Why do we need to talk about consent and gender-based violence prevention in schools?

“Gender-Based Violence is a reality in Ontario. It is present in every city and community across the province and impacts the lives of friends, family members and colleagues.”1

Below are some key facts regarding gender-based violence in Canada:

  • One in three girls or women2, one in six boys or men3, and one in five transgender4 individuals will experience some form of gender-based violence in their lifetime.
  • Girls and women under the age of 25 experience the highest rates of sexual assault and criminal harassment than women above that age2.
  • Girls and women with disabilities are four times more likely than girls and women without disabilities to experience gender-based violence2.
  • Indigenous women are three times more likely than other women to experience all forms of violence2.
  • Less than 10% of sexual assaults are reported to police2.
  • Approximately 80–95% of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows2.

The Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children stresses the importance of the role of the bystander in situations involving gender-based violence.

"Community norms and bystander attitudes have been identified as aspects of society that condone interpersonal violence. Bystanders can perpetuate these attitudes and community norms by doing nothing or by supporting or ignoring perpetrator behaviour, or they can make the situation better by intervening in pro-social ways (McMahon & Banyard, 2012)”5.

Bystanders play an important role in gender-based violence prevention by noticing situations that can escalate, by safely and appropriately intervening, and by supporting the victim. Focusing on the actions of bystanders is an approach that engages the community in proactive ways to address the behaviour of others and changes social behaviours that might otherwise be considered “normal” in a group or society.

Educators play a key role in gender-based violence prevention by providing students with learning experiences that engage them in thoughtful conversations about gender-based violence, the role of bystanders, and strategies for intervening in situations involving gender-based violence and becoming advocates for preventing and ending gender-based violence in their school and community.

This resource uses scenarios from the Draw the Line campaign as part of ready-to-use classroom activities to engage students in learning about gender-based violence and applying strategies to intervene safely and effectively as bystanders and empowering them to make a difference in their school and community.

Gender-Based Violence

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexual assault as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work”6.

In other words, gender-based violence includes any violence, physical or psychological, carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality, including the following:

  • Sexual abuse
  • Sexual assault
  • Rape
  • Incest or interfamilial sexual abuse
  • Childhood sexual abuse
  • Rape during armed conflict
  • Sexual harassment
  • Stalking
  • Indecent or sexualized exposure
  • Degrading sexual imagery
  • Voyeurism
  • Cyber harassment
  • Sexual exploitation, including human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation
  • Any act that undermines an individual’s sexual or gender integrity (i.e., forced adoption of a gender role that does not conform to an individual’s identity)
  • Forced prostitution, forced marriage (especially of minors), or forced cohabitation
  • Some hate crimes and the more loosely defined “hate incidents,” such as those directed at women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, twin-spirited, intersex, queer, and questioning (LGBTTTIQQ) individuals
  • The imposition or elimination of actions related to sexual and reproductive health

Notes:

  1. From the Draw the Line campaign website: Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centre (n.d). What is Draw the Line. Draw the Line. https://draw-the-line.ca/
  2. From the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC) website: Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centre (2020). Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres. https://sexualassaultsupport.ca/
  3. From the 1in6 website: 1in6. (2020). Get Information: The 1 in 6 Statistic. 1in6. https://1in6.org/statistic/
  4. From the Canadian Mental Health Association website: Canadian Mental Health Association. (2020, February). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Queer identified People and Mental Health. Ontario CMHA. https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/lesbian-gay-bisexual-trans-queer-identified-people-and-mental-health/ 
  5. From Straatman, 2013, p. 3: Straatman, A.L. (2013, September). Bystander Gender-Based Violence Education programs for high school, college and university students [PDF file]. Learning Network Brief, 09.1-8. http://www.vawlearningnetwork.ca/our-work/briefs/briefpdfs/LB-09.pdf 
  6. From WHO, 2002, p. 149: World Health Organization (WHO). (2002). Chapter 6: Gender-Based Violence, World Report on Violence and Health [PDF file]. (pp. 149-181). .. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42495/9241545615_eng.pdf?sequence=1