Quebec Solidaire proposes plan to fight sexual violence in schools

Quebec Solidaire (QS) is proposing new legislation with the aim to prevent and fight against sexual violence in schools.

While a framework prevention law has existed for CEGEPs and universities since 2017, primary and secondary schools had been left out.

Quebec Solidaire held a news conference Sunday to outline their plan, which has garnered support from the Quebec Liberal Party and the Parti Quebecois. The bill was first presented Thursday by QS MNA Ruba Ghazal, following a request from La voix des jeunes compte, a collective of young people with a mandate to fight sexual violence in schools.

Bill 397 calls for the adoption of a policy to prevent and combat sexual violence in all institutions, from preschool to high school, including vocational training and adult education centers.

The policy, as described, must include prevention and awareness measures, mandatory annual trainings for management and staff, and a detailed complaint process, among other things.

The presence of sexual violence services or a sexual violence contact person would also be required in all schools.

Advocacy groups have been calling for framework legislation for five years.

'TAKE TWO'

This is the second time Quebec Solidaire has tried to pass a bill to prevent and combat sexual violence in education. The previous one, introduced in October 2021 by MNA Christine Labrie, ran out of runway when the election was called and the docket was wiped.

“This bill is ‘take two’,” said Official Opposition critic for Education and Liberal MNA for Saint-Laurent, Marwah Rizqy.

“It is the second time it’s being tabled the second time we’re supporting it, my political party, because we must go even further,” she added.

Rizqy recalled that her former Liberal colleague, Hélène David, had tabled a similar framework for CEGEPs and universities in 2017, when she was Minister responsible for Higher Education. “It works,” she said.

“The justice system is at its breaking point right now," said Melanie Lemay, cofounder of the Québec contre les violences sexuelle group. “It's not true that a judge can tell a school principal how to act, the same goes for the police.”

She added that the education minister, CAQ MNA Bernard Drainville, needs to work with the opposition to “participate in a change of culture.”

“There is often an assumption that if young people are sexually abused, adults will intervene. That's not true,” she said. “There have been a lot of cases of violence coming from school staff.”

Young women attend a news conference hosted by Ruba Ghazal, Quebec Solidaire Education spokesperson in Montreal, Sunday, April 30, 2023, where Ghazal spoke about the bill she tabled at the National Assembly concerning sexual violence in schools. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

A ‘BLIND SPOT’

Quebec solidaire spokesperson Manon Massé says her party is trying to correct a “blind spot.” She says that, as early as 2017, when the law to fight against sexual violence in post-secondary institutions was adopted, “there was a big piece missing.”

“We know that more than half of victims of sexual offences recorded by the police are minors, it doesn't make sense that we don't have any framework law to protect young people in primary and secondary school,” she said.

As for the Parti Québécois, spokesperson Méganne Perry-Mélançon said the bill is an “important step in the process that La voix des jeunes compte started five years ago'.

In a statement emailed to The Canadian Press, the office of the Minister of Education says it is very sensitive to the issues of sexual violence in schools.

“La voix des jeunes compte was heard during special consultations in 2022 on the (Quebec) National Student Protection bill, which includes a comprehensive section on sexual violence," the office said.

It adds that the law was adopted last June and that a section provides for “mandatory training activities for management and staff members, as well as safety measures to counter sexual violence”— which will come into force on Sept. 15. 

-- This report was first published by The Canadian Press in French on Sunday, April 30, 2023