Sexual harassment is defined as acts or comments of a sexual nature that are known to be unwanted or should be known to be unwanted, according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Many people have been sexually harassed either at work, school or just while living their day-to-day lives, with some people not even realizing they were being sexually harassed.

“I had a boss who hit on me and told me I should leave my boyfriend,” said Fanshawe graduate, Amber Wess. “I didn’t even realize it was sexual harassment and didn’t say anything to anyone.”

“I was never taught about this growing up so when it happened to me, I felt embarrassed,” said Fanshawe student, Kylie Munchester. “I was sexually harassed by my manager at my last job and ended up quitting because it made me uncomfortable and I felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because of his authority.”

Sexual harassment includes unwelcome verbal, written, and physical sexual advances, unwanted or unnecessary physical touch, inappropriate staring or leering, inappropriate and unwanted comments about a person’s body, dress or appearance and the list goes on, according to Fanshawe’s Sexual Violence and Sexual Assault policy.

“I was sexually harassed at my previous job in the form of verbal remarks, at the time I hadn’t really thought much of it to be honest,” said a Fanshawe student who asked to remain anonymous. “I didn’t want the attention after addressing the harassment because my coworkers talked to each other, so I just brushed it off.”

Forty-seven per cent of women and 31 per cent of men have reported experiencing sexual harassment at work, according to a Statistics Canada report from 2024. With that being said, many people don’t report or speak out against sexual harassment for a multitude of reasons.

“I didn’t talk to anyone about it because I was trying to process it and I didn't want to keep bringing it up,” said Fanshawe student, Deana Maufat.

Deciding to speak out against sexual harassment can be scary, according to Fanshawe counsellor, Leah Marshall.

“Every survivor gets to decide what their path to healing looks like,” said Marshall. “A lot of times in our society, there's a lot of shame and stigma and myths that surround this type of violence, which makes it really hard for us as survivors to come forward and to talk about what we've experienced, and sometimes we're even worried about what people are going to say if we do reach out for support.”

Fanshawe offers many supports to help survivors of sexual harassment know their options.

“Students are always welcome to come to counselling and accessibility services to meet confidentially with a counsellor, to speak about what's happening, to find out potentially how to do a safety plan and how to make a report on campus to campus security if that’s something that they'd like to do, but also just to receive support and counselling around the impact of this type of violence,” said Marshall.

If you feel like you are experiencing sexual harassment, you can contact the Fanshawe College Sexual Violence Prevention Coordinator at 519-452-4465 or reach out to a counsellor by emailing counselling@fanshawec.ca or by calling 519-452-4282.