S.E.R.S.A.

A club at the University of Toronto whose goal is to end rape culture through devictimization of individuals subjected to rape and sexual abuse. This site may post content which may act as a trauma trigger for some readers. SERSA does not endorse the views expressed by content posted on the site; SERSA wishes to present a variety of perspectives on rape and sexual abuse.

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Thank you to every one who came out to SERSA's first self-defense seminar last Thursday. 

SERSA is holding a second seminar this Thursday March 21 (4:30-6:30) in the Dance Studio with a continuation of last week's curriculum. Please email [email protected] to register your spot for the seminar as space is limited.

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Final details regarding SERSA's first self-defence event

When and where will the event be taking place?

The event will take place on March 14 between 4:30 and 6:30 pm in the Dance Studio in the RAWC.

Who is teaching the course?

Michael Hannon is teaching the course, assisted by Erica, Macius, and Mohammed.

What will be taught in the introductory session?

The course will include a discussion of attacker psychology and assertiveness, body position and physical presentation, prevention before physical contact, and areas of vulnerability and effective striking and kicking.

What should I wear/bring?

Please wear comfortable clothing which you can move freely in. Bringing a water bottle is also recommended. 

How much does the course cost to attend?

The course is currently FREE to every one, regardless if you are a UTM student or not. 

Can I bring my mom/sister/best friend/etc.?

Please feel free to invite any females to attend the course with you.

Will I receive a certificate for completing this course?

We are currently not offering certification through the completion of this course due to the diversity of the martial arts present throughout the course.

Will there be more events?

We are looking to hold two more events in the coming weeks for those who attend tonight’s session. If a large number of people attend tonight, such that we have to refuse people at the door, we will likely be offering additional introductory classes. 

While these classes are currently only offered to females, SERSA is looking to open classes to males in the future.

If you have any further questions, please contact [email protected]

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Meet your self-defense instructor: Michael Hannon

Personal

Michael Hannon is a fourth year student at UTM double majoring in Biological Anthropology and Professional Writing and Communication. In his spare time, Mike enjoys anything to do with the outdoors. Those who know Mike know he’s always seeking sporadic adventures. Mike likes discovering uncharted territory, even if it’s just a Timmies he’s never been to before (although he would much rather climb a mountain).

Mike is fascinated with gymnastics and tricking – an underground sport that mixes gymnastics, martial arts, and acrobatics. It blows Mike’s mind when people defy the laws of physics. Mike likes to consider himself open minded and, like most anthropologists by trade and nature, loves meeting new people. Mike believes it is only by meeting new people that we explore our own social, political, religious, and worldview philosophies to the maximum potential.

Martial Arts Background

Mike has been practicing Tae Kwon Do since age four and teaching since fifteen. Mike looks to capture a holistic approach to his martial arts training, so although he specialize in Tae Kwon Do, he trains in a variety of other styles. For Mike, the various forms of martial arts he practices provide more than just a workout or weekend sporting activity – they provide a lifestyle.

Mike truly hopes none of his students ever have to use the self defence techniques he teaches, but he takes great pride in preparing them if they ever have to.

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SERSA is holding a FREE self-defense lesson on March 14 (4:30-6:30) in the Dance Studio! The course will include a discussion of attacker psychology and assertiveness, body position and physical presentation, prevention before physical contact, and areas of vulnerability and effective striking and kicking. EMAIL [email protected] TO REGISTER (space is limited; women only).

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Have you been chosen?

The UTM Health & Counselling Center is currently conducting a survey of student health behaviours in order to provide better services and support for UTM students.   This survey, the National College Health Assessment (NCHA), is also being administered at 30+ colleges and universities across Canada and will allow us to develop a better picture of student health right here at UTM and across Canada.   4,500 UTM students have been sent an invitation to complete the survey, which takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. The invitations have been sent to your UToronto email account. Have you been chosen?   The survey is anonymous and the decision to, or not to, participate is completely up to you but we hope that you will choose to participate.  By participating you will be helping to create a healthier campus. The information collected will be used to help develop and improve health promotion programs and services.   By participating you will also be entered into a draw for one of ten $50 UofT bookstore gift certificates.   After the survey, a summary of the findings will be made available to all UTM students via the UTM Health & Counselling Centre webpage.   If you have additional questions or concerns you may contact Chad Jankowski, Acting Assistant Director for Health Promotion & Outreach for the UTM Health & Counselling Centre via email [email protected] or by phone at 905-569-4534.

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Thank you incredibly much to every one who stopped by SERSA's "A Pretty Penny Valentine's Day Bake Sale." We were able to raise $140 for charities  supporting rape and sexual abuse prevention and education! 

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All baked goods are a minimum $1.00 donation. All proceeds go to a selected charity.

