Local fraternities and sororities mandating sex assault prevention training
Posted Aug 30, 2018 08:26:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Fraternity and sorority members at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa are learning more about sexual consent.
Our Turn is leading workshops at schools across Canada. It's a student-led advocacy group dedicated to combating sexual violence on campuses.
President of Carleton University's Kappa Sigma Fraternity Troy Curtis told The Rick Gibbons Show on 1310 NEWS, his 61 members will go through a two hour training session, which talks about rape culture, specific incidents which have happened on University campuses, as well as how to be an active bystander.
“Even if you're not physically the one who is involved in a sexual assault kind of [incident],” explained Curtis, “it's still your responsibility to speak up and intervene in the situation to the best of your ability.”
Listen to the full conversation with Troy Curtis:
There are 10 fraternities between Carleton University and Ottawa.
Beyond the Our Turn training, Curtis said it's up to him and other older students to spread the right messages to those coming into their first years at the school.
His fraternity is working with a foot patrol program at Carleton, which makes sure anyone who needs a safe walk home within a few kilometres of the school's campus, gets there safely.
Curtis hopes ongoing conversations around sexual assault will lead to more positive change at the university — even mentioning that more could be done from a policy perspective to provide support for victims of sexual assault.
