Statement From Management
Transport Driver Training Inc has respect for all individuals, civility, diversity, dignity, equality, and freedom. Our College is committed to maintaining a healthy and safe learning, living, social, recreational and working environment. We are committed to maintaining a campus free of discrimination and harassment. We strive to foster an atmosphere of healthy attitudes and behaviours towards sexuality, sex and gender roles. The College will not tolerate behaviour that contributes to a hostile and inequitable learning and working environment. We take seriously our commitment to supporting those who experience sexual violence, and we work diligently on campus and with community partners on programs, policies and resources to ensure that our campus remains free from sexual violence.
We urge all members of the College community to review the Policy and Protocol to learn about options and resources available to those who require support or who wish to support others. Please help to ensure that the College remains a safe and positive space where members of the College community feel able to work, learn and express themselves in a safe environment that upholds human equality.
This Policy applies to all members of the College community including: all employees, students, contractors, suppliers of services, individuals who are directly connected to any College initiatives, volunteers, and visitors.
1. Definitions
Sexual Assault: A criminal offence under the Criminal Code of Canada. Sexual assault is any type of unwanted sexual act done by one person to another that violates the sexual integrity of the victim and involves a range of behaviours from any unwanted touching to penetration. Sexual assault is characterized by a broad range of behaviours that involve the use of force, threats, or control towards a person, which makes that person feel uncomfortable, distressed, frightened, threatened, or that is carried out in circumstances in which the person has not freely agreed, consented to, or is incapable of consenting to.
Sexual Violence: A broad term that describes any violence, physical or psychological, carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality. This violence takes different forms including sexual abuse and sexual assault.
Consent: The voluntary and explicit agreement to engage in the sexual activity in question. It is the act of willingly agreeing to engage in specific sexual behaviour, and requires that a person is able to freely choose between two options: yes and no. This means that there must be an understandable exchange of affirmative words, which indicates a willingness to participate in mutually agreed upon sexual activity. It is also imperative that everyone understands the following:
· Silence or non-communication must never be interpreted as consent and a person in a state of diminished judgment cannot consent.
· A person is incapable of giving consent if they are asleep, unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate.
· A person who has been threatened or coerced (i.e. is not agreeing voluntarily) into engaging in the sexual activity is not consenting to it.
· A person who is drugged is unable to consent.
· A person is usually unable to give consent when under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
· A person may be unable to give consent if they have a mental disability preventing them from fully understanding the sexual acts.
· The fact that consent was given in the past to a sexual or dating relationship does not mean that consent is deemed to exist for all future sexual activity.
· A person can withdraw consent at any time during the course of a sexual encounter. Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Policy and Protocol Template March 2015 4
· A person is incapable of giving consent to a person in a position of trust, power or authority, such as, a faculty member initiating a relationship with a student who they teach, an administrator in a relationship with anyone who reports to that position.
· Consent cannot be given on behalf of another person.
It is the responsibility of the initiator of sexual activity to ensure clear and affirmative responses are communicated at all stages of sexual engagement. It is also the initiator’s responsibility to know if the person they are engaging with sexually is a minor.
2. Purpose and Intent of the Policy
All members of the Transport Driver Training Inc community have a right to a work and study in an environment that is free from any form of sexual violence. This document sets out our policy and response protocol to sexual violence and ensures that those who experience sexual violence are believed and their rights respected, that the College has a process of investigation that protects the rights of individuals and holds individuals who have committed an act of sexual violence accountable.
3. Policy Statement
Sexual assault and sexual violence are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We are committed to challenging and preventing sexual violence and creating a safe space for anyone in our college community who has experienced sexual violence. The College is expected to be a safe and positive space where members of the College community feel able to work, learn and express themselves in an environment free from sexual violence. All reported incidents of sexual violence will be investigated to the best of the administration’s ability and in a manner that ensures due process. It is this policy’s intention to make
individuals feel comfortable about making a report in good faith about sexual violence that they have experienced or witnessed. We recognize that sexual violence can occur between individuals regardless of sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity or relationship status as articulated in the Ontario Human Rights Code. We also recognize that individuals who have experienced sexual violence may experience emotional, academic, or other difficulties. The College will appropriately accommodate the needs of students who are affected by sexual violence. A student is not required to report an incident or make a complaint about sexual violence to obtain the supports and services, or accommodations referred to in this document.
3.1. assisting those who have experienced sexual violence by providing choices, including detailed information and support, such as referral to counselling and medical care, information about legal options, and appropriate academic and other accommodation.
