Response to UBC Accountable Dec. 12 Statement is Live

Hello Everyone, On December 12, UBCA put a statement on its website called "Procedural Fairness for All." That statement was meant to address what UBCA calls "a firestorm of social media backlash" about its open letter of November 14, 2016. The statement acknowledges that the "open letter did not express explicitly our concern for all victims of sexual assault and harassment." That's a very good thing. But there are a lot of problems with the UBCA statement, including the fact that the open letter with its signatures remains online, and its characterization of all opposition as completely negative. With Dorothy Palmer (a writer who has written extensively about legal and union issues connected to the case) and Natalee Caple (a writer and professor who helped to the write the petition UBC Accountable Stop Making Our Work Harder), I spoke with the complainants at UBC to ask them what they wanted. They asked us to advocate that the UBCA website should come down, because it continues to cause them and other survivors so much pain. They told that they don't want an other inquiry. They want the site to come down. Dorothy Palmer, Natalee Caple and I collaborated on a statement outlining why we think the UBCA site should be taken offline. The statement has been sent to UBCA, and you can read it via the link below. Here's where you come in. Please share this statement as widely as you can. Talk about it. Write about it. We have been asking for signatures to come down, but I think now, given what the complainants are saying, we should ask UBCA to take down the open letter and all other documents. UBCA has asked for dialogue, and this is our response, but you can respond directly to them as well. The complainants told us that this situation has been very difficult for them. They feel cut off because they are prevented from speaking, and they told us that this statement and other things people have been doing help them. All three of us were moved by what they said. So whatever you can do to think through, write through, whatever art or commentary you can make, go ahead and do it. It matters. Regards, Julie Rak