President Florizone has made a statement saying that the University has chosen to follow the path of restorative justice. I will still encourage you to keep signing the petition as I will be hand delivering all signatures to him. In less than 48 hrs, approximately 4,300 people have said this behaviour is not acceptable and called for strong punitive measures.The community (including Dalhousie students, Dalhousie Dentistry students, Dalhousie employees, Dalhousie professors, dentists, dental hygienists and medical doctors) asked for a clear and strong stance against this behaviour, but instead another report will be written and put on a shelf. Education on this matter is welcomed but a lot more than that is needed if violence against women is to be stopped. The full statement can be found here: http://www.dal.ca/news/2014/12/17/statement-from-president-florizone-on-next-steps-to-address-offe.html ______________________________________________ My thoughts: As I wrote before, it is absolutely unfair to lay the responsibly of this decision on the victims. Many of them did not come forward in the past fearing reprisal, further harassment and else. How is it reasonable to ask them what route (informal or formal) should the University take? Our own justice system recognizes this. Would we ask the victims (male or female) of robbery, assault, harassment, attempted murder, etc. if they would like to see their attackers imprisoned? No. It is understood that most would, at the very least, feel uncomfortable having to make that decision. Their attackers know them, their faces, their names, their addressees, their places of work, etc. This issue is so understood that, for example, in cases of domestic violence, the crown is the one to press charges on behalf of them. In this catch 22 situation where anonymous reporting is not allowed at Dalhousie, once the victims have the strength to come forward, they are further burdened by being held responsible for what will happen to those that victimized them.