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Overview
We gathered perspectives from post-secondary students and staff to assist Alberta’s publicly funded post-secondary education system in implementing new strategies to address gender-based violence on campus.
Student feedback provided valuable, Alberta-specific data to help institutions build on the significant progress they made to update gender-based violence policies and bring awareness to gender-based violence.
Enhancing campus safety and updating and strengthening gender-based violence policies on Alberta’s campuses is an important initiative under the Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs Strategy, as well as Building on Our Strengths: Alberta’s 10-Year Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence.
Input received
Post-secondary students were invited to complete a campus climate survey between January 30 and March 16, 2023, to share their attitudes and experiences with gender-based violence, as well as their awareness of resources and supports on campus.
The survey was developed by a working group representing Alberta’s publicly funded post-secondary institutions.
From 2023 to 2024, post-secondary staff and student leaders met with Alberta's government to discuss priorities in gender-based violence prevention, as well as sexual violence prevention.
Outcomes
Student and post-secondary institution feedback helped inform the following actions:
Funding
Alberta’s government invests more than $188 million annually in programs and services designed to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
$1.67 million of this funding has been dedicated to the post-secondary system, including First Nations Colleges, to support prevention, raise awareness about consent, and implement survivor-centric gender-based violence reporting on campuses. The funding is part of Alberta’s $54 million bilateral agreement with the federal government under the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
Consent Awareness Week
In September 2024, under the Special Days Act, Minister Sawhney declared the third week of September as Consent Awareness Week.
News
- Standing up to campus gender-based violence (February 21, 2023)