Bermuda Shorts Day (BSD) is an annual year end celebration at the U of C. We were happy to be able to participate by raising awareness through a poster campaign where we posted a large poster in a high traffic area that got the attention of the university student newspaper. We also had a lot of fun handing out 'goody bags' filled with some great finds including consent tips, candy, and our popular "As the cutie before you touch the booty" condoms! Students were happy to receive free 'CASE swag' from us as they celebrated the last day of class. We hope to make this an annual tradition – look out for us next year!
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Calling all CASE members! We would like to invite you to our AGM next Monday, March 24! Here we will be discussing constitutional changes, reflecting on this past year, planning for the next year, and discussing new executive team openings! If you would like to stay involved with CASE next year as a team leader or executive team member, we highly encourage you to attend. RSVP to the Facebook Event by clicking here. 2014/2015 CASE Position Openings:
APPLICATION FORM:
We had a very busy week with Consent is a Conversation during the University of Calgary's "Sex Week" put on by the Wellness Centre, the Q-Centre, and the Students' Union. We were able to put on a couple of events including a kick-off event and a discussion night. We were able to feature some spoken-word artists along with submitted art pieces expressing consent. We are very glad to see that our message resonates with many students on campus! We held our second Meet 'N Greet of the year to start off the Winter semester at the University of Calgary. We had a great turnout with many students interested in hearing our semester reports and wanting to know what is in store for the upcoming months. Thank you to everyone that came out, and we hope to see you at future events!
Our president, Ellen Bolger, along with VP External Emily Leedham were interviewed by U of C newspaper, The Gauntlet, over the sexual assault incident on January 10th at the U of C. Thank you to The Gauntlet for giving considering us as a voice in this situation. Read it here. We also responded to the campus security report, see below. We are very saddened, disappointed, and frustrated by the Campus Security Alert sent out to the U of C community on Friday, January 10th regarding a report of sexual assault. We are saddened in solidarity to the victim for obvious reasons, and we hope that she is receiving all of the love and care needed to recover from such a situation. We are disappointed at the perpetrator for many, many reasons but most importantly, for taking advantage of an individual in a vulnerable position by completely disrespecting her physical autonomy. And finally, we are frustrated at the nature of the alert itself as a victim-focused prevention tool. We reiterate, it is not the responsibility of potential victims to be on the lookout. It is absolutely the responsibility of potential perpetrators to respect the autonomy of all, no matter the circumstances. The alert hints that potential victims should take precautions for their own safety, rather than emphasizing for perpetrators to take full responsibility.
Moreover, the email describing the perpetrator is not specific at all, which makes it virtually impossible for potential victims to take safety precautions. This is not said to blame Campus Security, as we realize the circumstances may have limited them to this ambiguity, but we point this out to emphasize how ineffective victim-focused prevention really is. Our sole existence is based on this premise, therefore we insist on moving towards perpetrator-focused prevention by educating the campus community to engage in encounters and relationships only when they are consensual. By an anonymous CASE member We are absolutely thrilled with the turn out of supporters for CASE's first event! This past October 29th, we proudly presented a screening of the independent documentary My Feminism followed by a panel of leading Calgary feminists; Dr. Adrienne Kertzer, advisor to the President on Women's Issues at the University of Calgary; Dr. Nancy Janovicek, Department of History at the U of C; Mr. Joe Campbell, Sexual Assault Educator with Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA); Dr. Susan Francheschet, Department of Political Science at the U of C; and Dr. Sullivan, Director for the Institute of Gender Research at the U of C. CASE is very grateful to have been joined by such a wide panel of distinguished speakers. Although there was unfortunately no time for a question and answer period, the attentive audience was wholly engaged with each speaker's brief but insightful remarks in reacting to the film and providing us with their expertise on rape law reform, the role of men in ending gender-based violence, the importance of feminist-organizing, and the necessary steps of re-framing sexual violence. Each speaker took their turn in discussing issues faced by women today, providing a framework of previous and significant successes of feminists and laying the groundwork for the work that still has to be done in order to reach the ultimate goal of ending gender-based violence. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, grassroots feminism groups created safe spaces for discussing each woman's experiences with sexual violence. Feminists organizing in civil society has been a key player in pressuring government to enact rape law reforms and to promote a public policy that is all encompassing and acountable. In discussing the role of men, one speaker emphasized the distinction between labelling rape culture as "learned" and "taught" behaviours. When it is recognized that the behaviour is "taught," it indicates that the behaviours are coming from a leaders, so it is our responsibility to critically re-evaluate the way that we are enculturating our young boys and girls. Perhaps most memorable, one speaker challenged all those in the room by asking each attendee to reflect upon what was their solution to erasing the stigma attached to the word "feminism."
Thank you to all those that attended and we hope to see you at our future events next semester! The Facebook Group “MRU Confessions” has created 1000 condoms with the slogan “Anonymously Get Inside” and is creating a disturbance around the Mount Royal University campus. After receiving criticism from faculty members and students, Admins from the group have been very defensive and argue that everyone is “taking a joke too seriously”. While it appears that the creators of the slogan did not have bad intentions when they chose their wording - the message can be seen to support attitudes and practices which normalize, excuse, tolerate, and even condone sexual assault.
While the slogan may have seemed appropriate to the group of Admins, they should have considered the ways it could be perceived by a wider audience. And while some argue that consent-focused slogans are less catchy, we would challenge them to look at the work we are doing at CASE, because we feel it is entirely possible to be catchy AND promote asking for consent. At its best, “Anonymously Get Inside” could be good for a very specific niche - consenting individuals who want to have anonymous sex - however, it would have to involve the positive, voluntary consent of all involved. At its worst, “Anonymously Get Inside” promotes forcing sex on someone without their permission. Anonymity is something which could be preferred by someone committing sexual assault - and the entire slogan seems to suggest that sex is something you do TO someone, instead of WITH someone. Additionally, the “get inside” aspect of the slogan seems to be speaking only to men, which ignores the experiences of women, as with as other individuals along the sexual orientation and gender spectrums. If the slogans on these condoms offend you, please make your opinion known by submitting to the MRU Confessions page and/or complaining to officials at Mount Royal University. To MRU Confessions: now is a really great time to admit you made a mistake and stop distributing the condoms. Making mistakes is completely fine so long as you apologize and learn from them. Please be a Good Guy Greg, because if you continue as you are, you will be a Scumbag Steve. Join CASE this Tuesday, October 29th, 2013 for a free film screening of the documentary My Feminism, a film by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert. This independent film features interviews with prominent leaders in second wave Feminism including Gloria Steinem, Urvashi Vaid, and bell hooks. The film discusses violence against women, birth control, among other issues. Following the screening, we will host a panel discussion and Q&A session with University of Calgary professors addressing violence against women in Canada.
RSVP on Facebook here. |
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