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Dispelling myths about sexual assault

1.    . . . women often provoke sexual assault by their behaviour or manner of dress?

Fact:  No behaviour or manner of dress justifies an assault.  Such a belief takes the onus off the offender and places it on the survivor.  A man should always ask to ensure his advances are wanted. The idea that women “ask for it” is often used by offenders to rationalize their behaviour. Offenders are solely responsible for their own behaviour.

2.    . . . most women lie about sexual assault?

Fact: Sexual assault is actually one of the most under-reported crimes.  A Canadian statistic tells us that victimization surveys show that less than 10% of women who are sexually assaulted report the assault to the police; most women do not report due to humiliation or fear of re-victimization in the legal process.. (Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women, 2002, Assessing Violence Against Women: A Statistical Profile, p.19).

3.    . . . when a woman says “no” she secretly enjoys being forced, teased or coerced into having sex?

Fact:  No one enjoys being assaulted.   No one asks to be hurt.  “No” means “no”.  It’s the law. If a woman says no, it is the responsibility of the man to accept and respect her “no”.   Sexual assault can have serious effects on people’s health and well being.  People who have been sexually assaulted feel fear, depression and anger.  Survivors can experience harmful physical and emotional effects.

4.    . . . saying “no” is the only way of expressing your desire to not continue?

Fact:  Many offenders will rationalize their behavior by saying that because she didn’t actually say “no”, they thought she was consenting.  The law is clear: without consent, it is sexual assault. Consent means saying Yes to sexual activity.  In addition to saying No, there are many ways of communicating non-compliance.

“I’m not into this right now”

"Maybe later”

“I’m not sure”

silence

crying

body language (squirming, stiffness, shaking)

If a person is too intoxicated to say No, there is no consent

If a person is too scared to say No, there is no consent

If a person is asleep or unconscious, there is no consent

5.    . . . sexual assault only occurs when there is a struggle or physical injury?

Fact:  Many survivors are too afraid to struggle.  They may freeze in terror or realize that the overwhelming size and strength of their attacker makes resistance very dangerous.   In cases reported to police, 80% of sexual assault survivors knew their abusers (Statistics Canada, 2003, The Daily, 25 July).  Acquaintances, friends or relatives are more likely to use tricks, verbal pressure, threats or mild force like arm twisting or pinning their victim down during an assault. Assaults may also be drug assisted.  Lack of obvious physical injury or knowing the attacker doesn’t change the fact that sexual assault is violent and against the law.

6.    . . . if it really happened, the survivor would be able to easily recount all the facts in the proper order?

Fact:  Shock, fear, embarrassment and distress can all impair memory.  In addition to this, many survivors actively attempt to minimize or forget the details of the assault so to help them cope with its memory.

7.    . . . a woman who has agreed to sex previously with the offender  (for example, her husband, boyfriend or acquaintance) cannot be sexually assaulted by him?

Fact:  Sexual assault is any unwanted sexual activity forced on one person by another.  Sexual assault occurs whenever a person does not want to have sex but is forced into the act, regardless of previous consensual sexual relations.  The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women found that 38% of sexually assaulted women were assaulted by their husbands, common-law partners or boyfriends.  Although illegal in Canada since 1983, few of these assaults are reported to police.

8.    …some women cannot be sexually assaulted, or will not be targeted for sexual assault: for example, lesbians, women of color, women with disabilities, and sex trade workers?

Fact:  Many of the above mentioned groups are at higher risk for any type of violence, including sexual violence.

Women and young women from marginalized racial, sexual and socioeconomic groups are more vulnerable to being targeted for sexual harassment and sexual assault (Wolfe and Chiodo, CAMH, 2008, p. 3.)

Women with low household incomes, low levels of education and/or who are unemployed are at higher risk of being sexually assaulted than women in general. (H. Johnson, 1996,Dangerous Domains: Violence Against Women in Canada, p.108-109)

83% of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime. (L. Stimpson and M. Best, 1991, Courage Above All: Sexual Assault against Women with Disabilities)

9.    . . . if a man − for example, a husband, boyfriend or acquaintance − buys a woman dinner or drinks, gives her a present, or does her a favour, she owes him sex?

Fact:  No one owes anyone sex. It cannot be assumed that friendliness and openness are an invitation to sex.

10.  . . . once a sexual assault report has been made, the alleged offender will be prosecuted and found guilty?

Fact: Sexual assault is a difficult crime to prove as there are rarely witnesses, there is not always physical evidence of the crime, and sexual assault myths affect the efficacy of the criminal justice system. The majority of all reported sexual assault cases are not resolved through the criminal justice system. According to Statistics Canada, only 6% of all sexual assaults are reported to police. Of the 6% of sexual assaults that are reported, only 40% result in charges being laid; and of those cases where charges are laid, just two-thirds result in conviction (www.citizenship.gov.on. ca/owd/english/ publications/sexual-assault/reporting.htm).  These figures continue to deter women from reporting sexual assault, in particular if their offender is known to them. 

