Addressing Rape Culture on College Campuses

From 2017 through 2021 we conducted an important project funded by the Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), formerly Status of Women Canada, addressing the issue of rape culture. Building on the experience of our previous Cyber violence Prevention project, we worked with colleges/CEGEPs to develop policy solutions, pedagogical strategies and knowledge mobilization approaches that respond to this problem.

Click here for a podcast about our project.

Addressing Campus Rape Culture Through Media Tools, the curriculum developed through our project, has been used several times with hundreds of CÉGEP students.

Members of our project team:

Eric Craven, Community Development Librarian, Atwater Library – Project Coordinator
Shanly Dixon, Consultant, Atwater Library
JD Drummond, Sexual Assault Resource Center, Concordia University
Sandra Gabriele, Communication Studies, Concordia University
Maggie Kathwaroon, Women’s And Gender Studies Coordinator, Vanier College
Carrie Rentschler, Art History And Communication Studies, McGill University

Three community leaders — Dr. Shanly Dixon, Dr. Eileen Kerwin-Jones, and Brenda Lamb — promoted the project at a national level through a pan-Canadian network of 150 women leaders working on a variety of related projects.

On August 9, 2017 Status of Women Canada Minister Maryam Monsef made a major announcement in our building that included funding for the project. Click here for the full text of the Minister’s announcement.

The photo below shows our project cordinators Dr. Shanly Dixon and Community Development Librarian Eric Craven with the Minister.

For information, contact project coordinator Eric Craven at dlp@atwaterlibrary.ca.

Project Activities

October 2, 2017 
Rape Culture “It’s a Thing, What Is It?” presented by the JACtivists in collaboration with Dr. Eileen Kerwin-Jones.

November 20, 2017
International Men’s Day – Understanding Rape Culture/Men’s Mental & Social Health Under Patriarchy.

December 5, 2017
Shanly Dixon, PhD, presented findings from our project in a webinar on Women Political Candidates in the Digital Age: Gender Based Cyber violence organized by Women in Local Government/ Femme dans les gouvernements, Diverse Voices for Change, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).

March 13, 2018 
Panel on Women’s Day at John Abbott College with students Nosisa Gildea (JACtivists), Jeremy Lewis, Erika Smeets, and Noam Zackon (Queer Hub); Administrators/Professionals Julie Chevalier (Counselor), John Halpin (Director General), and Anne Smith (Health Educator).

March 20, 2018 
“Normalize No More: We Got Your Back” Father’ Daughter Breakfast at Trafalgar School for Girls.

March 22, 2018 — 9:00 am to 8:00 pm 
Growth on the Horizon at McGill University — As part of the Atwater LIbrary’s project addressing the issue of rape culture on college campuses, we collaborated with McGill’s Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF) and other partners in a full day of arts-based activities fostering exchange and reflection around the reality of sexual and gendered violence on campus, along with individual, collective and institutional forms of healing and care. Workshops and events took place throughout the McGill campus. For more info, please consult the schedule.

April 11, 2018
Gender-based cyber violence for Social Science Day at John Abbott College.

May 9, 2018
Inter-CEGEP Meeting: Responding to Bill 151 “What we feel we need and what we feel we are missing.”

June 13, 2018
Inter-CEGEP Meeting: Evaluative framework discussion and joint CEGEP PR campaign brainstorming.

October 3, 2018
Inter-CEGEP Meeting: Strategies for addressing alt-right and meninist disruptions in the classroom and at on-campus events.

November 19, 2018
Toxic masculinity forum theatre at John Abbott College.

November 21, 2018
Toxic masculinity forum theatre at Vanier College.

November 28, 2018
Evaluation framework roundtable.

April 3, 2019
Forum theatre “L’homme Vrai” at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit’s École nationale d’aérotechnique.

April 9, 10, 11, 2019
Three-day symposium at Concordia University: Addressing Sexual Violence and Rape Culture: Building Inclusive Strategies Across Campuses, co-presented by Atwater Library.