Sexual Harassment in Public Places: Experience of Canadian Women

Sexual violence has been one of the major human right issues that happen to be faced by women especially in Canada and women are concerned with this issue as a result of its physical, emotional and psychological consequences. This form of violence in most of the cases appears to involve sexual harassment as it's the main concern experienced. This review will be based on the overview of sexual harassment that women in Canada are faced with based on the social scientific perspective which at some point will include criminological approach. It will also be supported by views from some theoretical aspects from which the issue is reviewed. Finally, I will give my personal opinion concerning the issue of sexual harassment basing my argument on the article.

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Sexual harassment against women can be defined from many perspectives. According to the world health organization, it is defined as any act of gender-based violence whose consequences include sexual, physical or suffering to women. It can also mean any sexual act or attempt to sexual act directed against a person's consent. Sexual harassment against women case in Canada was brought into light through two primary sources. This involves the general social survey as well as the uniform crime reporting survey (Deschamps 2015). The general social study happens not to conduct a full survey since at some point we realize that it underestimates the issue. Even though it is an issue of concern, we realize that according to some studies done to measure sexual violence in the country, the report shows that the issue remains to be underreported. Some of the reasons outlined for not reporting include that some of the victims felt that the issue was not that serious worth reporting (Nelson and Burke 2018). There also happened to be a lack of clarity on the concept of sexual harassment to the people especially women. Others opted not to report due to the shame, fear and being embarrassed since they might not be believed or they may be wrongly judged by the court judges. From these instances, we realize that the act becomes like a routine which at some point they become ethically and culturally questionable. This in other communities is judged as non-conformance to the ethical and cultural standards.

In relation to criminology, under-reporting happen to because the acts do not reach the criminal threshold according to the Canadian criminal code (Stafford, 2016). Many studies have shown concern on criminal justice response towards the issue. There has been inconsistency reported on arrest and convictions made concerning the issue. This explains the reason why women in Canada fail to report such matters. On a theoretical approach, it is clear that sexual harassment in public places in Canada is based on gender and social patterns. Most of the women are likely to experience the effect of sexual harassment than men. The concept of structural violence comes up from the article to draw some attention concerning various systems of oppression. The oppressions happen to be organized daily in which we realize made more people suffering and more vulnerable to violence (Vandiver, Braithwaite and Stafford 2016). These systems happened to be based on political, social and historical processes which were responsible for shaping certain groups of people which are women in the case of Canada. Jane Doe as well brought the matter into light after her case happened to be like a watershed concerning sexual harassment. She believed that such act of discrimination especially in the legal process in Canada had impacted the health and safety of women. Some of the cases that had been reported concerning the issue appeared to be unfound while those women who had reported any cases earlier could face long-term danger in case they report another similar case in future (Collier and Raney 2018). This clearly shows the position of Canadian women in dealing with such issues.

Responding to this, there are many changes have been made concerning how police should address the issue of sexual harassment in public places. This involved them being trained (Ohihoin et al. 2018). At some point, the act went back to the same situation it was in. This time round women were insulted for encouraging the action through how they dress, their conduct as well as demeanour. While at some point as well some women could say "no" while they mean "yes".

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would encourage a proper understanding of such matters by holding seminars to educate people on sexual harassment and all that are involved in it. Most of the women in Canada were not sure whether what was done to them was a violation of her rights. The police, on the other hand, should be trained on how to deal with such issues. Women, on the other hand, should know how to avoid what might lead them to incidences of being sexually harassed. With such measures, I believe that the situation will improve with time.

REFERENCES

Collier, Cheryl N., and Tracey Raney. 2018. "Canada's Member-To-Member Code Of Conduct On Sexual Harassment In The House Of Commons: Progress Or Regress?." Canadian Journal of Political Science 51(4):795-815.

Deschamps, Marie. 2015. "Conclusion | External Review Into Sexual Misconduct And Sexual Harassment In The Canadian Armed Forces." Forces.gc.ca. Retrieved November 29, 2018 (http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/caf-community-support-services/external-review-sexual-mh-2015/conclusion.page).

Nelson, Debra, and Ronald Burke. 2018. Gender, Work Stress, And Health. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.

Ohihoin, Aigbe et al. 2018. "The Pattern Of Sexual Assault In People Presenting To A Gynaecological Unit Of A Tertiary Hospital In South- West Nigeria." Amhsr.org. Retrieved November 29, 2018 (https://www.amhsr.org/articles/the-pattern-of-sexual-assault-in-people-presenting-to-a-gynaecological-unit-of-a-tertiary-hospital-in-south-west-nigeria-4719.html).

Vandiver, Donna M, Jeremy Braithwaite, and Mark C Stafford. 2016. Sex Crimes And Sex Offenders. New York: Routledge.