11.  . . .There is no such thing as a male survivor of sexual assault?

Fact:  Men and boys can be sexually assaulted too.  Women and girls are considerably more likely than men to be targeted; however for males, being under 12 years old heightens their vulnerability to sexual offences (Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006, Statistics Canada)

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We’re rising with V-Day and One Billion Rising. Why? Well dang, it just doesn’t seem like there’s any good reason not to. 

Pledge to join us!

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SERSA is holding "A Pretty Penny Valentine's Day Bake Sale" on Thursday February 14 in the Student Centre (10:00-6:00)!

Donate your (unloved) pennies and buy delicious Valentine's Day treats to support charities helping victims of rape and sexual abuse. All treats are a minimum $1.00 donation. 

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Child Sex Offenders Should Face Stiffer Sentences, Tories Say

TORONTO - Promises to give victims a formal role in Canada's criminal justice system and to stiffen penalties for child sex predators are important if overdue federal initiatives, two abused former hockey players said Monday.

Speaking after a roundtable with the justice minister, Greg Gilhooly and Sheldon Kennedy said the Conservative government was on the right track, even if details were lacking.

"Right now a victim is simply a witness — we're at the beck and call of other people," Gilhooly said.

"To the extent that we can be given a formalized role in the judicial process, that to me would be a wonderfully empowering thing."

A victim's bill of rights was one of three get-tough-on-crime themes the government plans to emphasize this year, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said. The aim is to entrench the rights of victims into a single law.

Nicholson also promised stiffer sentences for child-sex predators.

"Their punishment for these crimes must reflect the devastation they cause in the lives of children and their families," the minister said.

Concerns over sentencing arose after former hockey coach Graham James was jailed for two years last year for assaults on ex-NHL star Theo Fleury and his cousin Todd Holt in the 1980s and '90s.

  The Crown has appealed the sentence as too lenient in a case that also saw the prosecution stay charges involving assaults on Gilhooly as part of James's guilty plea.

James had already been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in the mid-1990s for assaulting Kennedy and another young hockey player. He served 18 months.

"The key here is that we're having conversations about the importance of not only rehabilitating the criminals but rehabilitating the victims," Kennedy said.

"I couldn't have imagined 16 years ago, when I disclosed my abuse, that we'd be talking about these issues so openly and with such commitment to be making positive change for victims."

Nicholson said the government will announce specific measures in the weeks and months to come.

Currently, small-time marijuana growers face stiffer mandatory minimum sentences than those who rape children, an irony not lost on Gilhooly, who has a law degree.

"I personally don't believe that those who grow marijuana deserve to go to jail," Gilhooly said. Those who commit sexual assaults against children do."

Still, the government now appears to view sex crimes against children as a priority, even if any measures come too late to help him, Gilhooly said.

"I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that I was never going to get justice from the justice system," he said, "It's more a legal-results system than a justice system."

Kennedy said the government's past focus on cracking down on criminals has sometimes left victims — especially child victims — in the legislative cold.

"Sometimes, yeah, absolutely, victims are lost," he said.

"There is real invisible trauma, invisible damage that happens to these types of victims."

Nicholson also promised legislation to make public safety the "paramount consideration" in cases where accused criminals are found not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder.

He also pledged better use of new technologies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of bail and extradition regimes.

New Democrat justice critic Francoise Boivin called Nicholson's roundtable a public relations exercise devoid of substance.

"It's a government that talks a lot but doesn't necessarily act seriously," Boivin said.

Liberal justice critic, Irwin Cotler, accused the Tory government of recycling its old crime and punishment agenda.

"There's nothing in there about access to justice and the need for legal aid," Cotler said. "Why is it there's nothing in there about aboriginal justice?"

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On Rape Culture

Gentlemen. This is what rape culture is like:

Imagine you have a Rolex watch. Nice fancy Rolex, you bought it because you like the way it looks and you wanted to treat yourself. And then you get beaten and mugged and your Rolex is stolen. So you go to the police. Only, instead of investigating the crime, the police want to know why you were wearing a Rolex instead of a regular watch. Have you ever given a Rolex to anyone else? Is it possible you wanted to be mugged? Why didn’t you wear long sleeves to cover up the Rolex if you didn’t want to be mugged?

And then after that, everywhere you go, there are constant jokes about stealing your Rolex. People you don’t even know whistle at your Rolex and make jokes about cutting your hand off to get it. The media doesn’t help either; it portrays people who wear Rolexes as flamboyant assholes who secretly just want someone to come along and take that Rolex off their hands. When damn, all you wanted was to wear a nice watch without getting harassed for it. When you complain that you are starting to feel unsafe, people laugh you off and say that you are too uptight. Never mind you got violently attacked for the crime of wearing a friggin time piece.

