When evaluators study a strategy,
they examine the parts but sometimes lose the whole
for the thread that weaves the missing link was the human soul.
Adapted from Goethe, Faust, Part 1
The Atwater Library team acknowledge that this work is taking place on and across the traditional territories of many Indigenous nations. We recognize that rape culture and gender-based sexual violence are one form of violence caused by colonialism that is used to marginalize and silence Indigenous peoples from their lands and waters. Our work on campuses, community groups and in our communities must strive to recognize and centre this truth. We commit to engaging and continuing to learn how to take an anti-colonial and inclusive approach to our endeavours.
The focus of this toolkit is on approaches to evaluating strategies that have been developed by institutions to address rape culture and sexual violence on campus. It is intended to help evaluate with an approach to supporting those who are developing, implementing and participating in strategies. Evaluation often evokes connotations of doing things correctly or incorrectly, right or wrong, pass or fail. This toolkit is designed to challenge those dichotomies and to help conduct evaluation that is collaborative, empowering and that contributes to answering some of the complex and nuanced questions about effectiveness, and perhaps on occasion, even bringing the ‘unknown, unknowns’ to light.
In the spirit of this approach, this toolkit was created in a collaborative process, drawing upon the experiences, expertise, and generosity of our partners as we developed evaluations for strategies across multiple campuses. We begin every meeting or collaboration by asking, “What do you need?” and “How can we help?” Evaluating strategies to address rape culture and sexual violence is important and valuable work. However, how you do it is equally if not more important. This is why the toolkit is focused on helping evaluators engage in evaluation in a participatory, trauma-informed and survivor-centered way that takes into consideration the diversity of goals, objectives and contexts that we encountered at our fieldsites.
The Atwater Library and Computer Centre acknowledges the contributions of some of the people who participated in creating this toolkit:
- Shanly Dixon: Lead writer, ethnographer and weaver of ideas and experiences.
- Cassandra Jones: Writer, researcher, compiler of research and gatherer of content that shaped the direction of the toolkit
- Eric Craven: Networker, manager and organizer of events that brought the toolkit to life.
- Hayley R. Crooks: Theorizer, writer of feminist approaches.
- Sandra Weber, JD Drummond, Nathalie Hazan: Readers and wise advisors
- Antonia Hernández: Graphic artist who takes words and transforms them into beautiful tools for action.
The Atwater Library and Computer Centre acknowledges the contributions of some of the strategies that we engaged with and drew upon in developing this toolkit:
- Growth on the Horizon: Arts-based Healing Practices Addressing Rape Culture & Gendered Violence on Campus an arts-based project aimed at understanding, addressing, and healing from rape culture and gendered violence on campus through bridging institutional divides (McGill University over +30 workshops, and collaborative and interactive community art and art-installations with 500 in attendance). Key collaborator in organization of this event.
- Atwater Forum Theatre: an interactive theatre performance designed to help students identify and practice productive responses to the toxic masculinity they encounter in their everyday lives. Performances at McGill University, Vanier College, John Abbott College, l’École Nationale d’Aérotechnique (Cégep Édouard Montpetit), Concordia University, Get to the Point at Bâtiment 7 (James Lyng High School). Developed strategy, wrote all the scripts, performed pieces and developed evaluation.
- Concordia University’s It Takes All of Us: a mandatory online sexual violence awareness and prevention training. Consulted on evaluation of online training.
- Addressing Sexual Violence and Rape Culture: Building Inclusive strategies Across Campuses: conference at Concordia University organized in collaboration with Concordia University’s Sexual Assault Resource Centre. Advisor and collaborator on many events around evaluation including a panel on ‘Exploring the complexities of evaluating strategies to address sexual violence on campus’.
- Dawson College’s Resist Violence: The Resist Violence project is an integrative educational approach to responding to the violence in our communities. Consultation and collaboration on evaluation.
- Facilitators Handbook for Addressing Campus Rape Culture Through Media Tools: a workshop curriculum designed to help college students identify and respond to rape culture through digital media. Developed and facilitated curriculum and conducted evaluation in collaboration with Vanier College, McGill University, Concordia University as part of EFECT project.
- PortraitX: Raison d’art’s youth-driven classroom program that propels technology through art and media to educate adolescents on how to build healthy relationships. Consultation and collaboration on evaluation.
- Courage to Act: a two-year project to address and prevent gender-based violence at post-secondary institutions in Canada. We participated in a community of practice for engaging men on college campuses.
- Queen’s Creation (Underpressure): Atwater Library developed an evaluation strategy for this multi-day event which included a facilitated discussion around the experiences of female-presenting persons in hip-hop culture participants and panelists were invited to a scenario-based workshop to delve into the topic of gender-based violence in hip-hop. We provided Consultation and an Evaluation Framework
- Intercollegiate Meeting Series on Stand-Alone Sexual Violence Policy. Organized meeting series and facilitated discussions on making evaluative processes collaborative and participatory.
The Atwater Library and Computer Centre acknowledges the contributions of some of the institutions that we collaborated with in the course of our Addressing Rape Culture on Campuses Project:
Cégep Édouard Montpetit, Concordia University Dean of Students Office, Concordia University’s Cégep Partnerships, The Office of the Provost and VP, Academic, McGill University’s Sexual Assault Center of the McGill Students’ Society, McGill University’s IMPACT Project, Vanier College, Dawson College. John Abbott College.
The Atwater Library and Computer Centre acknowledges the contributions of some of the people who we collaborated with in the course of our Addressing Rape Culture on Campuses Project:
Alanna Thain, Alexandre Lang, Andrea Palmer, Anne-Marie St-Louis, Brittany Sweet, Brenda Lamb, Carrie Rentschler, Charlotte Di Berardo, Chelsey Weir, Curtis Legault, Dawn Lybarger, Eileen Kerwin Jones, Emilie Martel, Ginny Iaboni, Jean-Louis Dagenais, Kate Asterlund, Kim Simard, Kimberley Ryan, Maggie Kathwaroon, Melissa Proietti, Pascale-Amélie Giguère, Pat Romano, Peter Shaw, Samantha Leger, Sandra Gabriele, saŝa Buccitelli, Sofa Misenheimer.
To reference this document, please use the following citation:
Dixon,S., Jones, C., Craven, E. & Crooks, H. R., (2021). Approaches for evaluating strategies that address rape culture: Toolkit with key considerations, and discussion. Addressing Rape Culture on Campus for the Women and Gender Equality Canada Project funded by FEGC/WAGE.