LONDON, ONT -- Newly released data from a province wide student survey on sexual harassment and sexual assault is sounding the alarm across campuses in Ontario.
"There is a real problem across our campuses, and we need to see investments from our universities, from our colleges and from the province of Ontario in order to better support our students, and prevent these egregious acts before they are happening," says Catherine Dunne, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.
More than 160,000 postsecondary students participated in the 2018 “student voices on sexual violence survey."
The data was collected to show the range of sexual violence that students are experiencing.
Twenty-three per cent of university students reported a non-consensual sexual experience, and 63 per cent reported experiencing sexual harassment one or more times.
The information will be used to continue to improve initiatives, policies and research in an ongoing effort to prevent and respond to sexual violence.
"We really think that Western is headed in the right direction, however, this data really does confirm that we started in such an abysmal place, that we have a long journey ahead of us,” said Dunne.
