“Chances are, if you care deeply about something, you’re not the only one.” Safe Campus Coalition: Notes on Student Action Against GENDER-BASED Violence on Campus, Featuring Ziyana Kotadia
“People’s lives are on the line. This is something that materially affects people every day. So even though it’s a massive issue and it’s a complicated issue, and there is no one answer to it, in fact, it requires a multi-faceted approach that takes into account policy, programming, education, and so much more. If we don’t do something about it, people’s lives will continue to face material consequences. Personally, when I think about the impact that this is having on real people, I'm not okay with doing nothing, it’s just not an option.” Kotadia, Safe Campus Coalition.
In an interview with Ziyana Kotadia, a fifth-year student at Huron University College and former VP of University Affairs for the University Student Council (USC), we discussed the power of student action in cultivating a safer campus culture. Specifically, how the Safe Campus Coalition, a student group formed in 2021, is tackling gender-based violence as a systemic post-secondary issue.
Note that while this piece seeks to inform and support curiosity, the topics discussed may be heavy or triggering to some readers. If you’re feeling inclined to step away from this piece to prioritize your well-being, please feel free. If you or anyone you know is in need of on-campus support, feel free to reach out to the Gender-Based Violence & Survivor Support Case Manager: at 519-661-3568 or support@uwo.ca. More resources will also be listed at the end of this article.
The following is a Q&A dialogue between J Beecroft and Ziyana Kotadia, which took place on Wednesday, September 21st, 2022:
J: What can students expect from SCC this semester?
Z: Students can expect that safe campus coalition will continue working really hard to ensure that sexual and gender-based violence isn’t a part of the student experience moving forward. Our group really wants to continue pushing for action and transparency both from the university and the provincial government. While continuing our work to educate and inform campus community members about consent, equity, and gender-based violence. We’re really dedicated to keeping this momentum for change going, and we hope that our campus community will accept an invitation to join us along for the ride.
J: Are there any ways to get involved with the Safe Campus Coalition?
Z: Yes! Keep an eye out for a call for hiring. We will actually be putting this together as a team very soon. We would love to welcome more students into our community and help kind of expand our capacity to do the work that we do.
J: What events do you have coming up?
Z: In terms of specific events, we’re still finalizing what is next. We’ve got a few different things on the go with different organizations and charities in London, so I don't have a concrete next date for the next thing for us, unfortunately, but you can expect to see us working on a few different things in the coming months.
J: How was the event hosted by the SCC last week?
Z: It was really cool to come back together as a team and think through some of the challenges related to consent education, figuring out how we could put together a campaign to kind of intervene in some of the systems and then to just connect with different campus stakeholders to make sure that there were enough different perspectives at the table for this event. I think what was challenging is that it was right at the beginning of the year, and so we are still working on tactics for student engagement, but it was a really beautiful opportunity for us to sync back into this work, and we loved being able to bring it to the London community as a whole instead of only kind of isolating it on our campus. There’s a lot that the London community can offer us in terms of support, but there’s also a lot we can offer the London community in terms of the education, community engagement and advocacy that we can provide. Building that horizontal network of solidarity across different community groups and different organizations in London was great, and we had a chance to connect with some of our provincial representatives too during the process, so it was great to see them turn out to the event too.
J: By the end of the second semester this year, what does your group hope to achieve?
Z: So, we are actually in the process of putting together a list of Western-specific calls to action. We are hoping that by the end of the semester, Western will engage with us on these calls to action, which have yet to be published but will work with us towards that goal of having a safer, more inclusive campus but in particular ways that students are asking for. I think the institution has done a lot of really great work over the course of the last year, and there’s been a lot of meaningful first steps made by the institution, but until we put student voices at the center of that project of dismantling the systems that produce gender-based violence we’re never going to actually accomplish that goal. So, what we would like to see, kind of by the end of that period of time, is the accomplishment of student recommendations and the commitment by the University to working on the next steps that students have identified.
J: Can you tell me more about your role in the Safe Campus Coalition?
Z: Absolutely, the safe campus coalition is a horizontal organization. Because we’re trying to dismantle broader systems of hierarchy, we don’t have a hierarchy internally. We have a few core team members who are responsible for managing the organization, and we do also have volunteers who will support us on particular things like if we have a booth running or if we need some staff support for a particular thing, so it is a very horizontal organization even internally which I love. My role is as one of the core team members - that means that I’m working with a group of six other folks to determine what our goals are and to figure out what our next steps are for particular events for advocacy projects. There’s a lot of flexibility, and I get to do a lot of different things, which is very cool.
J: What is the first step to tackling an issue as big as this one?
Z: I think it can be really intimidating when you hear cultural change because where do you start? But I think what’s important to remember about that is that culture is always changing and that culture is influenced by the language we use in particular, so just by shifting the way we think about things and the way we talk about things, we actually have a huge impact on the lived reality of a lot of people. So I think the first step to tackling an issue this big is just by understanding that we need to do something about it and then working with our partners, our peer groups, our communities in London and other campus community stakeholders to try and figure out what some of the most tangible entry points into this work are. Ultimately, I think remembering that culture is fluid and that what we do matters is really important in this work because it’s a big issue, and it can be really emotionally challenging to look at the big picture and think, oh my gosh, this is an intimidating issue.
J: What would your advice be to students who feel passionately about an issue but are unsure how to start an action?
Z: I would say utilize that passion to find other people who share it because chances are if you care deeply about something, you’re not the only one who does, and as we’ve been talking about, challenging an existing system or structure or otherwise repairing the world around you to shift in a particular way is intimidating, and it can be particularly intimidating if you’re starting that by yourself. So I would say if you’re passionate about an issue and you want to make a change or start a particular action, find other groups around you that are interested in doing that work, find other groups and people around you that care about that issue too and work with them. Figure out if there are recommendations that collectively can be put forward to power brokers or if there are interventions that are more grassroots oriented that you can be working on because there are a bunch of different starting points for advocacy work, but the work becomes a lot easier once you have a community of people to work with.
As a whole, we hope the student body feels empowered to get passionate, to research issues they care deeply about, and to know that student action is meaningful, necessary work. Find your passion project, find your people, then find out if there’s already someone doing work you can contribute to. Thank you, Ziyana, for sitting down with us and sharing the work of the Safe Campus Coalition Coalition. While sexual and gender-based violence exists in a way that can feel overwhelming, it’s too important an issue to ignore.
For more on the safe campus coalition, follow @safecampuscoalition on Instagram and check out www.safecampuscoalition.com.
For further support:
On Campus
Western Student Emergency Response Team: 519-661-3300
Gender-Based Violence and Survivor Support Case Manager: 519-661-3568 or support@uwo.ca
Human Rights Office: 519-661-3334
Residence Counseling: needtotalk@uwo.ca
Western Foot Patrol: 519-661-3650
Off-Campus
Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Program: 519-646-6100 ext. 64224
Anova: 1-800-265-1576 (24/7)
Regional HIV/AIDS Connection: 519-434-1601
CMHA Support Line: 1-844-360-8055 (24/7)
Atlohsa Family Healing Services: 1-800-605-7477 (24/7)
2SLGBTQQI + Youth Line: 1-800-268-9688
(Resource list via www.SafeCampusCoalition.com)
Writer’s note: thank you for trusting me with your curiosity. I hope to continue exploring our social and political campus climate with you!
Until next time,
J Beecroft (she/her)