Content warning: Contains reference to sexual violence 

 “I’ve learned that I’m allowed to say no and that it is completely normal to say no.”  — Student feedback on It Takes All of Us  

McMaster is once again offering students It Takes All of Us, an interactive online learning module developed to increase awareness of gender-based and sexual violence.

The module is part of a larger slate of programming and training that aims to protect community members from gender-based or sexual violence — online or in-person, verbal or physical.

What it is 

It Takes All of Us is an asynchronous online learning module that addresses the topics of consent, bystander intervention, supporting survivors and accessing resources.

McMaster’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) is leading the delivery of the module, which was first delivered at Concordia University in 2019 and is now offered at many other institutions across Canada.

While it can be done at any pace, it usually takes 45 minutes to an hour. While it’s strongly encouraged, completing the module is optional. Students can un-enroll from the module without penalty.

Where you can find it 

All incoming undergraduate and graduate students at McMaster are automatically enrolled in the module on Avenue to Learn, and returning students are encouraged to take it as well.

The learning module is also being promoted on social media and at Welcome Week and orientation events, including at Mac Welcome, an event for incoming students hosted by consent-educating drag persona, Unita Assk.

Everyone is encouraged to take care while taking the module, including pausing to take breaks if needed, and to connect with the SVPRO team for support at any time.

“I think [dedicated efforts to educate students about consent] might be one of the most important things the university does to create a safe space”  —Student feedback on It Takes All of Us

Got more questions? 

Start with the FAQ section on the It Takes All of Us webpage (Scroll down).

Does the module work? Is it going to change? 

Professor Catharine Munn from the department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience is working with School of Nursing Professor Susan Jack to evaluate how the module affects student’s knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviours with regard to consent, sexual health and sexual violence.

They will also work with experts on sexual health and sexual violence to assess the efficacy of the module.

The researchers met with 13 focus groups of students, reflecting many diverse identities and intersectionalities of McMaster’s student communities: Cisgender women, transgender women, cisgender men, transgender men, non-binary students, heterosexual women and men, gay and lesbian students; students of diverse races, ethnicities, international and domestic student status, and disabilities.

The findings from this research will shape how consent education is implemented and delivered on campus.

“This was kind of like my first impression of McMaster…finding out that they really emphasize the value of sexual violence [prevention] was really important to kind of identifying myself as like part of the McMaster community.” —Student feedback on It Takes All of Us

Further programming and training 

The It Takes All of Us module is part of a growing list of initiatives from the SVPRO team as they connect with students.

Other initiatives include high-visibility signs across campus explaining what consent is and why it matters, drop-in chats with support professionals, a robust peer educator program, bystander intervention initiatives and a slate of year-round programming.

As part of the goal to train every student leader to prevent harm and to respond effectively to disclosures of sexual violence, SVPRO staff worked with colleagues in the Accessibility Program and the Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Oppression Program in partnership with the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton Area to train about 1,500 Welcome Week student reps. They learned about accessibility, discrimination and harassment, consent, and bystander intervention techniques, then ran through bystander intervention case scenarios.

“It kind of made me feel a little bit hopeful maybe that more students would like watch it and that there would be wider-spread general knowledge if other people took the course.”
— Student feedback on It Takes All of Us

Learn more about how McMaster is creating a campus free of gender-based and sexual violence on McMaster’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO)’s It Takes All of Us website.