When Students Disclose Sexual Violence: UWindsor Researcher Informs Critical Shift in School Response
Meenal Singh (left), graduate of the education program and Dr. Catherine Vanner (right) of the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor
While the vast majority do not formally report, 74 percent do speak with someone informally about their experience. For teachers who find themselves on the receiving end of these disclosures, knowing what to do can be daunting.
Dr. Catherine Vanner, an associate professor at the University of Windsor's Faculty of Education, is helping teachers learn how to respond to student disclosures in supportive and trauma-informed ways.
Vanner, whose research focuses on gender-based violence and education, says that while teachers receive mandatory training around their duty to report, they often do not know how to best support students who make a disclosure or how to manage their own well-being in the process.
Responding to disclosures is, Vanner says, "always difficult but so important that it be done with care."
To help teachers build this capacity, Vanner is participating in a panel to launch the new CARE Model Guide, created by Canadian social change consultancy Possibility Seeds, which provides teachers practical strategies to respond appropriately to student disclosures.
The guide encourages teachers to focus on listening to the student, being transparent about reporting requirements, referring to resources, and making time to look after themselves afterwards. It was created through the High School Too project, on which Vanner serves as an advisory board member.
High School Too emerged out of a series of student-led protests in 2022 against sexual violence and inadequate response by school boards and administrators in Canadian high schools. Led by consent educator and Possibility Seeds CEO Farrah Khan, Possibility Seeds received provincial funding to formalize High School Too to support educators and students in Ontario in responding to gender-based violence.
At the centre of the work remains a commitment to prioritizing student involvement and voice. To that end, Vanner is also co-leading a research project with Possibility Seeds in which high school students navigate school board policies around sexual violence to determine how accessible this information is.
“This movement entirely originated with the initiatives of high school students and continues to be driven by student agency and incorporating student voices,” Vanner says.
The CARE Model Guide will be available online following its online launch, Monday Oct. 5 at 12 p.m.
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About UWindsor
With a rich history dating back to 1857, the University of Windsor is a comprehensive, student-focused institution with more than 14,000 students enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs in the faculties of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Human Kinetics, Law, Nursing, Odette School of Business and Science. UWindsor’s mission is to empower positive change through regionally and globally engaged inquiry, learning, scholarship, creative activity and advance bold and impactful research.
Visit uwindsor.ca to learn more.
Contact for interview opportunities:
Dylan Kristy
Strategic Communications Manager, University of Windsor
dkristy@uwindsor.ca
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