scholarly journals Speaking Freely and Freedom of Speech: Why is Black Feminist Thought Left Out of Ontario University Sexual Violence Policies?

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Lindsay Ostridge
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Black Feminist Thought ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
University Culture ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Feminist Thought ◽  
Treat All ◽  
The University ◽  
Sexual Assault Policy

As of January 1, 2017, the Province of Ontario has required all post-secondary institutions to create and maintain a stand-alone sexual assault policy that includes clearly stated complaint and response procedures. This paper brings to bear the influence of Black feminist thought as an analytic tool and politic on the outcomes and omissions of the development of these policies. Analyzing the stand-alone sexual violence policy of the University of Ottawa as a case study, the author conducted a critical discourse analysis with an intersectional lens to determine if intersectionality influenced the policy creation. Findings reveal that policymakers conceptualize gender in a one-dimensional manner, without attention to intersections of sexualized violence with racism and other systems of oppression. A policy with an ill-defined focus on gender can result in a colorblind policy that suggests that the institution should treat all students the same, regardless of systemic disadvantages they might face on the basis of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or ability. This avoidance can create barriers to reporting. Neoliberalism and the changing university culture are discussed.

Issued by Way of “The Issue of Blackness”

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-444
Author(s):  
Joshua Aiken ◽  
Jessica Marion Modi ◽  
Olivia R. Polk
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Black Feminism ◽  
Black Feminist Thought ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Feminist Thought ◽  
Trans Studies ◽  
The University

Abstract In 2017, TSQ published its special issue on the convergence of blackness and trans*ness, “The Issue of Blackness.” In their introduction, “We Got Issues,” editors Treva Ellison, Kai M. Green, Matt Richardson, and C. Riley Snorton offer a vision of a black trans* studies that acknowledges twentieth-century black feminist thought as its primary genealogy. For Ellison et al., the move to make black feminism the intellectual center of black trans* studies not only resists black women's persistent erasure from institutional narratives of knowledge making but also opens the contributions of trans* studies onto new fields of possibility for thinking and feeling embodiment, sociality, and memory otherwise. Aiken, Modi, and Polk build on Ellison et al.’s vision for a black trans* studies by bringing the concerns of “The Issue of Blackness” into conversation with recent black feminist critiques of disciplinarity and representation to imagine again how a black trans* studies rooted in black feminism might take shape in the university today.

IntroductIon: Plenary on Black Feminist Thought

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Tempest M. Henning ◽  
Scott Aikin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Black Feminist Thought ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Feminist Thought

scholarly journals Where is it? Examining Post-Secondary Students' Accessibility to Policies and Resources on Sexual Violence

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Jacey Magnussen ◽  
Irene Shankar
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Sexual Assault Policy ◽  
Similar Legislation

Faced with a growing demand for adequate policies and programs that meaningfully address sexual violence on campus, the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba have introduced legislation requiring all post-secondary institutions to institute a sexual assault policy. The remaining provinces and territories do not have similar legislation. In absence of such legislation, using the case study of Alberta, we examined how equipped post-secondary institutions in this province are to assist students in need. Utilizing publicly available data we examined: 1) whether Alberta’s post-secondary institutions have a sexual violence policy which is readily and easily accessible to the student; and 2) the ease with which students can access university resources and support services for sexual violence. The results indicate that most institutions do not have an accessible policy and support services for students in need. We are hopeful that this study can inform those designing and advocating for sexual violence policies on campus to institute measures to clarify institutions’ sexual violence policies, increase accessibility to those policies, create policies where they are missing, and work on clarifying the availability of resources for students on and off campus.

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