Are Canadians becoming more tuned in to the issue of sexual harassment?

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The issue of sexual harassment is dominating the headlines again today, in light of accusations against two Liberal MPs and former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi.

Are we becoming more tuned in to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace?

One victims advocate says awareness is growing, but more needs to happen.

The level of public support for people who come forward helps determine whether other victims choose to report harassment, according to Hilla Kerner with Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

“Unfortunately, the three first women who did tell their stories to the media about Ghomeshi did not receive much support. We needed to have many more women [speaking] publicly, women revealing their names and who they are for the majority of the public to take a stand and to support their claims and their accusations. So, I think that we have a long way to go, in terms of public support of women victims of sexual harassment and sexual violence,” says Kerner.

She adds it’s similar, in terms of police response.

“It’s much more likely that the police will conduct a thorough investigation if there are a few complaints and if there is more than one woman coming forward to report about experiencing male violence, sexual violence, so often unfortunately, an individual woman’s report is not enough.”

Kerner does think the case in Ottawa and the case involving Ghomeshi will help.

“The fact that now the women who did come forward and reported about Ghomeshi received such public support is very encouraging. We know it from women who call our own crisis line, and we can see that there are more and more women coming forward. There is an incredible number of women revealing their experience of being attacked by male violence on social media. We see the new hashtag #beenrapedneverreported when women do reveal the fact that they’ve been victims of male violence, of rape and sexual assault. So, definitely, the fact that eventually there is much more support publicly to women who come forward, there is much greater understanding of what consent means, there is more understanding of how men use their power in the world, and the individual relationship to access women and to attack women. All those factors do encourage women and do permit women to come forward and to reveal that they’ve been attacked by men,” she says.

She thinks it’s important for women to see police treating every report seriously, and that thorough investigations are being done that lead to charges and convictions.

Kerner says we’re not there yet; she’s hoping this is the next phase.

She feels Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s suspension of two MPs was the right reaction. Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti are facing accusations of sexual harassment. Both MPs claim the accusations are false.

But Kerner says based on the media coverage she’s heard, the CBC acted far too late in response to accusations against Ghomeshi.