The Youth Voices Count collective is growing impatient and demanding the adoption of a framework law against sexual violence in schools as quickly as possible. At a press conference in Montreal on Sunday, members of the group addressed the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, and the Prime Minister, François Legault, to denounce “government inaction in this area.”
Kenza Chahidi, member of the collective, explains that the delays in adopting such a law “contribute to perpetuating the culture of silence, give the possibility to the authors [d’actes violents] to carry out the act with complete impunity and deprive survivors of the support they deserve.” She officially asks to meet François Legault “to put a definitive end to this mess, because young people deserve better”.
“From preschool to university, we should have this framework law to ensure that our young people are protected in schools,” said the Liberal MP and spokesperson for the official opposition on education and of higher education, Marwah Rizqy, present at the event.
In December 2017, the National Assembly adopted Law 22.1, which requires higher education establishments to adopt a policy for managing complaints of sexual assault and to put in place prevention and awareness measures to counter sexual violence. However, this law does not apply to preschool, primary and secondary educational establishments.
In March 2023, with cases of sexual assault in schools making headlines, Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville launched a general investigation into the issue. The examination was to particularly examine the complaint processing processes, the administrative management of problematic behavior and the hiring processes of certain school service centers.
We do not understand the silence following the submission of the investigation report last September.
The investigation report was completed in July and made public in September. We learned that “the balance of power between the complainant and the accused person is unbalanced” and that there were shortcomings “related to the processing of complaints in the field, particularly for the support of victims during the process”.
“We do not understand the silence following the submission of the investigation report last September,” laments Kenza Chahidi. “Because launching investigations and then doing nothing is wasting public funds, in addition to actively contributing to endangering the lives of young people. »
The limits of the National Student Ombudsman
Minister Drainville created a telephone line for reporting sexual misconduct at school in April 2023. At the end of August, the National Student Ombudsman took office to manage the mechanism for processing complaints and reports. in Quebec schools.
According to Méganne Perry Mélançon, spokesperson for the Parti Québécois, “Mr. Drainville really thinks that the National Student Ombudsman will resolve everything.” However, she explains that the latter “happens once the act has been committed”. “We have seen the statistics,” she said on the sidelines of the conference, “and young people are not necessarily going to file a complaint, especially in complex mechanisms like that and very little human-oriented. » Hence the importance of a framework law which, according to her, would make it possible to act upstream to prevent acts of sexual violence in schools.
Mme Perry Mélançon highlights the transpartisan work carried out on the issue with Mmy Ruba Ghazal, from Québec solidaire, and Marwah Rizqy, from the Liberal Party of Quebec. She also recognizes an openness on the part of Bernard Drainville. “All that’s missing is the last bit of willpower […] to take all the nice words and write them into a law. »
Minister Drainville’s office asserts that “it is false to say that the minister is sitting idly by.” “We are committed to following up on the report’s recommendations and we will do so,” indicates the minister’s press secretary, Florence Plourde.
“When the minister unveiled the investigation report, as he had committed to doing, he said he was not ruling out making legislative changes. This option is still on the table,” says Mme Plourde. However, she was not able to specify when the file would move forward. “As quickly as possible is always our goal,” she says.