Sexual harassment and violence, and how to prevent and address such incidents, were the focus of a panel discussion and luncheon on at the Chateau Nova on Dec. 9.

Charles Dent, chair of the NWT Human Rights Commission, which hosted the event, spoke about the importance of advocating for equality.

SA国际影视传媒淲e need to work together to actively protect equality rights,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淒onSA国际影视传媒檛 turn away if you see somethingSA国际影视传媒檚 wrong. Make sure you speak up for equality.SA国际影视传媒�

One of the questions Dent asked the panel was, SA国际影视传媒淲hat have you found to be the main factors contributing to continuing high rates of sexual harassment and violence?SA国际影视传媒�

Answering first was Vivian Hansen, Crown witness coordinator supervisor with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. She listed several issues that contribute to the problem: SA国际影视传媒済ender equity, abuse of myths, stereotypes about gender and sex, social norms that support male superiority and sexual entitlement and intimate partner violence.SA国际影视传媒�

She also said that jealousy is a prominent issue.

SA国际影视传媒淛ealousy is a huge concern in partnerships and in building trust. Unresolved feelings of jealousy and trauma all leads to what weSA国际影视传媒檙e seeing in the courts,SA国际影视传媒� said Hansen.

Amanda St. Denis, workforce diversity officer with the GNWT, said she could spend days answering that one question. She chose to focus on a single issue for the sake of time.

SA国际影视传媒淥ne thing I really want to bring up is the intersectionality of sexual harassment and violence. Gender-based violence and sexual harassment goes beyond just sex and gender.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 not lost on any of us that we live in colonial patriarchy that still upholds white supremacy, upholds misogyny, upholds heteronormativity, and cisnormativity. That all feeds intoSA国际影视传媒� gender-based violence and sexual harassment.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 not just women that are predominant victims of sexual harassment and gender-based violence,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭here is more violence being perpetuated to trans folks and gender non-conforming folks, particularly Black trans women, Indigenous trans women, and two-spirit folks are of greater risk of sexual harassment.SA国际影视传媒�

According to Statistics Canada data from late 2020, sexual minority SA国际影视传媒� non-heterosexual and trans SA国际影视传媒� Canadians (59 per cent) were much more likely than heterosexual Canadians (37 per cent) to have been physically or sexually assaulted by someone who was not an intimate partner.

Sabet Biscaye, director of the territorial governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 Gender Equality Division, said that complacency, normalization, and not recognizing sexual harassment and violence as being inappropriate were some of the main contributing factors.

She also spoke about how she helps educate people in her professional life.

SA国际影视传媒淧art of our work that we do is not just about developing policy and working with communitiesSA国际影视传媒� (but) providing the tools, and, in some cases, legislation to departments to be able to deal with this.SA国际影视传媒�

She also stated the importance of spreading awareness of these types of issues and shared an example of how family can potentially make restoration more difficult. When a perpetrator is a family member in a position of power, SA国际影视传媒測ouSA国际影视传媒檙e not just battling that person, you could be battling your family and the whole community. This is something that we have to start developing awareness (of),SA国际影视传媒� she explained.