Information for Faculty and Teaching Staff
If you or someone you know is seeking support
SVPRO offers support for any member of the UBC community impacted by sexualized violence, including faculty and other teaching staff. This can include personal experiences as well as secondary and vicarious trauma related to providing support to someone else who has experienced sexualized violence.
Our support model centers on the individual, meaning your needs and experiences determine what support looks like for you.
A report is not required in order to receive support services from UBC.
Connect with SVPRO by emailing svpro.okanagan@ubc.ca or by calling 250 807 9640
Responding to a Disclosure
See the SVPRO guide to a supportive, compassionate response after sexualized violence has occurred.
What is a disclosure?
How to respond to a disclosure?
Education and training
What is a disclosure?
If someone tells you about an experience of sexual or gender-based violence, harassment, or harm, you have received a Disclosure. Your role is to make a referral to support services, which UBC provides through SVPRO.
How to respond to a disclosure
- If you receive a Disclosure for investigation purposes
If someone tells you about sexualized violence for the purpose of having it investigated, please refer them to the UBC Investigations Office and provide information about support services at SVPRO. - Safeguard privacy and confidentiality
SVPRO is here to provide confidential support and advice to anyone in our community responding to a disclosure. Help safeguard privacy by not sharing information without guidance from SVPRO. - Respond with empathy and support
Ask questions about what support the person needs. Avoid questions about what happened or why it happened. - Offer a referral for support related to their needs
For example, someone seeking an academic concession could be referred to SVPRO to help coordinate the concession and any future ones while making sure the person doesn’t have to retell their story each time. Reporting is not required in order to receive support services from UBC.
Connect with SVPRO by emailing svpro.okanagan@ubc.ca or calling 250 807 9640 to consult on any Disclosure or related situation, including for more referral options.
Education and training
SVPRO educational programming is developed in consultation with those who will participate in it. This ensures that our team develops engagements that are tailored to the roles and experience levels of the people we are delivering to. We acknowledge that there are many different levels of experience and comfort with these topics across our community, and there is no one right “starting point”. Our programming covers the following areas:
- Primary Prevention
Addressing the root causes through individual and cultural change. Topics include Media Literacy, Inequity, and Power Dynamics, Receiving Feedback, and Intoxication Impact - Secondary Prevention
Addressing incidents as they occur through upstander intervention. Topics include Upstander Intervention, Consent Culture, and Leadership & Organizational Culture. - Tertiary Prevention
Addressing trauma that has occurred through empathy building. Topics include the Neurobiology of Trauma, Supporting Survivors, SVPRO, and UBC’s Sexual Misconduct Policy.
Available formats
- Tabling
- Panel Participation
- Presentation and Q&A
- Workshop or Training
- Consulting (insight, guidance, or strategy)
If you are interested in booking a workshop, training, or consultation, please email us svpro.okanagan@ubc.ca.
Sexual Violence and the Classroom
Tips and promising practices
Use the syllabus to establish safety and expectations
- Include language about academic concessions for traumatic incidents that identifies sexualized violence and gives guidance on the process to access concessions and support.
- Include language about conduct and behavioural expectations in learning and research spaces.
Be prepared for Disclosures in class discussions and assignments
- Consult with SVPRO to identify the purpose of a Disclosure: is someone providing context, speaking out or seeking social change, seeking support, or seeking accountability?
- Consulting with SVPRO does not require sharing any details or identifying information about the person who has disclosed. Consultations are entirely confidential.
- Offer referral information based on the purpose of the Disclosure.
- Avoid stigmatization or changing expectations or treatment based on a Disclosure, unless you are asked to do so by the survivor.
For more information about Disclosures, see the section above.
Use content notes When teaching content related to or about sexualized violence
- A content note explains what material will be covered and in what way. It should include information about the type of violence, the identities of the person targeted, the level of detail the content covers, and the outcome.
- Content notes are helpful for any materials that may include information that could be distressing to someone impacted by trauma. Beyond sexualized violence, content notes can be used for other types of content related to violence and oppression.
- Using a content note does not indicate that a topic should be avoided or that students may avoid engaging with. It can be helpful to share with students why we are using content notes and the importance of these topics in our fields.
- Offer content notes that describe the general nature of difficult materials in advance, as in the syllabus, and again before the content arises in the lesson.
- Create choice when possible—for difficult materials, offer alternative ways to participate and/or alternative materials or topics. This might look like offering two options for case studies, or offering an alternative reading that also covers the required content. It may be that both options include challenging content; the goal is to enable individuals, survivors especially, to choose the options that are safest for them. Any amount of choice offers a route to greater safety.
Example content note
A class will be completing an assigned reading that includes a person sharing a personal experience of violence.
Content note: This reading includes a description of violence, including details about the person who was violent and a description of an incident where she is thrown and injured. Please read it in an environment that feels safe for you and/or reach out to me for resources about how to access support while or after you read this. We will discuss the reading on canvas as usual, but we will not discuss how the survivor reacted or responded to the violent incident or why it happened.
When you are able, address incidents in classes or learning spaces
- In particular, language that minimizes violence or its impacts, or language used to harass or single out anyone on the basis of their sex, sexuality, gender, and gender expression can enter our teaching and learning spaces. When addressed, it creates less room for individuals to believe that the harmful language or behaviour is acceptable and thus it is less likely these incidents will reoccur, resulting in safer teaching and learning spaces.
- Addressing an incident in your classroom or learning environment can be as simple as pointing out the behavior or language and saying it doesn’t match the conduct expectations of the syllabus. If desired, you can redirect by inviting the individual whose conduct was a problem to follow up with you if they have questions.
- If there are issues occurring or recurring that you would like to intervene in but are unsure how, SVPRO has an education team that can consult with you. Submit an outreach request through this online form.
UBC Policy and Resources
UBC’s Sexual Misconduct Policy creates a support system for those impacted by sexualized violence, via SVPRO, as well as a separate, voluntary reporting and investigation system through the Investigations Office.
See more details on policy definitions and the support system of SVPRO and the Investigations Office.