Sexual Violence Disclosure and Reporting Procedures

1. National Suicide Crisis Helpline: 988
2. Klinic Drop-in Counselling Information: 204-784-4067
3. Klinic Sexual Assault Crisis Line: 1-888-292-7565 (204-786-8631 in Winnipeg)
4. Klinic Crisis line: 1-888-322-3019 (204-786-8686 in Winnipeg)
5. Local Police
   1. RCMP in Otterburne – Non-emergency calls: (204) 433-7908
   2. Winnipeg Police Services – Non-emergency calls: 204‑986‑6222
6. Southern Health Crisis Services Number (24hr): 1-888-617-7715
7. Winnipeg Mental Health Crisis Response Team (24hr): 1-888-614-7715
8. Manitoba Human Right Commission: 204-945-3007
9. Toll Free Province-Wide Domestic Abuse Crisis Line: 1-877-977-0007
10. Men's Resource Centre: 204-415-6797 ext. 250 (not a 24-hour emergency line)
11. Recovery of Hope Counselling Centre (Eden Health Care Services): 1-888-617-7715
12. Heartwood Healing Centre (women, men, LGBTQ+): 204-783-5460

1. Otterburne campus emergency contact number: 431-334-4999
2. Counselling Services: counselling@prov.ca
3. Vice President of Student Life: Leshia Verkerk, ext. 309, leshia.verkerk@prov.ca
4. Compassionate Responders - Please see list on website: https://www.prov.ca/campus-life/health-and-wellness/sexual-violence-resource-centre/

Providence will ensure that several staff members are trained in trauma-informed sexual violence response and receive annual ongoing training. These will be known as Compassionate Responders (“CR”).

The CRs will serve members of Providence in the implementation of this Policy in the following ways:

1. Responding to disclosures of sexual violence with compassion, listening without judgement, and respecting the Survivor’s confidentiality, dignity, and respect;
2. Informing the Survivor of the supports, services, and accommodations available to them, and helping them access those supports, services, and accommodations;
3. Informing the Survivor of their options under the Providence Policy and Procedures and allowing them the choose their preferred option;
4. Assisting Survivors in filing a Formal Report if they choose to;
5. Assisting Survivors in filing a report with local police or a Complaint of Sexual Harassment with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission if they choose to; and
6. Keeping informed of any changes to the Providence Policy and Procedures, and to best practices in trauma-informed care of Survivors of sexual violence.

The following staff positions will require training as a Compassionate Responder:

• Vice-President for Student Life
• Residence Life Director(s)
• International Student Services Coordinator
• Director of Athletics
• All Head Coaches of Varsity Teams
• At least one faculty member in both the UC and the Seminary
• At least one staff member located at the Providence Downtown campus

Other members of the staff and faculty of Providence may also be trained as Compassionate Responders at the discretion of the chair of the SVAC.

The SVAC serves members of Providence in the implementation of this Policy in the following ways:

1. Evaluating the effectiveness of education in the Providence Community about sexual violence and the Providence sexual violence Policy and Procedures;
2. Informally reviewing the Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures annually, with any changes to be presented at the June board meeting; and
3. Formally reviewing the Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures every four years, including external assessment; and
4. Each year, the SVAC will report out to the public on the Providence website information about the education delivered to the community aimed at eliminating sexual violence on campus.

The chair of the SVAC (typically the Vice President of Student Life) will be responsible for:

1. Overseeing and documenting annual training for CRs and other members of the Providence Community as necessary;
2. Overseeing education and awareness of members of the Providence Community about sexual violence and the Providence Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures;
3. Providing consultation and acting as a resource for CRs and for any Providence Community member who may require it, as well as acting on Evaluation Committees with regard to individual cases;
4. Providing overall coordination and monitoring of incidents, including secure filing and storage of documents related to individual cases.

1. Providing education to all members of the Providence Community about sexual violence and consent and how all types of sexual violence violate the Covenant of Community Life;
2. Providing appropriate education to Providence staff, faculty, and student leaders about consent and how to respond to the disclosure of sexual violence;
3. Engaging in the prevention of sexual violence through education, as well as through ensuring necessary changes are made to make the campus safer for all members of the Providence Community.
4. Providing mandatory annual education for all students at orientation, including additional education for student athletes and all residents living on campus. This education will be ongoing, and Providence will also use platforms such as social media and digital media to raise awareness.

