The United Nations ( 1993 ) Defines Violence Against Women

The United Nations (1993) defines violence against women as: â€Å"Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. While women are not the only victims of sexual violence, Perreault Brennan (2010) state â€Å"of the sexual assaults reported by respondents to the GSS, 70% involved a female victim† (p. 11). Women between the ages of 18-24 have a higher rate of self-reported sexual violence (Perreault Brennan, 2010) and it is identified that â€Å"in over half (51%) of sexual assault incidents, the perpetrator was a friend, acquaintance,†¦show more content†¦The purpose of this policy is to show the commitment of the university â€Å"to providing and maintaining an environment in which sexual violence is not tolerated† (UWO, 2014, p.1). The definition of sexual violence is in accordance to that of the Gover nment of Ontario. This definition of sexual violence is any violence, physical or psychological, carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality. This includes sexual abuse, sexual assault or rape. It also includes sexual harassment, stalking, indecent or sexualized exposure, degrading sexual imagery, voyeurism, cyber harassment, trafficking and sexual exploitation (UWO, 2014). The policy itself entails identifying that prevention and responding to sexual violence is important, that procedures exist to address sexual violence and to providing education and awareness initiatives. This policy was created in response to media attention on sexual violence that exists on campuses throughout Canada and the United States. The United States government, the Canadian federal government and provincial governments have responded to this media attention by creating policies and directives to post-secondary institutions to address campus sexual violence. The policy makers of the sexual violence policy at University of Western Ontario were the responsible officers: Provost Vice President (Academic) and Vice-President (Resources Operations) in the responsible offices: Associate Vice-President