UWindsor researcher helps launch guide for student disclosures of sexual violence

A University of Windsor education researcher is helping launch a new guide designed to help teachers respond more supportively when students disclose sexual violence. The model will be unveiled online Oct. 5 and aims to improve school responses while centering student voice.

Why it matters: - Teachers are often the first adults students tell about dating violence or sexual violence. - Better responses can affect whether students feel believed, supported and connected to resources. - The new guide aims to give educators practical steps for handling disclosures in a trauma-informed way.

What happened: - Dr. Catherine Vanner, an associate professor in the University of Windsor Faculty of Education, is helping launch the new CARE Model Guide. - The guide will be introduced at an online panel on Monday, Oct. 5 at 12 p.m. - The guide will be available online after the launch. - Vanner’s work focuses on gender-based violence and education.

The details: - The CARE Model Guide was created by Canadian social change consultancy Possibility Seeds. - The guide gives teachers strategies to listen to a student, explain reporting requirements, refer students to resources and take care of their own well-being afterward. - Vanner serves on the advisory board for High School Too, the project behind the guide. - High School Too grew out of student-led protests in 2022 over sexual violence and weak responses from school boards and administrators in Canadian high schools. - Possibility Seeds CEO and consent educator Farrah Khan led the effort to formalize High School Too with provincial funding. - The project is meant to support educators and students in Ontario as they respond to gender-based violence. - Vanner is also co-leading a research project with Possibility Seeds that asks high school students to navigate school board policies on sexual violence and assess how accessible that information is. - Vanner said the work originated with high school students and continues to depend on student agency and student voices.

Between the lines: - The push reflects a broader gap in schools: mandatory reporting training does not necessarily prepare teachers to support students after a disclosure. - The focus on student voice suggests the project is trying to shift schools from compliance-only responses to more student-centered ones. - The research component may help show whether current policies are easy for students to find and use when they need them.

What's next: - Educators can use the CARE Model Guide once it is posted online after the Oct. 5 launch. - The student policy-access research may inform future school guidance or reporting practices. - The project’s Ontario focus suggests more resources for educators and students may follow as the work develops.

The bottom line: - The new guide is meant to make school responses to sexual violence disclosures more supportive, more transparent and more grounded in student experience.