1. Educational programs on healthy sexuality, consent, and sexual violence will be delivered to all students annually with a quiz to ensure understanding of the material.
2. Bystander Intervention
3. Providence expects all community members to take reasonable and prudent actions to prevent or stop any incident of sexual violence they may be witnessing or concerned about. Taking action may include direct non-violent intervention, calling law enforcement, and/or seeking assistance from a person in authority. Community members who choose to exercise this positive moral obligation in good faith and a reasonable manner will be supported by Providence and protected from retaliation.

Survivors may create a report on REES without reporting it to Providence or to police. It will remain secure online on the REES website indefinitely until the Survivor wishes to report (if ever). If a record is created, the chair of the SVAC will be notified that a record was created but will not receive any further information unless the Survivor chooses to move forward. Survivors may choose to create a report in order to have a secure place to write their story if they are not yet ready to report, but think they might want to in the future.

A Providence Community member may disclose an incident of sexual violence to Providence on REES.com. The Survivor will create a report on the website and then select the option to connect to campus. Survivors can choose to include their narrative or only their contact information. The record will be sent to the chair of the SVAC (usually the Vice President of Student Life), and the chair will contact the Survivor. A report to campus on REES will be treated as a Formal Disclosure (see 5.2 below).

Survivors can use REES to report directly to police. The record will be sent to police but will not be sent to Providence personnel unless the Survivor chooses to send it. The chair of the SVAC will be notified that a report was made to the police. The chair will not be told any details of that report or the identities of the people involved.

Reports can be made anonymously through REES through a series of multiple-choice questions. Anonymous reports are stored only as aggregate data to inform policy, prevention education, and security. Providence is unable to initiate an investigation on the basis of Anonymous Reporting because only aggregate data is forwarded.

A Survivor may wish to identify a perpetrator through the REES website without creating a report. The information will be forwarded to the chair of the SVAC (usually the Vice President of Student Life) only if more than one person has identified the same perpetrator. If two or more people identify the same perpetrator, REES will send the contact information of the Survivors who reported the perpetrator to the chair of the SVAC. At that point, the record created on REES will be treated as a Formal Disclosure (see 5.2 below).

All full-time faculty members, staff members, and student leaders in the Providence Community have received basic training on trauma-informed response to disclosures of sexual violence. They have also been informed of the Providence Sexual Violence Policy and Procedures. Survivors can therefore disclose an incident to any full-time Providence staff member or student leader with whom they feel comfortable, knowing that they will be treated compassionately and will be informed of all their options for support and reporting. The Survivor will be allowed to decide how they wish to proceed, if at all. The Survivor may also view these options on their own, at any time, on the Providence website, or on posters found around the school. Informal disclosure does not constitute a formal report under this procedure. Informal disclosures will not be reported to a CR or to the SVAC, except on the request of the Survivor.

If the Survivor is seeking accommodations that are within the occupational control of the person hearing the disclosure, those accommodations can be made without going through the process of Formal Disclosure. For example, if a student tells their professor that they would like an extension on an assignment because of an incident of sexual violence, the professor can make that accommodation without the Survivor formally disclosing the incident to a CR.

NOTE: Survivors can informally disclose to a CR without beginning the process of Formal Disclosure.

All people who hear a disclosure of sexual violence will strictly protect the confidentiality of all persons involved in the incident. However, if they believe there is a serious risk to the safety of Providence members or members of the outside community, that confidentiality cannot be ensured. Please see Procedures Section 10.2 for details.

If a Survivor wishes to access supports, accommodations, and services that are not freely available or within the control of a person they feel comfortable disclosing to (e.g. If the Survivor wishes to change dorm rooms, receive an extension on their semester, have another person sanctioned, etc.), then they will be required to formally disclose the incident to a CR. They may do so in the presence of any person whom they choose to bring with them as a support. The main difference between a formal disclosure and informal disclosure is that a formal disclosure must be done with a CR, allows for accommodations in any area of Providence, and will be formally documented. It will remain confidential. The identity of the survivor will only be disclosed to the chair of the SVAC if the survivor requires accommodations. The nature of the incident will not be disclosed.

