Sexual violence in HE: Quebec to spend CA$54 million

Jennifer Drummond opened the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) at Concordia University in 2013, the Montreal university’s one-stop shop for victims of sexual violence. She says she’s had to rely on a very small team of only five employees and volunteers to operate. Now, with Quebec planning to spend CA$54 million (US$40 million) over five years to prevent and counter sexual violence in higher education establishments, she says she hopes the centre will be able to help more people, writes Erika Morris for CBC News.

“Any kind of additional funding in this area is very needed,” she said. “I’ve been able to see how helpful that is for survivors, to have that one dedicated resource to support them.”

The SARC offers counselling, teaches safety measures, organises academic accommodation and provides accompaniment to internal and external resources. That includes bringing survivors to the hospital, police station and helping them navigate the courts. “It’s really important to have something like that set up and I’m excited to hear that there’s this funding that’s going to allow this in other locations,” said Drummond.
Full report on the CBC News site