In December we were stunned to discover that a group of male Dalhousie University dentistry students had been regaling themselves by speculating on a Facebook page about who amongst the female students they would enjoy raping. The misogyny and sexual violence of their "Gentlemen's Club"postings was disgusting and deeply disturbing to the female students named, as well as others in the program.
The university decried the Facebook conversation and postponed exams at end of term. Then there was an announcemet that the students, both perpetrators and victims, would enter into a restorative justice program to develop a plan of action and, presumably, punishment. Many have reacted to this proposal with outrage. Protests have taken place on the Dalhousie campus, demanding the expulsion of the offenders. They are convinced that this is not enough.
I agree, as does my wife Ruth, who is a trained mediator. While there is great merit in restorative justice processes, we feel that a clear message must be sent that this sort of behaviour is reprehensible and that the consequences will be consistently severe.
A group of Dal professors has now spoken out, demanding that the male students be suspended until the resolution of this situation, which might result in expulsion. One of them is Francoise Baylis, one of Canada's foremost bioethicists and a member of the St. Andrew's congregation I served in Halifax. They insist that other students on campus should not be required to attend classes with the accused and I would agree.
I have posted before about the underlying misogyny of our culture and my concern that somehow we have not got very far in changing attitudes about objectifying women. It is unacceptable that these men might begin practice as dentists in a year, working in situations with women staff member, and treating women in vulnerable situations. A strong message must be sent about this sort of behaviour.
What do you think?
3 comments:
I completely, wholeheartedly agree with you! Anything short of being kicked out will minimize what they have done.
It is shocking the mentality of these supposedly intelligent male students. You may need to achieve high academic standards to get where they are right now, but their morals and values are in the gutter.
Get rid of them!
Restorative justice is not a substitution for justifiable consequence, although it does have some desirable features such as confronting perpetrators with the consequences of their actions.
I perceive no indication of remorse from these clowns at Dal. Expulsion from both completing their degrees and entering the profession (and hence earning an affluent living) sends the message that will garner the greatest attention.
You and Ruth and Frank and Roger are all 100% correct - these jerks do not deserve to be part of any highly regarded profession. And women do not deserve to be subjected to potentially unwanted attention while being treated by them.
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