Last June, the Expert Panel on the Education and Prevention of Sexual Violence, chaired by Professor Gretchen Kerr, submitted its principles to us. This document was intended to guide the planning and implementation of coordinated, evidence-based education and training initiatives about sexual violence and sexual harassment. Following the Expert Panel’s recommendations, the University has launched an online education and prevention training module that is available to all students, staff, and faculty members through the Portal.

Created by a working group co-chaired by Professor Kerr and Terry McQuaid, Executive Director, Sexual Violence Prevention and Support, this foundational training module is designed to develop skills that will help members of the University community:

• Recognize sexual violence, including sexual harassment, as it is defined in the University’s Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment;
• Identify ways in which sexual violence affects the University community;
• Understand the difference between disclosing and reporting an incident of sexual violence as defined in the Policy;
• Respond supportively to a disclosure of sexual violence; and
• Refer someone to the services of the University’s tri-campus Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre.

The training module was improved through considerable feedback from student, staff, and faculty groups during consultation. Our appreciation goes out to those who engaged with the consultation process.

Provincial legislation mandates that the University make this type of training available to all members of our community. Completion of this training module is therefore strongly encouraged for all students, staff, and faculty, and constitutes an important step toward creating a campus environment in which all members of the University community can study, work, and live free from sexual violence. Instructions on how to access the module can be found on the Office of the Vice-President & Provost’s website or at UofT.me/SVEPtraining.

Additional online sexual violence education and prevention training modules dealing with subject-specific and/or role-specific information will be made available in the coming months.

We welcome any questions or comments you might have at provost@utoronto.ca.