A PhD student faced her alleged rapist last week for the first time since the incident. The trial begins February 1.
Mandi Gray, who started Silence is Violence, a coalition combating sexual violence on campus, spoke to Excalibur about the experience and what she thinks will happen at the trial next week.
When CUPE 3903 held a party on January 31, 2015 following the strike vote, Gray alleges that she was raped by Mustafa Ururyar, the union’s chief steward.
“I reported to the Toronto police on February 2, 2015 and on February 15, 2015 my attacker was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault and subsequently released on bail,” says Gray.
Ururyar is currently facing a sexual assault charge and was part of the CUPE 3903 Executive Committee until he was confronted about being charged with sexual assault, to which he voluntarily resigned last February.
Gray went to court last week because the accused put in a third-party records application. While not an enjoyable experience, Gray says it nonetheless provided her with an opportunity to see what the criminal trial will be like.
“That was the first time I saw him since the assault happened last January,” she says.
“I think it’s important for the York community to know [his name] considering he will more than likely be returning [as a] TA and be a student at York following the trial.”
“Just like most cases of acquaintance rape, I don’t anticipate he will be found guilty,” says Gray. “Not because I think the assault didn’t happen, but because our justice system is not set up to prosecute cases of sexual violence.”
“The likelihood of him being found guilty is quite small, statistically. That’s the reality of acquaintance and intimate partner violence.”
Last year, York became the first university in Toronto to establish a policy on sexual assaults. However, critics argue that by simply issuing a policy, administrators may not take the time to listen to the people most vulnerable to sexual assault. Discussion continues on the lines between policy and implementation.
Gray wrote an open letter to York President Mamdouh Shoukri criticizing the policy, citing that there are “no resources for students or employees available regarding the procedural aspect following a disclosure to York University faculty and/or staff,” and that it remains unclear how perpetrators will be held accountable.
The trial is from February 1 to February 3 at Old City Hall, 60 Queen Street West.
Ryan Moore, News Editor
