<strong>University of Ottawa students spark anti-rape culture movement</strong>
After two incidents of sexual assault charges at the University of Ottawa occurred in the same week earlier this month, student alarm over the prevalence of a rape culture is growing. According to <em>The Globe and Mail</em>, students have “taken the fight against rape culture into their own hands” after a lack of response from administration regarding the recent assaults.
The university launched a task force to discuss issues of rape culture and sexuality. Groups are looking to host a “day of reflection” which will focus on sexually violent behavior on and off campus.
Gilles Paquet, student at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management, expressed her frustration that the university has not yet taken any academic measures against the students involved in sexually explicit online chat.
<strong>Ongoing investigation at U of T regarding recent computer hacking</strong>
University of Toronto’s medical students became victims of fraudulent credit activity on March 11 after a computer virus infected the university’s server, exposing student’s personal information, reports the <em>Toronto Sun</em>.
Student names, dates of birth, contact information, and credit card numbers were among some of the information leaked by what is being called a “cyber-attack.”
The school is now investigating the privacy breach, and has notified Toronto police. Impacted students are also being offered credit monitoring and identity protection, free of charge.
<strong>Some university students haven’t grown out of the cyberbullying stage</strong>
According to <em>Maclean’s</em>, Simon Fraser University has recently released a study suggesting that cyberbullying is becoming increasingly common among Canadian universities.
Undergraduate students have been reportedly targeting and harassing peers on social media networks, as well as degrading professors online. The bullying, however, is not limited to students. Faculty members have also been found guilty of belittling fellow staff through email.
One student shared she has been the victim of cyberbullying when she was “called a ‘spoiled little rich bitch,’ mocked for her bulimia in public messages to others on Facebook, messaged multiple times telling her, her boyfriend was cheating on her, that she was nothing more than ‘a clingy bitch, slut and loser.’”
The study shows that roughly one in five undergraduate students have reported being cyberbullied through online forums such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as over email and text message.
“When you look at cyber bullying among younger kids … usually by age 15, it dies off,” said education professor Wanda Cassidy in a statement to <em>Maclean’s</em>.
