October 18, 2017
Winnipeg, MB – The University of Manitoba Students’ Union (UMSU) is calling for a public commitment from the University of Manitoba Administration and the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA) to prioritize sexual violence prevention and proactive education efforts on the University of Manitoba’s campuses.
“We are doing our part by mandating students in leadership roles to take mandatory training, and we want to see the same commitment from staff and faculty,” says UMSU President Tanjit Nagra. “We want the university community – including faculty, staff and students – to take prevention measures seriously.”
Student safety is a top priority for UMSU, who — alongside student unions Canada-wide — recently signed on to the national ‘Our Turn’ campaign, which works to combat sexual violence on campuses and improve all relevant policies to ensure they are survivor-centred. In addition, UMSU has mandated 75% of elected leadership from student associations, councils, and groups to complete mandatory consent culture training before hosting any social events on campus. UMSU also has, and will continue to, run its own educational campaigns to inform students and promote prevention.
It is crucial that the entire university community – all students, staff, and faculty, including the Administration and UMFA – are active participants in promoting safer campuses and supporting education regarding sexual violence prevention. UMSU is already in discussions with the University to improve current policies, ensure appropriate resources exist for survivors, and prevent sexual violence on all University of Manitoba campuses.
“We want to ensure the university community knows that we are not taking recent events lightly,” adds Nagra. “We need to work together to make our campuses safe and respectful for all students.
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The University of Manitoba Students’ Union is the official representative of the over 25,000 undergraduate students at the University of Manitoba.
For media information, please contact:
Tanjit Nagra
President
University of Manitoba Students’ Union
Phone: 204-474-6519
Email: pres@umsu.ca
