When it comes to workplace sexual harassment, complainants in British Columbia need greater access to legal support and more informational resources. Employers and employees need to increase their knowledge, skill, and confidence levels in handling this complex issue.
That’s why EVA BC has launched an exciting public legal education project that will help small business, non-profits, Indigenous communities, and youth-focused legal assistance centres boost their ability to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment issues.
EVA BC is co-leading the five-year project SHARP Workplaces (Sexual Harassment Advice, Response, and Prevention for Workplaces) with Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS). This includes two program streams: Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) provided by EVA BC and free legal advice offered by CLAS.
“SHARP Workplaces will empower workers and promote workplace culture change by creating trauma-informed, accessible, public legal education materials related to workplace sexual harassment,” says EVA BC Program Manager Liza Hughes.
SHARP Workplaces to have broad reach
Here’s just some of what this collaborative project, funded by the Department of Justice, will offer the public across the province:
- Training and accessible guidelines to increase employer and employee awareness of their rights and responsibilities related to workplace sexual harassment
- A CLAS-run legal clinic that will provide up to 5 hours of free legal advice and services to complainants of workplace sexual harassment
- Development of referral networks among service providers
- Response protocols and best practices for handling disclosures in the workplace
- Trauma-informed investigations and reporting processes
- Prevention of workplace sexual harassment
- Policy templates
- PLEI materials.
Sensitive to regional concerns and responsiveness, SHARP Workplaces is contracting with lawyers who will offer local legal advice and services throughout the province.
Starting Nov. 1, 2021, the public will be able to access legal education materials, such as videos, handouts, and adaptable policy templates, on a new 24/7, online hub.
For more info: stavness [at] endingviolence [dot] org (Corinne Stavness, Interim Program Manager)
Please note: Training delivery dates to be announced in the spring of 2021.
Video series now available
SHARP Workplaces offers four animated YouTube videos that explain sexual harassment and related issues such as working in a male-dominated industry and addressing unwanted and persistent invitations. Click here to view one in the series. Click here to see the others on the website of CLAS, EVA BC’s SHARP Workplaces partner.
New brochure and posters now available
The SHARP Workplaces project has produced new posters, each aimed at a separate audience: Nonprofits, Small Business, and Indigenous Communities. They provide information on the training components that EVA BC offers regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. Please share these widely in your networks and feel free to display them prominently in your workplace.
Click here to view and download the Nonprofits poster
Click here to view and download the Small Business poster
Click here to view and download the Indigenous Communities poster
SHARP Workplaces has also created a general brochure that defines sexual harassment in the workplace, outlines employers’ responsibilities to prevent it, and describes the training components that EVA BC offers.
Click here to view and download the SHARP Workplaces brochure
Are you experiencing or have you experienced sexual harassment at work?
If so, you could receive up to 5 hours of free legal advice. See this web page from the Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS) for more information.