Survivors may formally disclose an incident of sexual violence to a CR at any time, whether they have gone through the process of Informal Disclosure or not. The CR will maintain documentation of all accommodations made and the dates they were completed, as well as documentation of any meetings held. Any documentation created during the process will be kept in a secured location (password protected and/or locked) by the CR. The CR will consult with the Chair of the SVAC on each formal disclosure to ensure the Survivor is adequately supported, but the identity of the survivor will only be disclosed if accommodations are needed.

1. If the Survivor chooses to formally disclose an incident to a CR, the CR will provide the Survivor with access to supports, services, and appropriate accommodations.
2. The CR will present the Survivor with the option of making a Formal Report and then either pursuing Alternative Dispute Resolution or Investigation, or of not moving forward with the resolution process.
3. All Survivors will be informed of their options, whether they wish to pursue them at that time or not.
4. The CR shall maintain confidentiality of personal information collected in relation to an Informal Disclosure in accordance with Section 10.2 of these Procedures. Providence may commence an investigation at any time on the basis of a Formal Disclosure when it reasonably believes that there is serious risk to the safety of Providence Community members.

In order to pursue any Resolution involving the Respondent, the Survivor must file a Formal Report with a CR. Formal Reports are submitted to the Chair of the SVAC. The Survivor will be known as the Complainant once the Report has been filed. Some individuals filing disclosures or reports may want their identity to remain anonymous. However, should the person choose to formally report under the Providence Policy, their identity will be required to be disclosed, but will only be revealed to necessary parties. Issues of confidentiality must be balanced against Providence’s need to investigate and take appropriate action.

In the event a survivor makes a formal report, the chair of the SVAC will conduct a safety evaluation with the Complainant, to identify and implement immediate interim measures required to protect and support the Complainant and the Providence Community in accordance with this policy. Immediate measures may impact the Respondent and the Complainant. Examples may include, but are not limited to, extensions on coursework, counselling supports, changes in residence, changes in class section, removal from a sports team or other.

A. Alternative Dispute Resolution

Commitments

In any Alternative Dispute Resolution process, the following core commitments will be upheld and made known to all involved in the process:

1. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will not be an option for Sexual Assault cases or for any sexual violence incident in which ADR will cause further trauma to the Survivor in the opinion of the Survivor, the CR, and/or the chair of the SVAC. Examples of incidents that may be resolved with ADR include: repeated contact which makes the Survivor feel uncomfortable but not unsafe, degrading remarks not directed toward the Survivor specifically but which are offensive, sexually suggestive drawings, etc.;
2. Although the CR may present ADR as an option, the Survivor will never, at any time, feel pressured to pursue ADR over any other option;
3. ADR will only be pursued at the request of the Complainant;
4. The Complainant will be permitted to terminate ADR at any point in the process; and
5. The Complainant will maintain control over their participation in the process at all times (e.g., when the process will begin, whether they will meet the Respondent at any point in the process, etc.).

ADR Process

When the Survivor chooses, without coercion or pressure, to initiate the ADR process, the following will take place:

1. The CR to whom the Survivor disclosed the incident(s) will bring a report to the chair of the SVAC detailing the incident and the process that the Complainant would prefer to pursue;
2. The CR and the chair of the SVAC will decide together how best to proceed with the ADR process based on the desires of the Complainant;
3. Resolutions may include, but are not limited to: mediation, a settlement agreement, separating the parties, referring parties to counselling, conducting targeted educational and training programs, etc.;
4. When the resolution process is completed, the Chair of the SVAC will complete a report to be maintained in a secured, confidential location; and
5. The Complainant will maintain the right to terminate the ADR process at any time with or without a reason. They may also choose to submit a Formal Report even after the ADR process has been completed.

Note: The ADR process will not typically investigate the truth of the disclosure because the Respondent is not going through a disciplinary process. If the Survivor wants the Respondent to go through a disciplinary process, then an investigation must be initiated.

