Sexual Harassment: A Guide for Survivors in Educational Institutions & the Workplace
Download the brochure here (pdf)
Background
The Canadian Women’s Foundation reports that “young Canadians are more likely to experience sexual assault. The rate of assault for Canadians age 15-24 is 18 times higher than that of Canadians age 55 and older.” The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women reports that the following groups of women experience particular vulnerabilities to sexualized violence: immigrant and refugee women, women of colour, sex workers, transgender women, Two-Spirit women, women in Northern, rural, and remote communities, and women facing other forms of social inequality.
Thanks to support from Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC) at the University of Victoria, the law students were tasked with researching issues of sexual harassment and sexualized violence, specifically policies about privacy, disclosure, barriers to reporting, court process (criminal and civil) and counselling/support, protections for survivors, the Bill of Rights and the Victims of Crime Act, Title IX in the US, and recommendations for Canadian higher education sexualized violence policies.
Under the supervision of Wen He (Velletta & Company) from September 2019 to March 2020, the students prepared an internal research memo to assist CREAN with further research and advocacy on the topic. The findings of the research memo were compiled into an accessible brochure distributed online and to various community centres across the province.
Special thanks to PBSC law students, Thulasi Kandiah & Hannah van Mook, for their hard work on this project.
Brochure Launch
The brochure was launched during our annual conference on March 14 2020 during a panel discussion called “Myths of Sexual Violence and the Law.” Our guest speakers included Wen He (Valleta Law and Company) and MP for Victoria, Laurel Collins.
We continue to advocate at the municipal and provincial to have legislation passed that upholds the rights of survivors of sexualized violence
For further information about our research, email research@creansociety.ca or call 250-721-9611.