Imagining all that? It sucks, doesn’t it.

Now imagine you could never take the Rolex off.

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What's with the infinity symbol?

At first glance, SERSA's logo might be slightly confusing. What is a symbol typically associated with math doing in logo for an organization that is concerned with ending rape and sexual abuse? If you frequent social media, you may have noticed the infinity symbol has been increasingly evident in popular culture. Many individuals create artistic work around this piece and have it tattooed on their bodies. So what does the infinity symbol in popular culture mean? Perhaps the best place to start is with John Green's quote from his novel The Fault in Our Stars: “There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.” So from this quote comes the notion that while it may appear the numbers 0 and 1 simply exist as 0 and 1, there are actually endless numbers between these two. So, basically, there's lots of numbers. That's great and all, but how does infinity apply to rape and sexual abuse? SERSA uses the infinity symbol to show that individuals, groups, and communities directly or indirectly affected by rape and sexual abuse are not limited to and by the label of rape or sexual abuse victim. It is our belief that you are not simply defined by these experiences - you are infinite and have no end in what your positive and motivational responses to rape and sexual abuse can be.

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Women's rape fantasies: How common? What do they mean?

Some women have fantasies of being forced into sex. At first glance, rape fantasies make no sense. Why fantasize about something that in real life would be traumatic, repugnant, and life-threatening?

But on closer examination, such fantasies are not unusual. Many men daydream about getting the girl by rescuing her from a dangerous situation--without the slightest wish to confront armed thugs, or be trapped in a fire on the 23rd floor.

Fantasies allow us to "experience" the outer limits of our imaginations safely, with no risk--and for some people, that includes fantasies of coerced sex. In fantasy everything is permitted and nothing is wrong.But rape fantasies raise thorny issues. Many women who have them can't shake the feeling that they are abnormal or perverted.

From 1973 through 2008, nine surveys of women's rape fantasies have been published. They show that about four in 10 women admit having them (31 to 57 percent) with a median frequency of about once a month. Actual prevalence of rape fantasies is probably higher because women may not feel comfortable admitting them.

For the latest report (Bivona, J. and J. Critelli. "The Nature of Women's Rape Fantasies: An Analysis of Prevalence, Frequency, and Contents,"Journal of Sex Research (2009) 46:33), psychologists at North Texas University asked 355 college women: How often have you fantasized being overpowered/forced/raped by a man/woman to have oral/vaginal/anal sex against your will?

Sixty-two percent said they'd had at least one such fantasy. But responses varied depending on the terminology used. When asked about being "overpowered by a man," 52 percent said they'd had that fantasy, the situation most typically depicted in women's romance fiction. But when the term was "rape," only 32 percent said they'd had the fantasy. These findings are in the same ballpark as previous reports.

Frequency of rape fantasies varied substantially. Thirty-eight percent of respondents never had them. Of those who did, 25 percent reported such fantasies less than once a year. Thirteen percent had them a few times a year, 11 percent once a month, 8 percent once a week, and 5 percent several times a week. (Twenty-one percent of the respondents said they'd been sexually assaulted in real life.)

Rape fantasies can be either erotic or aversive. In erotic fantasies, the woman thinks: "I'm being forced and I enjoy it." In aversive fantasies, she thinks: "I'm being forced and I hate it." Forty-five-percent of the women in the recent survey had fantasies that were entirely erotic. Nine percent were entirely aversive. And 46 percent were mixed.

Rape or near-rape fantasies are central to romance novels, one of the perennial best-selling categories in fiction. These books are often called "bodice-rippers" and have titles like Love's Sweet Savage Fury, which imply at least some degree of force. In them, a handsome cad becomes so overwhelmed by his attraction to the heroine that he loses all control and must have her, even if she refuses--which she does initially, but then eventually melts into submission, desire, and ultimately fulfillment.

Romance novels are often called "porn for women." Porn is all about sexual fantasies. In porn for men, the fantasy is sexual abundance--eager women who can't get enough and have no interest in a relationship. In porn for women as depicted in romance novels, the fantasy is to be desired so much that the man loses all control, though he never actually hurts the woman, and in the end, marries her.

What do rape fantasies mean? In my opinion, they are no different from any other fantasies. They are neither wrong nor perverted. They imply nothing about one's mental health or real-life sexual inclinations. They just happen, to somewhere around half of women. If you have such fantasies and feel bad about them, I can't tell you how to feel. But I can assure you that you are not alone. Rape or near-rape fantasies are surprisingly common. What do you think?