Broken promises: a content analysis of Nova Scotia institutions of higher education's campus sexual assault policies

Sexual violence is a widespread issue on university campuses in Canada, where one in five female undergraduate students are victims of sexual assault. Despite decades of research, the statistics have not improved, highlighting the need for effective anti-violence legislation and policies that are properly informed, implemented and enforced. This thesis employs a content analysis of the sexual violence prevention policies of ten English-speaking Nova Scotia universities in relation to recommendations made by the Provincial Sexual Violence Prevention Committee. The study draws from two theoretical perspectives, Beverly McPhail's Feminist Framework Plus and the Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills model as applied to consent by Shumlich and Fisher. The findings show that none of the universities are meeting the targets they have committed to in their policies, highlighting the need for increased resource allocation and authoritative policy evaluation strategies to effectively address sexual violence on university campuses.