A York University student who says she was sexually assaulted by another student is criticizing the school’s new policy on sexual assault as “hollow,” and doing little more than paying “lip service to a very serious crisis.”
Mandi Gray, a first-year PhD student in the sociology department, says she was sexually assaulted by a political science doctoral student on January 31. Both are teaching assistants at York and had been celebrating the strike vote of their union, CUPE 3903, that evening with colleagues at a downtown bar.
Gray says she notified her faculty on February 2. Her program director and graduate program assistant contacted the university’s Sexual Assault Survivors’ Support Line and campus security but were unable to get answers about the procedures that would follow a formal complaint, Gray says. She also requested information from her union about complaint procedures, because the accused was a member of the local’s executive committee.
“Nobody knew,” says Gray.
Since then, she says, she’s had multiple meetings, phone calls and email correspondence with the university’s administration that have resulted in “inadequate” counselling, an “unfavourable” outcome in a judicial tribunal process and an “inappropriate” safety plan that appears to curtail her activities rather than the suspect’s.
Almost two months after the incident, Gray says she suffers from anxiety, flashbacks of the incident and post-traumatic stress, and she still doesn’t know if an administrator can schedule course work so she and the accused won’t have to be on campus at the same time.
On February 23, York became the first university in Toronto to release a policy specifically dealing with sexual assaults. The policy had been in the works since 2013 and is one of many changes the university has made to address sexual violence after two men roamed a residence during Frosh Week in 2007 looking for unlocked rooms and raped two undergraduate students. York also asked the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC) to conduct campus safety audits in 2008 and 2009.
Nothing has changed procedurally since the Policy On Sexual Assault Awareness, Prevention And Response was introduced, according to Janet Morrison, the university’s vice-provost students. Morrison says the policy “serves to underscore, encapsulate and pull together what is a long-standing commitment on the part of the university to education and prevention, effective responses to hold alleged perpetrators accountable… and support for survivors.”
The university is currently reviewing its practices, says Morrison, and is expected to complete its evaluation by May of this year.
In the meantime, Gray has written an open letter to the university’s president, Mamdouh Shoukri, criticizing the new policy for failing to specify what supports are in place for victims of sexual assault and how perpetrators will be held accountable to ensure the safety of the broader York community.
Little action was taken either by York or CUPE 3903 until Toronto police made an arrest two weeks after the alleged assault. Gray’s alleged assailant was subsequently released on bail on the condition that he stay at least 100 metres away from Gray and not have direct or indirect contact with her. He has since resigned from his union position.
In the week following the arrest, York’s manager of community relations and crime prevention proposed a safety plan that involved informing Gray of her alleged attacker’s schedule so she could avoid him. The plan also gave her the option of requesting a security official to escort her on campus.
Gray accuses York’s administration of completely missing the point, since it’s her mental well-being she’s more worried about.
“I thought it was really stupid, to be honest,” Gray says of the plan. “They wanted to place me as the victim in the spotlight, when the spotlight should be on him. I pretty much said to them, ‘Why don’t you get a security officer to escort him to and from class?'”
Gray was also told that she and her alleged assailant had to participate in a confidential tribunal in which a panel consisting of a faculty member, staff person and student would determine appropriate actions. Her lawyer advised her against it because anything said in the tribunal could provide additional fodder for cross-examination in a criminal trial. The tribunal went ahead anyway without her.
Gray says the university’s counselling services were reluctant to see her out of fear of being subpoenaed to testify in court. Morrison, however, denies this.
She can’t speak to the specifics of Gray’s case for privacy reasons, but emphasizes that tribunals are a standard way universities deal with violations of student codes of conduct.
“Our commitment is to work within a framework that puts the survivor at the centre of our decision-making,” says Morrison. “All the processes articulated under the [Student Code Of Conduct] were pursued and followed in accordance with the timelines in the Code.”
Misogyny at Canadian universities has come under increased scrutiny after a number of recent highly publicized incidents, including sexual assault allegations against hockey players at the University of Ottawa, hateful social media comments posted online by Dalhousie dentistry students and a frosh week chant by Saint Mary’s University students that glorified non-consensual sex with minors.
The media spotlight on these incidents has spurred some colleges and universities to review their policies on sexual assault. Last month, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne unveiled a $41 million plan to combat sexual violence that will require all Ontario post-secondary institutions to develop a sexual assault policy that details complaint procedures, the institution’s response and ways to prevent sexual assaults.
METRAC spokesperson Andrea Gunraj echoes Gray’s argument that a sexual assault policy must clearly specify what resources are available to help survivors and what formal procedures will kick in once a complaint has been made. Gunraj worries that in the rush to create policies, universities may not take the time to listen to those most vulnerable to sexual assault – female and transgendered students.
“We’re waiting to see if this big flurry of policy development will lead to better evaluation processes where survivors of sexual assault have a voice,” Gunraj says.
York University would not confirm if the accused has been allowed back on campus. The school has indicated that it will consider Gray’s open letter to the president in its ongoing review of current practices.
Gray, meanwhile, has taken a leave absence from her classes and her duties as a TA, saying the ordeal has “taken over” her life. She is unsure if she can continue her studies.
Executives at CUPE 3903 did not respond to requests for comment. Toronto police confirm that Mustafa Ururyar has been charged with one count of sexual assault.
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