METRO VANCOUVER -- With Halloween parties planned for Thursday night around the University of B.C., some female students are arming themselves with pepper spray following a string of violent sex assaults on campus.

While carrying harmful sprays for protection is a legal grey area, Delta mom Veronica Redway said she bought two canisters for her teenage daughter after hearing this week there have been at least a half-dozen attacks on young women at UBC since April, all suspected to have been committed by the same predator.

“I’m not an advocate of carrying weapons,” she said. “But these attacks have been happening near the Student Union Building and the Gage residences. These are all places where (my daughter) walks.”

Redway said she was advised by a police officer friend that although it is illegal to carry pepper spray with the intent to harm someone, it would be highly unlikely that authorities would seize it from women at UBC in light of recent events.

UBC president Stephen Toope on Wednesday announced the school will beef up safety precautions by hiring an outside security company to bolster the university’s own resources, as well as upgrade lighting around the campus.

He said a campus security group will report back in a month with suggestions on whether security cameras should be installed, but that issue raises privacy concerns and will require careful consideration.

Redway’s 18-year-old daughter, Samara Redway, said she is grateful her mother bought the pepper spray, and she feels a little safer walking to her dorm room after class.

“Especially since it gets dark so early now, and my classes end pretty late ... I carry (the pepper spray) in my backpack or just in my pocket,” she said, adding that the canister is about the size of a deodorant stick.

The applied biology student said a lot of her female friends have been asking her mom where they can buy the spray because they would feel safer with a spray than with the “rape whistles” UBC staff are selling in the Student Union Building.

“I’d say all of my friends who are girls feel the same way as me. They’re scared about it as well, so they think the pepper spray is a good idea.”

She said the spray is just an added safety measure, and that she and her friends always walk together now if they are out at night.

“I know a lot of people are going to be out late because it’s Halloween weekend on Thursday and Friday, so people are worried about that. There are a lot of Halloween parties on campus. Most people thought (the case) would have been resolved by now, so everyone is shocked that it is still going on.”

The RCMP announced Tuesday that investigators believe the six assaults — all involving young women late at night or early morning on campus — have been committed by the same man. The suspect is described as a white man in his mid-to-late 20s with a slightly olive skin tone.

The attacks occurred on April 19, May 19, Sept. 28, Oct. 13 and Oct. 19. The latest attack was Sunday at 1:30 a.m. In the Oct. 19 incident, the woman was grabbed from behind, punched in the face and had her nylons ripped. The attack represented an escalation in violence and prompted the RCMP Major Crimes Unit to take over the investigation.

Hundreds of people were expected to attend a rally Wednesday evening at UBC to protest the assaults that have shaken staff and students at the usually quiet campus.

ticrawford@vancouversun.com

with file from Canadian Press