On January 15, U of T announced the launch of its review of its Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment. This process will take place throughout 2025, following the 2021–2022 review of the policy.
The Prevention, Empowerment, Advocacy, Response, for Survivors Project (PEARS) Project — a grassroots, trauma-informed coalition that provides support and resources to survivors of sexual violence across U of T — has advocated for changes to U of T’s Sexual Violence Policy. The Varsity spoke with some of its members about the upcoming review.
History of the policy
U of T’s sexual violence policy outlines the university’s principles for the prevention of sexual violence incidents and its responses to cases of sexual violence and harassment for members of the university community.
The policy emerged in 2017 after Ontario introduced Bill 132, Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act in 2016 — requiring postsecondary institutions to develop their own sexual violence policy. The act also mandates that all postsecondary institutions review their policies every three years and make necessary amendments.
In 2022, the university completed its most recent review of the policy, for which U of T hosted tri-campus open and closed consultation sessions with students, staff, faculty, and librarians. Based on the collected feedback, U of T put forward 13 recommendations for the policy, which were then later modified into 12.
Most recommendations focused on improving the university’s existing services offered at the U of T Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre. Other recommendations included improving data collection on sexual violence and harassment incidents, creating an education program on healthy boundaries, communication, and consent for students, and addressing power imbalances in faculty-student relationships.
However, PEARS wrote in their analysis of the policy review that the university’s recommendations were vague and potentially harmful to survivors.
PEARS found the seventh recommendation particularly worrisome, which advised the university to establish formal support for respondents — individuals accused of sexual violence or harassment.
“While we do not want to diminish the significance of education for perpetrators in part of possible restorative justice practices, this is particularly alarming to see, as the university already fails to adequately support survivors, they are now working to support their abusers,” wrote PEARS in its analysis.
Despite the concerns, all 12 recommendations were accepted by the university in August 2022.
Since then, PEARS has continued to demand changes. In October 2022, the group organized a protest titled “Too Little Too Late” against U of T accepting the review recommendations. Ahead of the ongoing review, PEARS issued a letter to the university in November 2024, criticizing U of T’s 2022 review team and the lack of an external reviewer for the policy.
Direction of 2025 review
At the January 15 University Affairs Board meeting, Vice-Provost, Students Sandy Welsh informed the board about the launch of the review.
“The focus of the 2025 review will be to assess the impact of the changes to the Policy and related processes that were made in response to the 2022 review recommendations, and to identify any further opportunities to improve the Policy,” wrote Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young in his memo about the launch.
For this year’s review, U of T has hired Gillian Hnatiw as its external expert. Hnatiw is a Toronto-based lawyer and practitioner who runs a firm specializing in the areas of sexual assault, harassment, and violence.
Professor Faye Mishna will act as this review’s lead. Mishna is a professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and the Department of Psychiatry, and her research focuses on bullying, specifically, cyberbullying and sexting among youth.
Community consultations are set to take place between January and March of 2025. The consultations are open to all U of T community members, including students, staff, faculty members, and librarians. During the consultation period, there will be opportunities to provide feedback through open online and in-person discussion sessions, an anonymous online form, as well as emailing the review team directly.
Student concerns
Micah Kalisch — PEARS’ founder and co-director, pursuing a master’s in women and gender studies — expressed having ”very low expectations for [the university’s] review.”
“[U of T] have shown us time and time again [that] this is not a meaningful process or review, but rather a checkbox for something legislatively mandated,” wrote Kalisch to The Varsity.
In an email to The Varsity, Taylor Stetka — PEARS’ Policy Project Lead and third-year student studying international relations and German studies — wrote that “Gillian Hnatiw’s appointment is a step in the right direction, but does not fix the issue of the review being internally led and organized.”
Both PEARS executives questioned the university’s decision not to commit to a full external review.
Kalisch also expressed concern about the appointed lead: “We are unsure of Professor Faye Mishna’s involvement or knowledge of the policy.”
She claimed that Mishna did not speak out against the “violence” at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine (TFM) and that the university “need[s] someone who can speak out about injustice at UofT without fear of repercussion[s].” In September 2024, GradPEARS — the PEARS Project graduate student division — wrote an open letter to TFM on “numerous student reports of racism, queer and transphobia, ableism, and sexual harassment.”
Finally, Kalisch critiqued the university’s consultation process. “In their last session we attended[,] the reviewers were not well versed in the policy [and] students and survivors were having to copy and paste policy sections in the chat,” she recalled.
The PEARS’ founder added that to make the consultation process easier for students and survivors, U of T needs to have support available during feedback sessions as well as compensate students and survivors for the work.
In a statement to The Varsity, a U of T spokesperson referred to the review’s consultation website, which states, “The university invites members of the U of T community to review the policy and share their feedback through one or more of the following in-person and online feedback opportunities.”
It further states, “We are committed to a trauma-informed consultation and review process.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence or harassment at U of T:
- Visit safety.utoronto.ca for a list of safety resources.
- Visit svpscentre.utoronto.ca for information, contact details, and hours of operation for the tri-campus Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre. Centre staff can be reached by phone at 416-978-2266 or by email at [email protected].
- Call Campus Safety Special Constable Service to make a report at 416-978-2222 (for U of T St. George and U of T Scarborough) or 905-569-4333 (for U of T Mississauga)
- Call the Women’s College Hospital Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Care Centre at 416-323-6040
- Call the Scarborough Grace Sexual Assault Care Centre at 416-495-2555
- Call the Assaulted Women’s Helpline at 866-863-0511
Editor’s note (January 30, 3:57 pm): This story previously stated that Kalisch was referring to “TFM professor Robert Reisz’s violation of U of T’s Sexual Harassment Policy” for “rampant violence” at TFM. This is incorrect, however, as Professor Reisz is a professor at UTM. This story has been updated to reflect this and to mention GradPEARS’ open letter to TFM in light of student reports about “racism, queer and transphobia, ableism, and sexual harassment.”
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