Emergency meetings held in wake of Ryerson sex assaults

Two emergency meetings are being held in the wake of a handful of sexual assaults reported on Ryerson University’s campus this month.

Toronto Police said Wednesday they are looking into four of five reported assaults in the last 30 days.  One was deemed “unfounded.”

“All the incidents are currently under investigation, whether by Ryerson security or Toronto police,” Tony Conte, director of the office of the vice-provost at Ryerson, told CityNews.

“We do send out [safety-related] email alerts and we will be expanding that…sending that out to a broader audience,” he said.

Conte said he wasn’t aware if the assaults were linked. He encouraged students who had been assaulted to come forward, either to police or to on-campus facilities like the Ryerson Women’s Centre.  

The two latest assaults happened at a campus pub, the school’s Ryersonian paper reported.

The university’s students’ union organizing the meetings for Wednesday and Thursday.

“These incidents serve as a reminder that sexual assault and harassment are pervasive in our communities,” a statement on the Ryerson Students’ Union Facebook page said.

“In light of the incidents that have occurred over the past couple of weeks, we believe it’s important for us to come together and unpack and strategize ways to take action against gender-based violence.”

The first meeting happened Wednesday afternoon at the Ryerson Student Centre near Gould and Church streets. The second meeting is scheduled 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Podium building on Victoria Street.