3.2. ensuring that those who disclose that they have been sexually assaulted are believed, and that their right to dignity and respect is protected throughout the process of disclosure, investigation, and institutional response.
3.3. addressing harmful attitudes and behaviours (e.g., adhering to myths of sexual violence) that reinforce that the person who experienced sexual violence is somehow to blame for what happened.
3.4. treating individuals who disclose sexual violence with compassion recognizing that they are the final decision-makers about their own best interests.
3.5. ensuring that on-campus (internal) investigation procedures are available in the case of sexual violence, even when the individual chooses not to make a report to the police.
3.6. engaging in appropriate procedures for investigation and adjudication of a complaint which are in accordance with college policies, standards and applicable collective agreements, and that ensure fairness and due process.
3.7. ensuring coordination and communication among the various departments who are most likely to be involved in the response to sexual violence on campus.
3.8. providing information to the College community about our sexual violence policies and protocols.
3.9. contributing to the creation of a campus atmosphere in which sexual violence is not tolerated; and
3.10. monitoring and updating our policies and protocols to ensure that they remain effective and in line with other existing policies and best practices.
4. Reporting and Responding to Sexual Violence
4.1. Members of the College community should immediately report sexual violence incidents they witness or have knowledge of, or where they have reason to believe that sexual violence has occurred or may occur. Members who have experienced sexual violence are encouraged to come forward to report as soon as they are able to do so.
4.2. Persons in a position of authority, including persons directing the activities of others, shall take immediate action to respond to or to prevent sexual violence from occurring.
4.3. Where the College becomes aware of incidents of sexual violence by a member of the College community or against a member of the College community, which occur on or off College property and that pose a risk to the safety of members of the College community, the College shall take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the College community.
Complaint Process and Investigations
A complaint of sexual assault or any other kind of sexual violence can be filed under this Policy by any member of the College community.
The College will seek to achieve procedural fairness in dealing with all complaints. As such, no sanction and/or disciplinary action will be taken against a person or group without their knowledge where there is an alleged breach of this Policy. Respondents will be given reasonable notice, with full detail of the allegations and provided with an opportunity to answer to the allegations made against them.
5.1. Right to Withdraw a Complaint
A complainant has the right to withdraw a complaint at any stage of the process. However, the College may continue to act on the issue identified in the complaint in order to comply with its obligation under this Policy and/or its legal obligations.
5.2. Protection from Reprisals, Retaliation or Threats
It is contrary to this Policy for anyone to retaliate, engage in reprisals or threaten to retaliate against a complainant or other individual for:
· having pursued rights under this Policy or the Ontario Human Rights Code.
· having participated or co-operated in an investigation under this Policy or the Ontario Human Rights Code; or
· having been associated with someone who has pursued rights under this Policy or the Ontario Human Rights Code. Anyone engaged in such conduct may be subject to sanctions and/or discipline.
5.3. Unsubstantiated or Vexatious Complaints
If a person, in good faith, discloses or files a sexual violence complaint that is not supported by evidence gathered during an investigation, that complaint will be dismissed. Disclosures or complaints that are found following investigation to be frivolous, vexatious or bad faith complaints, that is, made to purposely annoy, embarrass or harm the respondent, may result in sanctions and/or discipline against the complainant.
6. Confidentiality
Confidentiality is particularly important to those who have disclosed sexual violence. The confidentiality of all persons involved in a report of sexual violence must be strictly observed, and the College does its best to respect the confidentiality of all persons, including the complainant, respondent, and witnesses.
However, confidentiality cannot be assured in the following circumstances:
· an individual is at imminent risk of self-harm.
· an individual is at imminent risk of harming another; and/or
· there are reasonable grounds to believe that others in the College or wider community may be at risk of harm.
In such circumstances, information would only be shared with necessary services to prevent harm, and the name of the survivor would not be released to the public.
Where the College becomes aware of an allegation of sexual violence by a member of the College community against another member of the College community, the College may also have an obligation to take steps to ensure that the matter is dealt with in order to comply with the College’s legal obligation and/or its policies to investigate such allegations. In such cases, certain College administrators will be informed about the reported incident on a “need to know” and confidential basis, but not necessarily of the identities of the persons involved.
Transport Driver Training Inc.
277 Manitou Drive, Unit F Kitchener, Ontario N2C 1L4, Canada
Office: 519-745-9991 Direct: 226-218-8133
Transport Driver Training Inc is registered as a Ontario Career College under the Ontario Career Colleges Act 2005