The Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills (PSFS) has drafted a Sexualized Violence Action Plan to respond to and prevent sexualized violence at post-secondary institutions. The Action Plan will also support other gender-based violence priorities and initiatives across the provincial government. Sexualized violence can affect anyone. Still, students identifying as First Nations, Métis or Inuit, Black and/or a person of colour, students with disabilities, 2SLGBTQQIA+ students, rural/remote/northern students, and international students are disproportionately impacted. This Action Plan focuses on the interrelated causes and effects of sexualized violence, within the context of the post-secondary sector. 

The Action Plan is intended to support the prevention of and response to sexualized violence within post-secondary communities in British Columbia. Through this Action Plan, PSFS will identify and bridge gaps, build on promising practices, and create opportunities for coordination and collaboration within and across post-secondary communities. The Action Plan requires engagement with students and post-secondary sector partners to solicit feedback and validate the draft Action Plan. The Sexualized Violence Action Plan intends to support the delivery of services to the post-secondary sector, provide support for survivors and communities, and provide education and prevention measures necessary to prevent and respond to sexualized violence within post-secondary communities.

The Action Plan required engagement with students and post-secondary sector partners to solicit feedback and validate the draft Action Plan. Between February and March 2024, Naqsmist conducted 10 virtual engagements, and reviewed 11 survey responses and two written responses, to seek feedback on the draft Sexualized Violence Action Plan. Using the Enowkinwixw decision-making process and Cultivating Safe Spaces Framework, Naqsmist sought to guide participants through grief and trauma and to learn from students and post-secondary partners. We set out protocols at the beginning of our discussions to honour one another’s voices in the space. This facilitation acknowledged that we all have different perspectives, experiences, and ways of doing things but that each voice is important.