Administrators involved in any aspect of sexual violence complaints find themselves on a steep learning curve. They quickly realize that complaint-based processes involve a series of decision-making steps, each with its own set of legal issues. Decision makers must determine whether interim measures should be imposed, whether complaints can proceed in tandem with criminal charges, how to balance privacy and demands for transparency, and whether an allegation of sexual violence has been proven.

CHRR founder Prof. Karen Busby’s research in this area increased the understanding of the legal rules that apply, aiding administrators, investigators, lawyers, academics, arbitrators, union and student leaders, complainants, and respondents, publishing articles in the Canadian Lawyer Magazine on this issue. She was involved as a co-investigator in a SSHRC Partnership grant titled “A Multi-sector partnership to investigate and develop policy and practice models to dismantle rape culture at universities”. Tied to this work, Prof. Busby co-authored Achieving Fairness: A Guide to Campus Sexual Violence Complaints (Thomson Reuters/Carswell 2020) with Joanna Birenbaum.

As a result of this book, Prof. Busby and Joanna Birenbaum co-authored an article on Policy Options titled “Bringing fairness to campus sexual violence complaint processes“. They also presented a primer on interim measures in sexual violence cases at post-secondary institutions at Possibility Seeds. A recording of the lecture can be accessed below.

Related to this work, the Centre for Human Rights Research hosted Dr. Mandi Gray (Trent University) in November 2024 in collaboration with Dr. Melanie Murchison from the Department of Sociology. As a part of this visit, Dr. Gray delivered a public lecture titled “A Discussion on the Intersections of Injustice between Civil and Criminal Law in cases of Gender-based Violence”. This event was made possible through CHRR’s Outreach and Events Support Grant, which was funded in part by the University of Manitoba Strategic Initiatives Support Fund.