Sexual Assault Support Centre

Mission Statement:

“The SASC is committed to the education, support, and empowerment of students, staff, faculty, and visitors of all genders who are survivors of sexualized violence, and their friends, family, and partners. Through our feminist, anti-oppression framework, we are dedicated to working towards ending all forms of violence.”

What is the Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC)?

The SASC has been providing survivors of violence with caring, non-judgmental support on campus since 2003. It is an initiative created to provide campus community members — including students, staff, and faculty — access to specialized sexual assault support services on campus. SASC provides programs and services to survivors of sexual assault and other forms of sexualized violence, as well as their families, friends, and other support people. The SASC is committed to supporting survivors of all sexual orientations and all genders, including women, transgendered folks, and men.

Sexual Assault is NEVER a survivor’s fault

Sexual assault is a violent crime. Often myths are used to legitimate or deny a sexual assault and blame a survivor for the violence they experienced. It is irrelevant what they wore, where they were, who they were with, or whether they were under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of their assault. The only person responsible for a sexual assault is the person who commits it.

No matter when this violence was experienced (it doesn’t matter if it was yesterday, or 20 years ago, or if it still happening), the SASC will listen and provide non-judgmental support.

We believe that:

• Everyone has the right to live in a society free from violence.
• Everyone has the right to be treated with respect and dignity.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of choice, including choice over their reproductive health, as well as choice in a broader sense, including what type(s) of support they receive, which services they access, etc.
• Everyone has the right to ask for and receive quality services when seeking support.
• Everyone has the right to have their confidentiality respected, as a necessary condition to developing trusting relationships.
• Everyone has the right to direct their own recovery process and have the uniqueness of that process respected.
• Everyone can heal.
• Working together with others in our community is essential to ending violence and creating a healthy community: “No one is free while others are oppressed.”
• A collaborative, inclusive working style is an important part of creating positive change.
• We strive to identify and remove physical, social, a nd attitudinal barriers that may prevent survivors from accessing support services within and outside of our Centre.
• Ally work plays an essential role in ending oppression and violence.
• Everyone has valuable contributions to make in the struggle to end violence.