VANCOUVER, BC - On the heels of a provincial forum for preventing sexual violence on campuses, students are celebrating the province’s commitment of $760,000 toward sexual violence prevention. This funding is going to support making sure that policies and procedures are in plain language that people can actually understand, and will support coordinated initiatives to help post-secondary institutions work together and share resources to address sexual violence on BC campuses.

"Campus sexualized violence is an epidemic. While one in five women will experience a sexual assault during their time in post-secondary education, certain communities face even higher rates of violence. This is absolutely unacceptable," said Anna-Elaine Rempel, director of research and campaigns of the Alliance of BC Students (ABCS) and co-emcee of the forum. "We are very pleased that the Government listened to us, and agree that this needs to be addressed in meaningful ways."

The ABCS has been advocating on this issue for many years. In 2018, the ABCS collaborated with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations to release Shared Perspectives: A Joint Publication on Campus Sexual Violence Prevention and Response, which outlined the importance of implementing programs, workshops, and resources to actualize policies mandated by provincial governments.
This year, the ABCS has continued working closely with the Government and other community leaders as a strong student voice to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of survivors is at the forefront of the work being done to tackle sexual violence.

"This is an excellent step towards making our campuses a safer environment for students to thrive in," continued Rempel. “We will continue working to make post-secondary institutions a place free from sexual violence in British Columbia.”