Protect the young, not their predators

Stories of sexual assaults in schools have followed and resembled each other for some time. But worse than the stories we tell are the far more numerous ones that we don’t tell.

For a scandal that finds its way into the media, how many hidden stories? How many predators who just change schools like priests used to change parishes? How many cases where “everyone knew”, but “nobody did anything”? How many young lives broken?

For more than five years now, the collective The voice of young people counts has been calling on the government to act to better protect students from preschool to secondary school against sexual violence. For more than five years he has felt, despite promises, that his voice doesn’t really count. When we ask for a framework law and we answer you by setting up a voicemail, there is reason to believe that it is unfortunately not just an impression¹.

With the transpartisan bill just tabled by solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal, with the support of her Liberal colleague Marwah Rizqy and the PQ spokesperson Méganne Perry Mélançon, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, has a good opportunity to honor the promise made to these young people in the wake of #metoo by elected officials – including by the former Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge.

Remember that on March 9, 2021, Catherine Fournier, at the time Member of Parliament for Marie-Victorin, had a motion unanimously adopted by the National Assembly so that the voice of young people be heard and that Quebec adopt a law to fight against sexual violence in primary and secondary schools as is the case in CEGEPs and universities.

The motion pointed out that Jean-François Roberge himself had reiterated several times during the study of the framework bill for post-secondary institutions, which had been proposed by Liberal Minister Hélène David in 2017, the importance of provide an equivalent law for primary and secondary schools.

In October 2021, the solidarity deputy Christine Labrie, accompanied by members of the collective The voice of young people count, tabled a first draft framework law to fight against sexual violence in schools. The project died on the order paper when the elections were called. But it is very bad to know the young people of the collective to think that their tenacity was going to die at the same time.

So here they are back for a second round as Bill 397 has just been tabled.

Ruba Ghazal was more than impressed by the seriousness and determination of the collective, made up mainly of young racialized women, who have been relentlessly hounding the government since 2017. They write briefs and recommendations, multiply testimonies and open letters, convene press briefings, confront elected officials with their contradictions. “They are amazing. »

Bill 397, inspired by their courage, aims to make it mandatory to adopt a policy to prevent and combat sexual violence from preschool to high school. In particular, it would make it possible to clarify the complaint process, but also to put in place means of prevention, awareness and support.

It is of course illusory to think that a law would settle everything with a wave of a magic wand. But it is an important step.

The law alone cannot change a culture of silence and impunity. But it can create favorable conditions for a new culture to emerge, says Suzanne Zaccour, head of feminist legal reform at the National Association of Women and Law.

“Prevention is really the most important and interesting element of this framework law”, believes the lawyer, author of The factory of rape (Leméac), who is doing a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford.

Suzanne Zaccour herself was called upon to offer training to CEGEP students in the wake of the framework law aimed at post-secondary institutions. After the sessions, he sometimes receives testimonials from young people who confide in him that they have realized by listening to him that they have experienced a sexual assault or that they have committed sexual assaults. “When someone in CEGEP says that, it’s too late! »

Beyond this framework law, to fight effectively against sexual violence and prevent predators from changing schools and making new victims, it will also be necessary to modify the law so that the amnesty clauses contained in collective agreements do not can no longer help erase offenses of a sexual nature from staff disciplinary records.

Pressed by the liberal and solidarity opposition to legislate in this direction, the Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, has shown herself open to the idea, although she currently favors the path of negotiation. MP Marwah Rizqy made the same request to Minister Bernard Drainville.

If we want to protect young people and not predators, it is high time that the clauses making it possible to erase with impunity what is never erased in the life of a victim are abolished.