Students in Quebec say some of their peers are too afraid to come forward when they are sexually harassed, abused or assaulted by peers or staff in schools
MONTREAL -- Sophie was 15 years old when she says her history teacher made comments about her breasts in front of the entire class.
Sophie is part of a group of current and former Quebec high school students who are demanding the provincial government adopt a law specifically targeting sexual violence at elementary and high schools. They want those institutions to have clear protocols to respond to incidents between students or between a student and teacher or other adult in the school.
Clorianne Augustin, a Montreal youth worker who supports the students' call for a law, says schools fail to take sexual violence seriously. "Intervention protocols for violence, including sexual violence, are already required in elementary and high schools," the department's spokeswoman, Esther Chouinard, said in an email. She pointed to the province's Education Act, which makes it mandatory for public and private schools in Quebec to have a plan to prevent bullying and violence in all its forms and provide support for students.
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