THE WRONG KIND OF ‘FUN’

I t has become way too predictable: Every year, the frenzied, alcohol-fuelled festivities of frosh week give way to new revelations of sexist and/or racist behaviour on university campuses.

While mercifully there do not appear to have been any recent reports of blackface incidents, sexism has been very much present. Female students in the law faculty at l’Université de Montréal spoke out about pressure to strip down to their underwear and chants mocking awareness campaigns about the laws on sexual consent. Meanwhile students in journalism and communications at l’Université du Québec en Outaouais complained about games that awarded points for snapping a picture of a woman’s breasts or drinking beer out of cleavage.

Sexually charged hazing rituals during welcome celebrations, when social pressure is intense on both women and men to be part of the group, are hardly a new phenomenon, nor are they more prevalent in Quebec than elsewhere. But now the province’s minister for the status of women wants to take action. Lise Thériault said this week it might be time to ban initiation events altogether.

Thériault is right to be concerned. Sexual assault, harassment and coercion are festering problems at universities in Quebec and beyond. Hazing rituals that demean women are a symptom of a larger sickness on campuses and in society as a whole, which some call “rape culture,” and they contribute to its perpetuation.

Clearly, though, this problem doesn’t begin and end during frosh week. Nor is it limited to officially sanctioned campus events. These are among the reasons why a ban on initiation events is not the right solution.

If student associations or sports teams are no longer allowed organize official events, risqué activities will migrate to private gatherings. At least when hazing occurs during events even tenuously sanctioned by the university, there is the potential for scrutiny, accountability and education. Strengthening oversight, setting clear policies on acceptable behaviour and meting out real consequences for misconduct would be more effective than banning initiation rites outright.

In recent years, some Montreal universities have held awareness workshops, sensitized frosh week co-ordinators to dangers and have developed sexual assault policies. More work remains to be done.

In the effort to eradicate the misogynist attitudes that can lead to sexual violence, education is crucial. These discussions about the nature of consent, respect for women and the nuances of sexual assault are beginning earlier in Quebec, and will be an important component of the new sex education curriculum. But a generation of young adults who missed out on these lessons has some catching up to do.