Much more work needs to be done to combat sexual violence, panelists insist

Martina Saunders was an adolescent when she became a victim of sexual violence. It took her decades to begin to heal.

That long healing process is the reason the now-46-year-old University of Winnipeg student came out to a panel discussion Wednesday night on gender based violence at her school.

"I've gone through different healing journeys," said Saunders. "It's helped me to come to terms with what I went through and I'm still learning about it."

About 50 men and women turned out for the panel to share stories and raise awareness of gender-based sexual violence, on and off campus.

The event, titled Take Note, was organized by the U of W Students' Association and brought together panelists Dr. Karen Busby, a University of Manitoba law professor; NDP MLA Bernadette Smith; Not My Stella's representative Christina Hajjar and Megan Linton from Sexuality and Disability Manitoba to talk about gender-based sexual violence. 

"It's always a good time to have those conversations, said UWSA vice-president Jade DeFehr. 

DeFehr said there are incidents of sexual assault and harassment that occur every year but not all of them get reported. The students' association hopes by raising awareness of the issues and having open discussions, victims will feel supported.

"One thing that really stayed with me is just the importance of listening to people when they disclose something that they've gone through of that nature," said DeFehr. "Not being too quick to interject your own opinion or to push someone in one way or another in terms of how they hope to move forward."

'Just the beginning'

"I think right now we're in a really important time, where we're beginning our conversations on gender-based violence," said Linton, who represented Sexuality and Disability Manitoba and is national disability justice commissioner with the Canadian Federation of Students.

In the post-#metoo era, Linton said it's even more important to keep the conversation going.

"I think we think that the conversation is done but it's really just beginning and we're beginning to unravel our impacts," she said.

Linton said for years women have had to shoulder the issue and fight for change but that needs to change.

"It's not my problem. It's our problem and we need to be working together," she said.

"We've really put the ownership on women and trans folks to be able to be holding that narrative. But I think in the end, really, it also has to be a shared experience and men need to be doing work because we're tired."

North needs more resources

Saunders, who is originally from York Factory First Nation, was particularly interested in hearing about what resources are available for victims in Winnipeg.  

"In the south here, there are a lot of resources. If you're in the north then the resources are not as large … and I just wanted to get a better understanding of what that looks like in the south as opposed to the north."

One of the things that struck Saunders during the panel discussion was when Hajjar, one of the founders of the Not My Stella's movement, talked about how she and other former employees successfully pressured the owners of Stella's Café and Bakery to fire of one of the company's top executives, who was alleged to have been inappropriate with female staff.

"When I think about sexual violence in the north we don't have those resources, we don't have that privilege to say, 'You know what, this is what we need and you need to get it now,'" said Saunders.

She wants to see more resources devoted to remote communities so that victims of sexual violence have places to turn.