Glynnis Kirchmeier, the UBC alumna who filed a human rights complaint against the university over its handling of sexual assault reports, presented on August 5 at a panel entitled “What Are Canadian Universities Actually Doing About Sexual Assault."
“I had [co-organized] a private conference with people from across Canada who had either filed human rights complaints or are in the process of thinking about filing,” explained Kirchmeier. “As part of that, Mandi Gray (another panelist) suggested that we have a panel where we discuss this question in public.”
Kirchmeier was joined by four other panelists: Ellie Ade Kur, a PhD student at the University of Toronto; Tarrah McPherson, a former student at Mount St. Vincent University; Mandi Gray, a PhD student at York University; and Paniz Khosroshahy, an undergraduate at McGill. Both McPherson and Gray have also filed human rights complaints against their universities, which are currently in front of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, respectively. Gray was also at the centre of a sexual assault trial where the guilty verdict was praised by both advocates and fellow survivors.
A common theme brought up throughout the panel was the confusion and dissonance surrounding the universities’ procedures.
“It felt very disconnected,” said McPherson of her experience. “I shouldn’t have to go to the registrar’s office to ask for assistance and then turn around and go to health services to ask for assistance and then my dean, go to my chair, to this department, that department. They should be — in my opinion — connected, so that a student that is going through difficulties, whether it be sexual assault or a death in the family or any student in need. They shouldn’t have to go to each department separately to get the help that they need.”
Panelists also brought up points such as a lack of follow-up and not being taken seriously by universities.
“It’s pretty functional for universities to have confusing procedures, to have the front line workers that you’re disclosing to, whether that’s a counsellor or an equity officer or even a board member, for them to minimize and downplay and say things like ‘Are you sure this wasn’t a misunderstanding?’ or ‘We’re not sure that our jurisdiction matters here,’” said Kirchmeier. “These sorts of responses are very consistent across universities, retaliation was consistent across universities … a lack of follow up until someone gets to the media was very consistent.”
Despite their disappointment with how the universities handled their cases some of the panelists were optimistic that change is coming, and hope that universities will be open to this change rather than resistant.
“This is not an issue that’s going away,” said McPherson. “What I hope that the universities take away [from this] is that any of these three [universities] right now are positioned perfectly. They can choose to step forward, lead the way, be a good example, do the right thing. I think the change is coming one way or another, and they can choose to either lead the pack or follow later.”
A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Paniz Khosroshahy's last name. The Ubyssey regrets this error.