Sexual assault research gets funding boost
University campuses in three New Brunswick communities are getting a financial boost to help deal with the issue of sexual assault.
The federal government announced on Wednesday that it will provide $4 million to 21 organizations across the country, including groups in Fredericton, Sackville and Pacquetville.
That money will allow groups to work with universities on preventing sexual assaults on campus.
Lorraine Whalley, the director of the Fredericton Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, said her group will use $200,000 in funding to pay for a two-year research project.
The group will be working alongside the universities in the city to track incidents of sexual assault and how the schools respond to them.
She said the funding will help the centre evaluate various policies that respond to to sexual violence.
"And perhaps, more importantly, is looking at prevention, to doing awareness programming, looking at what works with this population," she said.
Whalley said the centre will be working with the University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, and the Fredericton campus of the New Brunswick Community College.
In 2009-10, the centre fielded more than 100 calls to its crisis line.
Rice Fuller, the director of counselling services at the University of New Brunswick, said many students don't even know what the definition of sexual assault is.
Fuller said many students believe it means rape or a violent incident, but he said that's not usually the case.
"It is any unwanted or non-consensual fondling, kissing or touching,” he said.
Fuller said another problem is that universities in North America are slow to address the problem because it creates bad publicity.
"Our knee-jerk reaction may be to put the lid on things. And in cases that may favour the attacker as well to deal with it quietly, to make it go away rather than address the problem head on,” he said.
Fuller said one way to help prevent sexual assaults could be by starting a “bystander intervention program.”
He said that initiative involves teaching students to recognize when a sexual assault may occur and what to do about it.
