Purpose of the Research Study
Helping to Solve Problems in Gender-Based Violence in Politics and Improving Democracy
Several jurisdictions in Canada at the federal and provincial levels have adopted policies to prevent sexual harassment in political legislatures. Yet to date, very few analyses have been conducted on these initiatives, nor of how and whether government responses can be expected to effectively deal with these problems. The goal of this study is to better understand the nature of sexism and sexual harassment that exists in Canadian politics, and to evaluate government and party responsiveness to these issues at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels.
The project has three central objectives:
- To learn more about the nature of sexism and sexual harassment experienced by political staff and elected representatives in provincial, territorial, and federal legislatures in Canada.
- To compare the reasons for and content of recently-created sexual harassment codes of conduct and policies governing elected and non-elected public servants across Canada.
- To comparatively evaluate the effectiveness of sexual harassment codes of conduct and policies in curbing sexism and harassment in Canadian politics.
What is Gender-Based Violence?
"Gender-based violence includes the study of violence against women but also explores violence across the gender spectrum between masculinity and femininity, including gender-non-binary and transgender identities...The study of gender-based violence is also necessarily intersectional, as violence impacts people in distinct ways based on their multiple and interlocking identities. Racialized, dis/abled, poor, religious minorities and Indigenous gender minorities are by far the most frequent targets of some of the most debilitating forms of violence in almost every setting...Researchers intentionally define violence broadly along a continuum that manifests itself in many forms including, but not limited to, murder, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, coercive control, verbal violence, psychological violence, economic violence, emotional violence, and/or environmental violence."
(From Cheryl N. Collier. 2022. "Gender-Based Violence Research in Canadian Political Science: A Call to Action" Canadian Journal of Political Science 55(4), p. 769-783.)
Gender-Based Violence in Politics
Gender-based violence in politics (GBV-P) includes: harmful actions that are directed at an individual because of their gender, gender expression, gender identity or perceived gender and which are designed to discourage or restrict them from being active in informal (e.g. movement, advocacy, on-line) or formal (e.g. elections, political parties, legislatures) political spaces. GBV-P is rooted in, and perpetuated by, systems of domination and exclusion that seek to punish those who participate in the political process who do not conform to traditional gendered norms.
(From Tracey Raney and Cheryl N. Collier. forthcoming 2024. Gender-Based Violence in Canadian Politics in the #Me Too Era, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.)