a positive effect for them?" Moore said.

Last fall,a University of Ottawa student who reported to police that she was choked and raped at a party told CBC News police told her the sexual assault was a misunderstanding.

After telling her story publicly, police reviewed the case and charged her accused rapist in absentia because he hadreturned to his home in Lebanon.

Funding for other studies

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services also announced on Thursday an additional $139,000 for five other research projects on reporting, responding to and preventing sexual violence, for a total of nearly $375,000.

The fundingincludes:

• $42,000 to a Carleton-led team toresearch howsexual crimes are policed in the new digital world.
• $6,500 to a team led by aTrent University researcher to study how theOntario Provincial Police responds to reports of sexual assault against people with developmental disabilities.
• $15,000 to aUniversity of Ontario Institute of Technology team to research the experiencestudents, faculty and staff have when reporting sexual assault or sexual harassment, with a focus on sexualvictimization.
• $25,000to aUniversity of Ontario Institute of Technology team to work with theDurham Regional Police Service to study how post-secondary institutions work with police services on issues of sexual violence.
• Nearly $50,000 to aWilfrid Laurier University researcher to study how to enhance collaboration between post-secondary institutions and police services.

The province said that the results of the studies will be used to shape future policy and programs for survivors of sexual assault.