Feeling let down by universities, survivors meet to fight campus sex assaults
VANCOUVER — Mandi Gray has lost count of the messages she’s received from women who say their universities failed them after they were sexually assaulted.
The PhD student publicly alleged last year that York University mishandled her case and emails and Facebook notes began to pour in — all expressing, in different words, “Me too.”
“On one level, it’s comforting to know that it’s not just me,” Gray said in a recent interview. “On the other hand, it’s absolutely terrifying to know that if I’m raped or assaulted, whether as a graduate student or a professor, there is absolutely no safety net for me.”
Over the past year, an informal network of activists has emerged to fight campus sexual assaults, with Gray as a central figure. Now, the group of women from across Canada is planning to meet to discuss concrete ways to access justice and hold universities accountable.