Western University sent an email to the students living in the Medway-Sydenham Hall residence on Saturday night about investigating incidences of gender-based sexual violence.
In the email, residence life coordinator Jacob Clarke said to the students they may have heard rumors of these incidents and that the university is looking into “information that has come forward. In the email Clarke added that the London Police Service could become involved, though it had been reported that the police say they haven’t been contacted yet about this.
Western has also taken steps to protect students and ensure their safety on campus by increasing the campus police presence around the university and by increasing security and staff in the residence buildings. In the email to the Med-Syd students, the school is asking students who have been impacted or witnessed gender-based violence to share the information with an email listed in the statement.
For those living on campus, the students were urged to email rlc_medsyd@uwo.ca about any incident they may have witnessed or been impacted by.
For support services, the school listed
– Gender-based Violence and Survivor Support https://www.uwo.ca/health/student_support/survivor_support/index.ht
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– Residence Counselling offers free counselling services to students who live in Residence. They provide short-term confidential counselling to help students manage a variety of mental/emotional challenges and promote healthy living. You can access them by emailing needtotalk@uwo.ca at any time to arrange to meet with one of our Residence Counsellors.
– Front Desk: At any time that you require crisis or urgent support
please connect with the front desk (519-661-3983) to speak to a residence
staff member or Residence Life Coordinator.
– Help Lines:
o Good2Talk: 24 Hour Student Helpline 1-866-925-5454
o CMHA Crisis Services 519-433-2023
o CMHA Support Line (non-crisis) — 1-844-360-8055
– CMHA Online Chat – reachout247.ca