Laurier expert alert: Consent Awareness Week

Sept. 20, 2022
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – Sept. 19-23 is Consent Awareness Week, an event to raise awareness among students about the role that consent plays in the development of healthy relationships and in reducing sexual violence. Wilfrid Laurier University is committed to fostering a culture that advocates for consent as gendered and sexual violence is not tolerated. (Read Laurier’s story on the week’s activities on campus and social media, as well as important supports and resources.)

The following list includes Laurier experts who are available to speak at this time but does not represent the full breadth of expertise that exists at our institution. For a more comprehensive inventory of our faculty researchers, please consult the Experts at Laurier database.   

Stacey Hannem, professor in the Department of Criminology, is an expert on the effects of crime and legal regulation on the lives of marginalized and vulnerable persons, with a particular focus on gender. Her latest book (with Christopher J. Schneider), Defining Sexual Misconduct: Media, Power and #MeToo, released in May 2022 examines how media coverage of sexual violence has shaped shifting social mores with respect to survivors’ narratives. Hannem is currently leading an international comparative study of the legal regulation of sex work in Canada, New Zealand and Nevada, U.S. and studying women’s experiences of risk and sexual violence in male dominated music scenes. Contact: shannem@wlu.ca

Jennifer Root, associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work, is an expert on gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, child exposure to woman abuse and other forms of trauma perpetrated against women and girls. She is currently researching resistance, help-seeking and conceptions of safety among women who’ve experienced gender-based violence. Contact: jroot@wlu.ca

Andrew Welsh is an associate professor in the Department of Criminology and associate dean of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences. He is an expert on the constructions of crime and justice in the media and popular culture and has studied how gender and violence are portrayed in films and on television. Contact: awelsh@wlu.ca

Michael Woodford, professor in Laurier’s Faculty of Social Work, is an expert on discrimination and the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ2S+ youth. Woodford’s research explores how bullying, sexual violence, and everyday microaggressions can increase LGBTQ2S+ youth's risk for poor mental health and other negative outcomes, as well as the factors that can foster resilience. Woodford is leading the Thriving on Campus Study, a province-wide study exploring the experiences mental health and academic success of LGBTQ2S+ university students in Ontario. Read more about his work. Contact: mwoodford@wlu.ca