In its bid to eliminate sexual harassment and violence in federal workplaces, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has initiated an anonymous online survey to let the general public have its say on the issue.
Launched on Feb. 14, Canadian Perspectives: Workplace Harassment and Violence Survey is intended to help ESDC understand the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence in Canadian workplaces, what kinds of behaviour are going on, what risks are contributing to the problem, what preventive measures and support are available and what resources would help make workplaces free of sexual misconduct. The public consultation will be online until March 3, according to a government news release.
“All people deserve workplaces that are free from harassment and sexual violence,” Patty Hajdu, the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, said in a press statement. “I encourage Canadians to share their views and contribute to the goal of ending harassment and sexual violence at work.”
Maryam Monsef, the federal Minister of Status of Women, also urged Canadian workers to take part in the consultation. “Only by bringing these issues to light will we be able to increase prevention, support survivors and engage men and boys in creating a society that is safer for all Canadians.”
All of the information that respondents share in the consultation will remain confidential, ESDC stated in the survey’s online introduction. But the ministry also asked participants not to share information about criminal proceedings or anybody’s names or phone numbers.
“This survey is not a means of reporting an incident of harassment or violence or of reporting an employer’s noncompliance with legislative requirements under the Canada Labour Code,” ESDC said, noting that participants could submit separate complaints on such matters.
A previous government survey, Federal Jurisdiction Workplace Survey, 2015, found that 295 employees in federal workplaces had filed formal complaints of sexual harassment in 2015. About four-fifths of the complainants had been women. In addition, there were 1,601 reported violent incidents in the sector that year, and about three-fifth of the victims were male.
The earlier survey, the results of which were released by Statistics Canada last Nov. 30, examined the situations of nearly 900,000 workers in the country’s federal labour jurisdiction. About 62 per cent of the employees were males, who dominated such professions as trucking, bus operation and manual labour without trade certification.
Canadian Perspectives: Workplace Harassment and Violence Survey is accessible online, in both English and French, at https://hrsdc-rhdcc.sondages-surveys.ca/s/harassmentviolenceharcelement/.