College Boreal creates new consent training video

Sexual assault survivors share stories in a three-minute consent video. Photo courtesy of College Boreal

Sudbury -

Sudbury-based College Boreal creates a three-minute video that allows survivors to tell their own stories about assault and rape.

The video includes three real stories told by actors and includes a woman who was assaulted by her boyfriend, another woman who was raped by a stranger after meeting at a bar, and the third was a relationship involving a teen and an adult facilitator of a youth program.

“The plan was that we wanted to have the survivors tell their stories on camera but still keep it anonymous, in a dark room and show their face. So we still have to do a lot of work to do and there’s still that shame,” said Isabelle Chaussé, manager of mental health strategies at Collège Boréal.

She said every post-secondary institution is required to give a speech on consent and sexual violence in September.

And, that’s when the school decided to create its own video in French and English in partnership with Laurentian University and Cambrian College.

”If I translated it word for word it would be called Stop Being Quiet, so it encourages people to come forward and talk about their experiences. Because we know one in three women will go through some sort of sexual violence in their life and one in six men,” Chaussé said.

Audrey Marcotte is a second-year nursing student at College Boreal. She said she’s extremely impressed by the new video.

“It’s something that really comes and gets me because it’s something that’s not talked about enough. And I know as a victim myself, that it’s very difficult to talk about those things, also to go and get help and to overcome our fears,” Marcotte said.

She admits to having experienced sexual violence many times in her life and most recently on campus a few weeks ago.

“It did happen in residence on Boreal college a few weeks ago, but I could not have asked for any better help than what the college brought me. It was taken very serious and dealt with very quick,” said Marcotte.

While Marcotte said it’s difficult to share her story she knows it’s an important thing to do.

 “The video explains so well how we feel as victims, and the fact that people shared their stories is amazing and I just really hope that that video will encourage more people to talk and maybe make people feel more supported and not feel alone,” she said.

Boreal officials launched the video Wednesday as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, and said this will be something that opens up the conversation annually.

“Really talk about it from a survivor’s perspective because we know that even if we give the consent talk people still have stories, they still have things to share,  and that’s a way to break the silence around that and to remove some of that shame,” said Chaussé.