(Montreal) Québec solidaire (QS) wants elementary and secondary schools to adopt a policy to prevent and combat sexual violence.
The training tabled on Thursday a framework bill to this effect in the National Assembly, said QS spokesperson for education, Christine Labrie.
“More than half of the victims of sexual offenses recorded by the police are minors,” Mr.me Labrie, at a press conference Sunday, in Montreal.
PHOTO YAN DOUBLET, ARCHIVES THE SUN
Solidarity MP, Christine Labrie
The obligation to establish a policy to counter sexual violence has existed since 2017 for CEGEPs and universities, following a wave of denunciations. QS now wants to extend this tool to all establishments, including the preschool level as well as vocational training or general training for adults.
Sexual violence also affects young people and even the very young. The forms of sexual violence that young people can experience are numerous: sexual abuse, intimate photos shared by classmates, violence linked to gender identity and sexual orientation.
Christine Labrie, QS Education Spokesperson
“Sometimes it happens at school, sometimes not, but one thing that is certain is that almost all of the minor victims attend school. This is why it is absolutely essential that all our schools be safer, that they become places where students can confide in and get help quickly, ”added the Member for Sherbrooke.
QS offers, among other things, the holding of awareness-raising activities, the training of all school personnel to intervene and support students who are experiencing a situation of violence, as well as the establishment of a clear process for filing a complaint. These types of measures work at the post-secondary level, noted Mme Labrie.
She was accompanied by two young women from the collective “La Voix des jeunes counts”, which has been mobilizing for several years to fight against sexual violence at school. According to Theryanne-Marie Félix and Kenza Chahidi, a large part of the population does not know what is really going on in schools with regard to sexual violence.
Theryanne-Marie Félix particularly deplores the lack of support for victims and witnesses.
“I have a friend of mine who has experienced some form of sexual violence. I was a witness and I had to accompany him. She was on a waiting list [pour voir une ressource] and there was no follow-up. We are supposed to be resourced to the right people, but we do not receive what we need ”, testified the student, who is in his last year of high school.
For Kenza Chahidi, education and awareness begin in elementary and secondary school, and not from CEGEP. “It’s not by magic that this will change. It is through the establishment of a protocol framed by a specific law, ”she argued.