“More traumatic and humiliating than assault itself”: Exploring students’ perceptions of Dalhousie University’s management of sexual assault issues

Abstract

Sexual assault on university campuses remains a pervasive issue, with Dalhousie University being no exception. It has been argued that universities regularly fail their victims of sexual assault as they do not adequately manage sexual assault issues on their campuses. Few studies, however, identify the perceptions of students on these university campuses. A qualitative methodology of nine semi-structured interviews was employed to explore the perceptions of Dalhousie undergraduate students regarding Dalhousie’s management of sexual assault issues. This study shows that Dalhousie University, in the eyes of its students, does not adequately manage sexual assault issues on campus. Students speak to the persisting rape culture on campus, the lack of resources on campus and the multiple barriers to these resources that exist. This research sheds light on the consistent rates of poor management of sexual assault issues on university campuses nationwide, from the perspective of the students, some of whom are victims of these sexual assaults.