To mark International Women's Day, the College of New Caledonia will be holding an event as a public launch to its sexual assault policy on Thursday morning.
The college will be kicking off what it calls the red phone project, which will see the college highlighting phones throughout the campus that connect directly with campus security. The college's sexual misconduct policy, which was approved by the board of governors on May 9, 2017, lays out the circumstances in which the college would undertake its own investigation of sexual misconduct against a student on campus. The policy also states the college would undertake an investigation of sexual assaults that take place off campus if the student were "acting in their capacity as a student of the College."
These investigations would be conducted concurrently with RCMP investigations, should they occur.
CNC was among the 25 public post-secondary institutions that have developed a sexual assault policy. The previous B.C. Liberal government mandated the creation of such policies by all public post-secondary institutions in 2016. CNC's policy was eight months in the making and included input from students, faculty and staff.
According to CNC officials, there have been no reported sexual assaults on campus in recent years.
"This policy is a proactive initiative at CNC," said Kim Swarts, CNC's acting executive director of human resources in a media statement.
"Though threats to personal safety have not been at issue at CNC, we want to ensure the culture at CNC remains one of mutual respect and safety."
Thursday's launch will feature a lunchtime talk by Lisa Evanoff of the Canadian Red Cross. Evanoff leads the CRC's national training program on violence and abuse prevention. She has been an advocate for children and youth for 24 years and has lead training sessions for youth throughout the country.
Thursday's event will take place on the Prince George CNC campus in Room 1-306 at noon.
