I was 14 when I was subpoenaed to appear as a witness in a sexual assault case. And no, I didn’t have that memorized. Quite the opposite actually, because I haven’t talked about it since it happened 10 years ago, and that tends to leave the brain foggy. During this time, I experienced what it’s like to be on the stand and have defence lawyers grill you and twist your words even when you’re just a kid. With the only witnesses being four teenaged girls, looking back, it doesn’t surprise me that the man accused went free. What does surprise me is that I didn’t take it seriously when I was younger (I remember playing video games while waiting to go speak). What surprises me is that no adults tried to make me realize the gravity of the situation. What surprises me is that not a single adult talked to me afterward about what to do if this happened to me or to another friend. What surprises me is that I never talked about it again until a few weeks ago. Maybe surprise is not the right word. No, these things scare me.

In light of all the news surrounding the Jian Ghomeshi case, I’ve realized just how twisted society’s views on sexual assault are. I think many people will agree that the judicial process needs to be fixed to be able to get justice. However, the problem with this is that no one knows how to do that. But I can’t sit and wait for a solution and instead I propose we try to stop the problem at its source. Young boys and girls need to be taught what defines sexual assault, what defines consent, and what to do if you or a friend has been sexually assaulted. The few cases of sexual assault that make it to court, usually don’t win due to a lack of evidence. There should be a protocol for people who are assaulted which they know about, and have the confidence to use.

Our children need to learn how to identify when something is not okay, and what to do about it. We don’t talk about sexual assault until it’s in the news, and THAT is what needs to change. -How We Change It- Currently, the curriculum for Sex Education in Ontario has four main parts consisting of Living Skills, Active Living, Movement Competence, and Healthy Living. Education about sexual activity is only part of the Healthy Living category and only makes up 10% of the total curriculum. According to the Ontario Curriculum, in grade 9 you learn about “Responding to bullying/harassment (including sexual harassment, gender-based violence, homophobia, racism)” and you start “thinking ahead” about consent and personal limits. (source) Sexual Education is taught over a short period during health and physical education (gym class). There is no minimum time requirement and the length of the course is mostly up to the teacher and how long they think they will need to cover the curriculum. The average is about two weeks. In Ontario, you only need ONE credit of health and physical education to graduate. This means a lot of people won’t make it to Grade 12 where you supposedly learn more about sexual harassment. In a Facebook poll where I asked "Do you remember learning about sexual assault/consent in high school Sex Ed?", the majority of votes were "no". A few were for "maybe a little", and "I remember hearing 'no means no' but that's about it". There were no votes for "yes a little bit" or "yes a lot".

Ontario NEEDS to create a mandatory sexual education class that covers these topics in far more depth. This class could still cover many important topics such as types of sexualities, mental illness, healthy eating/living, but needs to put more focus on “consent culture” and making sure everyone understands their rights as a human being and what to do if something happens to them or a friend. Teachers could even bring in speakers who may get through to the kids on a different level, like Youtuber Laci Green. Rape and sexual assault are illegal, yes, but far too many people find the exact parameters of these to be blurry when they should not be. We need to start taking preventative measures to protect our children and while it should also be talked about in our homes, schools should be taking more responsibility to educate everyone equally.