Canadian workplaces have an important role to play in the primary prevention of violence against women and girls, for three main reasons: Violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination against women occur in workplaces; violence that occurs at home or in the community can impact one’s work; and workplace structures and cultures influence gender inequality.
Violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination against women occur in workplaces.
Despite advancements in public policy at federal and provincial levels to address workplace violence and harassment, research shows that women continue to experience gender-based discrimination and inappropriate sexualized behaviours that can make them feel undervalued, uncomfortable and unsafe while at work. A survey conducted by Statistics Canada before the COVID-19 pandemic found that:
- One-quarter (25%) of women said that they had been personally targeted with sexualized behaviours in their workplace in the preceding year, along with 17% of men.
- One in ten (10%) women experienced workplace discrimination based on their gender, along with a smaller proportion of men (4%).
- One in eight (13%) women stated that they had been sexually assaulted in a work-related context at one point during their working lives, about four times the proportion among men (3%).
Another Statistics Canada survey from 2018 found that 19% of women and 13% of men reported that they had experienced harassment in their workplace in the past year. Workplace harassment included verbal abuse, humiliation, threats to persons, physical violence, and unwanted sexual attention or sexual harassment. Workers who experienced harassment were more likely to be dissatisfied with their job, and experience higher levels of stress and poor health.