Workplace harassment complaints double over last year

In the wake of sexual misconduct allegations in the media, the arts and in politics, victims of workplace harassment seem to have found their voice.

It’s been a year since Bill 132: the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act became law in Ontario, and complaints to the Ministry of Labour regarding workplace harassment have doubled.

Locally between Sept. 8, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2017, eight complaints alleging sexual harassment in workplaces were reported to the Ministry of Labour.

Provincially, from September 2016 to June 2017, the ministry received 4,935 calls that resulted in 2,133 harassment complaints, including 156 specific to sexual harassment. Compared to the same time frame the previous year, it’s a 136 per cent increase in harassment complaints, from 903 to 2,133 and a 114 per cent increase in sexual harassment complaints, from 73 to 156.

Many cases of workplace harassment are never reported.

Cheryl Collier, associate professor of political science at the University of Windsor, believes the #MeToo movement, which went viral on social media in October 2017 to denounce sexual assault and harassment, is giving women a voice.

“Sexual harassment is a big topic everywhere right now and that movement gave everyone a large platform,” she said. “From a gender analysis perspective, it puts something in the public conversation that hadn’t been there before. It’s actually created space for people to feel comfortable addressing things that have been going on for decades.”

Christine Maclin, first vice-president of Unifor 195, said a lot has been done to bring awareness to workplace harassment, but she believes there’s still a long way to go.

“There’s been a real crackdown, especially on the union side, with programs like women’s advocate, our equity representatives, getting women into not only leadership positions at local levels but women in steward positions,” she said. “I don’t want to say it’s eliminated sexual harassment in all workplaces, but it’s definitely reduced or at least minimized the impact within the workplace.”

She said the #MeToo movement has helped give women the strength to stand up and be heard. But she also believes awareness programs brought into the workplace by employers and unions have helped.

Even long before Bill 132, Unifor was focused on reducing sexual harassment in the workplace and making it more comfortable for people to come forward with complaints.

“I think nothing is worth the paper it’s written on if it’s not implemented,” Maclin said. “But I think no matter what, it’s good to have that legislation, simply because it holds employers legally obligated to address those issues rather than sweep it under the carpet and it never really goes away.”

For years, people were quiet about workplace harassment, fearing retaliation.

“In the workplace there was always that old belief system that you wouldn’t be believed or that there would be some sort of retaliation or reprisal from the employer,” she said. “That old way of thinking comes from the fact that women are not believed when they talk about sexual assault or sexual harassment.”

But, she pointed out, more women are entering trade fields and working in positions that are traditionally male-dominated. She believes that this shift has helped to bring an awareness to sexual harassment and clear up any misunderstanding about what will be tolerated.

There was always that old belief system that you wouldn’t be believed or that there would be some sort of retaliation or reprisal from the employer.