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Thoughts on solidarity and supporting student activists to #EndSexualHarassment



 A corrupt university system with administrators that are deeply complicit in perpetuating a culture of sexual harassment and faculty predatory behaviour surveils, hounds and punishes student activists for bringing the sexual harassment to light and for speaking up against sexual harassment.

For all its PR speak about remedies, it is this truth that we must hold close, and continue to agitate to dismantle the culture of sexual harassment. We must also organize to protect those, especially student activists, whose bodies are on the line.

A corrupt system that is deeply complicit in perpetuating sexual harassment blames me, the CCA, and CARE for teaching students to organise on sexual harassment. It gives us and the CCA too much credit.

And most importantly, deeply complicit in technocratic authoritarianism, it fails to see the agentic capacity of students.

It is the role of Ministry of Education and the Minister of Education specifically to protect student activists that bring sexual harassment to light from retaliatory behavior.

Parents and taxpayers must hold the Minister and the Ministry accountable for any retaliatory behavior.

Any administrator that retaliates against a student must RESIGN or must be made to step down.

Public activism and participation are vital to hold the state accountable to bringing about changes to cultures of sexual harassment. Parent activism as public activism is vital to safeguarding our future generation and in nurturing their right to voice.

It is vital that parents speak up and organise in the face of university repression targeting students. It is vital that journalists closely attend to instances of retaliation and build public registers to document these instances.

It is only with multi-pronged activism and advocacy that we will see change in entrenched cultures of sexual violence.

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