January 2003
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OPINION

Sexual Harassment
By Broadcast Media Students, Roncalli Central High, Port Saunders, NL

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Sexual harassment can happen to anyone at anytime. But what exactly constitutes sexual harassment?

The Human Rights Act defines Sexual Harassment as 'unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment'.

It takes many forms:
1. Verbal harassment: Sexual comments, jokes, gestures, noises, propositions. As well as making sexual comments about a person’s clothing, body, or looks.

2. Non-verbal harassment: Sexual &/or derogatory comments about men/women on coffee mugs, hats, clothing, walls, computer screens, etc. Display of sexual pictures. Invading a person’s body space.

3. Physical Harassment: Any physical unwanted touches such as deliberate sexual touching or brushing up against, or leaning over, or pinching. Purposely brushing up against a person.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that violates your rights as a person.


     



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