The rise of the #MeToo movement has shifted dramatically society’s awareness of gender and sexual harassment, but global rates of gender and sexual harassment remain high. While there are many contributing factors, time and time again male-dominated workplaces are found to have higher rates of workplace gender and sexual harassment than spaces that have greater gender parity. This is particularly important for STEM fields, where women are a low percentage of the workforce.

This literature review explores the knowledge available on the subject of preventing and responding to gender and sexual harassment in the workplace, with a focus on STEM workplaces. It explores strategies for workplace prevention, training and response systems in addition to examples of best practices.

Employment sabotage and disruption can include tactics to prevent a survivor from working as well as making it difficult for a survivor to maintain work. These tactics can be used both outside of the workplace and in the workplace.

This infographic introduces the definition of employment sabotage, examples of employment sabotage and workplace responses.

Intimate partner violence can have a significant impact on women’s economic security and employment. It can lead to job instability and loss. This can be because of poor mental health, trauma, relocation and sabotage by an abusive partner. For racialized women with experiences of intimate partner violence, this can be compounded by structural barriers and racism.

WomanACT consulted organizations that serve survivors of intimate partner violence and organizations that specialize in employment services for women on the barriers faced by organizations and survivors. The report explores what we heard from services providers, including their ideas for advancing survivors economic security and employment.

Most of the housing options for women experiencing intimate partner violence have something in common: they place the onus on women to leave home in order to reach safety. As a result, survivors of intimate partner violence routinely face housing instability, homelessness, and significant life disruptions in areas like employment, education and social connections.

This research report draws on qualitative data gathered through surveys, interviews and focus groups with survivors. The report explores survivors’ housing options and preferences when fleeing violence. The report also discusses the policies, programs and practices that support women to remain in their own home or independent housing when leaving a violent relationship.

Most of the housing options for women fleeing violence have something in common: they place the onus on women to leave home in order to reach safety. However, policies and programs that prioritize women’s independence can instead enable women to stay safely in their own homes. This shift in practice is a step forward in holding perpetrators accountable for their violence and limiting the consequences for survivors.

This literature review synthesizes the evidence on supporting women to remain safely in their home when leaving a violent relationship. It explores policy and program approaches from other jurisdictions, evaluation findings on the intervention’s outcomes and challenges, and promising practices that can broaden housing solutions for violence against women.

The Supporting Safe STEM Workplaces project is working to improve access to legal supports and resources for victims of sexual harassment in STEM industry workplaces across Canada.

Sexual harassment is a prevalent issue across Canada that permeates into places of work. In the workplace it can negatively impact productivity and motivation, increase stress, and increase the likelihood of employees leaving their jobs. In response to the high rates of sexual harassment in STEM workplaces, the project will work with STEM industry partners to better understand the needs, barriers, and opportunities related to preventing and responding to sexual harassment.

WomanACT is partnered with the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology to provide tailored support and training to help workplaces prevent sexual harassment, develop comprehensive policy, establish trauma-informed reporting mechanisms and develop avenues for resolution and referral pathways to support.

Publications:

Literature Review: Safe STEM Workplaces

Financial well-being has a significant impact on women’s safety. Women’s economic insecurity can marginalize women, increasing their risk of victimization. It is also a barrier to their safety. Financial hardship after leaving an abusive relationship is a near universal experience for survivors.

This submission highlights the connections between women’s financial literacy, economic security and violence against women. The submission proposes recommendations to the National Strategy for Financial Literacy in Canada on how to help close the financial literacy gender gap in Canada while also working to promote women’s financial independence and safety.

As we enter a third wave of the pandemic – what is showing to be the harshest wave yet – the provincial government must implement paid sick days.

Paid sick leave is a critical component of a pandemic response and yet, despite a call for paid sick leave from municipal governments and health authorities, the Ontario government has not implemented paid sick leave. Paid sick leave would help reduce the COVID-19 variant spread.

Paid sick leave is a gender issue. Women are less likely to have access to paid sick leave. Workers without paid sick leave are more likely to be in roles that are low paid and involve direct contact with others, like working in grocery stores, long-term care, or cleaning services. These roles are disproportionately held by women, particularly racialized women.

We cannot wait any longer to legislate paid sick days.

Take action now and tell the Ontario government you support paid sick days.

In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act (ESA) outlines various leaves of absence that employees are legally entitles to take. Domestic or sexual violence leave was added to the ESA in 2017.

The factsheet answers frequently asked questions about the leave as well as how employees can access the leave entitlement.

The Safe at Home project is working to advance survivors’ right to remain in their own home or independent housing when leaving an abusive relationship.

There is an expectation that women and their children should leave home when fleeing violence. As a result, survivors of intimate partner violence often face housing instability, homelessness, and significant life disruptions in areas like employment, service access, and social connections. These impacts are intensified by discriminatory housing and income policies that reinforce women’s economic insecurity, and norms that place housing responsibility on survivors.

The project will analyze housing, justice, and income policies and government funding priorities in order to facilitate survivors’ right to remain safely in their own home. It will also engage survivors and stakeholders to collaboratively develop policy recommendations and advocate for system change. To bring these changes into practice, the project will work to shift gender norms and attitudes through public awareness raising and organizational culture change.

This work will be informed by our previous research on Safe at Home housing models, including a literature review on program design and promising practices, primary research on survivors’ housing experiences and preferences, and a multi-sector stakeholder forum that captured opportunities and barriers for implementation.

Publications:

Safe at Home Community Conversation: What We Heard

Literature Review: Safe at Home

“A Place of My Own”: Survivors Perspectives on the Safe at Home Housing Model