Rape Survivor Says University Discriminated against Her Because She’s Pro-Life

In February 2017, Talia Battista was treading water amidst a torrent of therapy bills. An abusive partner had raped Battista years before, and the lingering effects of that traumatic night still rippled across her consciousness. “I went through a period of extreme PTSD, where speaking about sexual assault was incredibly triggering. There were a lot of flashbacks, a lot of nightmares,” Battista says.

Battista, a biracial and disabled undergraduate student at Ryerson University, now called Toronto Metropolitan, had stumbled across a Facebook post for a “Self-Healing Through Yoga” campus event dedicated to sexual-assault survivors. The timing couldn’t have been better, Battista thought. It would alleviate the crushing financial stress of paying out of pocket for counseling while expanding her network of survivors.

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Ari Blaff

Ari Blaff is a reporter for the National Post. He was formerly a news writer for National Review.

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In February 2017, Talia Battista was treading water amidst a torrent of therapy bills. An abusive partner had raped Battista years before, and the lingering effects of that traumatic night still rippled across her consciousness. “I went through a period of extreme PTSD, where speaking about sexual assault was incredibly triggering. There were a lot of flashbacks, a lot of nightmares,” Battista says.

Battista, a biracial and disabled undergraduate student at Ryerson University, now called Toronto Metropolitan, had stumbled across a Facebook post for a “Self-Healing Through Yoga” campus event dedicated to sexual-assault survivors. The timing couldn’t have been better, Battista thought. It would alleviate the crushing financial stress of paying out of pocket for counseling while expanding her network of survivors.