As a woman, Nora Hassaan has to think about the safest way to walk home. She has to think about the safest way to dress. Possible escape routes when a man is following too closely behind her at night. The safest way to meet men. To constantly look after her drink when out for an evening in a bar or a club.

“As women we are told repeatedly how to be safe and how to protect ourselves from the dangerous, strange men out there,” says Hassaan, volunteer outreach coordinator at the Ryerson Students’ Union Women’s Centre.

“Why then are we still hearing from women each day who are brutally beaten or sexually assaulted, not by strange men, but by men who supposedly love them?”

It’s December 6 and Hassaan is speaking at the 21st Memorial Ceremony at Ryerson University for the 14 women who were killed on this day in 1989 by an enraged gunman at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.

“Everyone thinks sexual assault is most often committed by strangers,” she says. “But women face the greatest risk of sexual assault from men they know — not strangers. It could be their dates, their boyfriends, partners, friends, family members or even their neighbours.”

The Ryerson Women’s Centre provides a safe space and resources for self-identified women on-campus where they can gather to hangout, hold discussion groups and organize.

Hassaan reminded everyone at the memorial that although they’ve gathered to commemorate the lives of the 14 women who were murdered 21 years ago in Montreal, violence against women still exists in our society and on the campus of Ryerson University.

“And it’s time to do something about it,” she says.

At the last Ryerson Students’ Union Semi-Annual General Meeting, students voted unanimously in favour of creating a student-run sexual assault support line.

“This support line will be an essential tool to provide ongoing support and promote the services already on campus while providing a neutral anonymous peer discussion about different processes survivors might pursue.”

Because only one in ten sexual assaults is reported to police, many still believe that sexual assault is not a prevalent or important issue.

“Just because they’re not reported doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” she says. “At the Women’s Centre, we know that these (reported) assaults are just a few out of the many sexual assaults that go unreported on and off campus.

“Let’s start standing up for each other because these women could be your grandmother, your mother, your sister, your friend or even your daughter.”

John Bonnar

John Bonnar is an independent journalist producing print, photo, video and audio stories about social justice issues in and around Toronto.