Ending sexual violence: Uncomfortable truths and reasons for hope

One year after sexual violence and harassment reached a groundswell of awareness with the #MeToo movement, the tougher questions remain: What are the causes of sexual violence? And how can we stop it?

These questions were the focus of a CAMH research symposium on September 24, called Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment: Current Research and Prevention. 

“Perhaps the title of this event is ambitious, but I believe there is a movement that is unstoppable,” said CAMH’s Dr. Samantha Wells, symposium chair and the main driver behind the idea and implementation of the symposium, when opening the event. “Survivors are demanding change. Many people are working to understand and end sexual violence.”

The takeaway from the event is research and community initiatives are making important strides in tackling sexual violence from many angles.

Uncovering underlying causes

Leading-edge research initiatives are giving a better understanding of sexual violence.

A public health problem: Keynote speaker Dr. Peter Donnelly of Public Health Ontario presented evidence that sexual violence is a public health priority and addressed head-on the uncomfortable truth borne out by statistics: “The problem we’re dealing with is men’s behaviours, and unless we deal with that, nothing will change,” he said. 

The role of alcohol: Dr. Antonia Abbey of Wayne State University is unraveling how alcohol factors into sexual violence. Alcohol is the most common substance linked with sexual violence, identified in victims and/or perpetrators in about half of incidents. “Is alcohol a cause? Is it used as an excuse? Is its role due to other shared causes, such as personality traits? It’s all of the above,” she said. “Alcohol can be one factor, but it tends to co-occur with other factors.”

Bars as high-risk venues: CAMH’s Dr. Kathryn Graham shows bars are high-risk spots for unwanted touching and persistent unwanted sexual advances, with more than 50 per cent of female bar-goers experiencing such advances on a single night out. However, bar staff rarely intervene. 

Young men’s attitudes: CAMH’s Dr. Wells is uncovering young men’s attitudes and beliefs about sexual harassment and aggression in bars. In focus groups, young men indicated that unwanted sexual advances, such as coming up to a woman from behind and grinding against her on the dance floor despite her efforts to push the man away, are normal bar behaviours. However, they viewed the same behaviours as sexual assault outside bars. 

Peer networks and bystander interventions: Dr. Kevin Swartout of Georgia State University is showing that, among male college students, peers can have a strong impact on other men’s attitudes about and perpetration of sexual violence. Dr. Sarah McMahon of Rutgers University is studying the effectiveness of programs that encourage bystanders to act when they witness sexual harassment and violence. “We need to create environments where the norm is to do something,” she said.

Preventing sexual violence

At the community level, several initiatives are aiming to stop sexual violence before it occurs.

Crowd-mapping safety: London is the first city in Ontario and the third in Canada to join the UN Women Safe Cities Initiative. Safe City London – led by AnnaLise Trudell of sexual assault centre ANOVA London – is using online crowd-mapping to learn where people feel safe or unsafe throughout the city. This knowledge will inform municipal prevention policies and interventions. 

Making bars and clubs safer: The Dandelion Initiative is providing training for bar and club owners, managers and staff. The not-for-profit organization by survivors for survivors, founded by Viktoria Belle, also offers help to victims.

Engaging men: I can MANifest change is a public awareness campaign and workshop series that engages men and boys in conversations about gender roles, power and how to be an ally. To get to the root of the problem, we must “first have the conversation about masculinity as domination versus masculinity as connection,” said Matt Schaaf of the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women.

Empowering women: Flip the Script aims to empower female university students with knowledge of risks, relationships and sexuality and self-defense skills. Developed by Dr. Charlene Senn, a Canada Research Chair in Sexual Violence at the University of Windsor, the program has shown significant effects in reducing women’s victimization.

Closing the symposium, CAMH’s Dr. Wells called on leaders to send a strong message that sexual violence must end. “Real change has to come from leadership at every level in our society.”