B. Investigation

Commitments

In any formal reporting process, the following core commitments will be upheld and made known to all involved:

1. Each person involved in the investigation process will receive trauma-informed training on responding to disclosures and formal reports of sexual violence before the process begins;
2. Each person involved in the investigation is required to identify any conflicts of interest that may affect their decision-making abilities. This may include personal or work relationships with the Complainant or Respondent or a position of authority (e.g., if the Respondent is a student leader, the Vice President of Student Life may be required to step down from making decisions about disciplinary actions because they oversee student leaders and there may be a perceived or real conflict of interest). Any person involved may be asked to step down from their role in the investigation at any time for reasons of substantiated conflict of interest;
3. The number of times that a Complainant is asked to repeat an account of sexual violence during an investigation will be minimized in order to reduce further trauma; and
4. The Complainant and Respondent will not be required to meet face-to-face during any part of the investigation process.

Investigation Process

When a Formal Report is created in cooperation with a CR, the following process will take place:

1. An investigator trained in trauma-informed response to sexual violence, external to the Providence Community will be hired. The investigator will hear all relevant information from all involved parties and witnesses and will make a record of all relevant information.
2. The Investigator will create a report to be submitted to the Chair of the SVAC. Decisions about the truth of the complaint will be made based on a balance of probabilities. This means that the Complainant will not have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the incident took place, but rather that it is more likely than not to have happened. We recognize that it is often not possible to balance probabilities in sexual violence cases but will do so to the best of our ability.
3. The Chair and the Vice-Chair of the SVAC will determine, in consultation with the Investigator, how to proceed with any disciplinary actions. Any documentation created will be maintained in a secured, confidential location that is locked and/or password protected.

Because a claim is not proof of prohibited conduct, a claim shall not be taken into account during a performance review, promotion, re-appointment, or other evaluation unless a final determination has been made that this policy has been violated. If possible, it is recommended that such evaluations be deferred until the claim is resolved.

In order to safeguard the rights of all concerned, any person who avails themself of this Policy and any person involved in a process governed by this Policy has the right to be accompanied by a person of their choosing for support. If they wish to bring more than one person, the request may be approved by the individual they are meeting with (e.g., the CR, the investigator, the chair of the SVAC).

Confidentiality is particularly important to those who have disclosed sexual violence. The confidentiality of all persons involved in a report or disclosure of sexual violence will be strictly observed as much as is possible. This is in order to protect the rights of those involved in the allegations, to prevent an unjustified invasion of their personal privacy, to preserve the integrity of the investigation, and to safeguard individuals against unsubstantiated allegations. Providence will make every reasonable effort to maintain confidentiality when it is made aware of an incident of sexual violence and will limit disclosure of information about individuals to those within Providence who need to know for the purposes of addressing or investigating the situation, or taking corrective action.

However, confidentiality cannot be assured in the following circumstances:

1. An individual is at imminent risk of self-harm;
2. An individual is at imminent risk of harming another;
3. There are reasonable grounds to believe that others in the Providence Community or elsewhere may be at risk of harm;
4. When the situation involves the abuse of a minor, in which case, reports must be made to external agencies, and/or
5. When Providence is ordered by a court to release confidential or privileged information.

In such circumstances, information would only be shared with necessary services to prevent harm, and the name of the Survivor would not be released to the public.

Complainants, Respondents, and witnesses are expected to keep the details of any case confidential outside their immediate circle of support (e.g., their named support person, as well as immediate family members) during the investigation process, in order to ensure the integrity of the investigation and decision-making process.

Any information or documentation created regarding a formal complaint, including the written formal complaint, written responses, witness statements, investigation notes and reports, and documents related to the formal complaint and its investigation will be securely maintained by the Student Life Department or by Human Resources as appropriate. Any documentation created in the process of an informal or formal disclosure will be securely maintained by the individual to whom the situation was disclosed.

At the request of the person who filed the complaint, the educational institution shall provide the person with information regarding the outcome of the complaint, whether or not a sanction was imposed, and in some cases, the details and terms of the sanction, if any.