Quebec bill looks at intimate relationships between students and professors

“That’s the heart of the problem, that you get evaluated.”

The bill specifies policies must also include “a code of conduct specifying guidelines for such matters as intimate, amorous or sexual relationships that may develop between students and persons having an influence over their academic progress, whether personnel members or officers of the institution.”

But one advocate for the rights of victims says Canadian universities should follow the lead of some of their American counterparts in banning these relationships outright.

“I think that relationships between students and anyone who has authority or power over their academic career should be forbidden,” said Ariane Litalien, a McGill University student who has spoken publicly several times about having survived sexual violence.

“There’s a power imbalance between students and profs, for example, that in my opinion makes consent more or less impossible.”

Some high-profile U.S. universities, including Yale and Stanford, have banned all relationships between teachers and undergraduate students, as well as relationships between teachers and students they supervise.

But up until now, many Quebec universities don’t appear to have gone so far.

A spokesperson for McGill University said the school’s sexual-violence policy defines an intimate relationship between teachers and their student as a conflict of interest which must be disclosed and addressed.

“Moreover, the definition of consent in the policy against sexual violence states that consent cannot occur ‘where the sexual activity has been induced by conduct that constitutes an abuse of a relationship of trust, power or authority, such as the relationship between a professor and their student,’” associate provost Angela Campbell wrote in a statement.

A Concordia University spokeswoman said the school developed guidelines earlier this year for “faculty members who engage in intimate, consensual relationships with students.”

“We are currently working on how to implement those guidelines in order to meet the obligations of the new legislation,” Mary-Jo Barr wrote in an email, adding the school would release more information in the near future.

A spokesperson for Universite de Montreal said the school is currently working on getting guidelines on intimate relationships into its policy.

All three universities said they welcomed the Quebec government’s proposed legislation, pointing out it goes along the lines of what they are already doing to prevent and address sexual assault.

Concordia and McGill have both already adopted policies against sexual violence, while Universite de Montreal has implemented training and awareness programs and is working to widen its existing sexual harassment policy.

Litalien also praised the bill, which not only requires schools to develop policies but also lays out in detail what they must contain, including mandatory staff training, prevention strategies, procedures for reporting and victims’ services.

In addition to a ban on student-teacher relationships, she’d like to see the final version include a mechanism where students can flag their institution to the government if it fails to meet its obligations.

But she says the bill is an important step toward letting students know their rights and options in the case of an assault.

“There’s this misconception that it’s meant to replace the criminal justice system, which it really isn’t,” she said. “It’s meant as another option in the toolbox available to survivors.”

The proposed legislation, if passed, would require schools to establish a policy to prevent and fight sexual violence by September 2019.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Quebec bill looks at intimate relationships between students and professors

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