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Legal Fees for Stephanie Hale

Stephanie Sparks is organizing this fundraiser.
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Hi, my name is Stephanie Hale and I’m a sexual assault survivor. In 2013, I was physically and sexually assaulted during my first year of university inside a dorm on UBC’s Okanagan campus. Since the incident, I suffered from flashbacks, panic attacks, nightmares, depression, and PTSD. I have yet to receive full closure for what happened that night.

I reported the crime to three different departments at UBC’s Okanagan campus after the incident, all while still seeing my perpetrator in classes. I was finally made aware of the Non-Academic Misconduct (NAM) process (my only avenue for criminal complaint at UBC) in early 2016. This process was, to date, the most damaging part of this entire experience. Under UBC’s policy, I was expected to participate in the trial as strictly a witness of my own rape. I would be put on the stand and questioned by my peers, a group of students without any training whatsoever in the matters of sexual assault. Lastly, I would not be given the outcome of the hearing. Needless to say, I refused to participate in such a faulty process. I refused to retraumatize myself even one more time for the sake of UBC’s reputation, and so I decided to not attend the hearing that was finally held in November of 2016. If I wanted true justice, I’d have to seek elsewhere.

Which is exactly what I am doing now.

In August of 2017, with the help of my lawyer, I filed a Human Rights Complaint against UBC. In February of 2018, it was accepted, and in January 2019, a hearing was scheduled for 2020. With delays stemming in part from Covid-19, the hearing was rescheduled, and was finally completed in February 2022. We are now in the final submissions stage. 

My goals are to personally achieve justice for my assault while simultaneously holding UBC accountable for its mistakes. I wish for no future victim to go through what I have had to go through in advocating for myself. I wish for UBC to have a wholly appropriate system for dealing with this type of crime in the future. And I wish for rape and battery to end.

I need to raise the $20,000 as soon as possible to cover the legal fees associated with making such a drastic systemic change. Please join me in helping to end sexual assault. Any amount that you can donate would be much appreciated. Lastly, I ask that you please share this story to help spread awareness and to make this campaign as successful as possible. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. See the links below for my public articles.
























Organizer

Stephanie Sparks
Organizer
Prince George, BC

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