Susan Hickman
Research in the United States and Canada reveals that two-thirds of university students – predominantly women – could be experiencing some type of sexual harassment during their university careers. And yet fewer than 10 per cent of them will speak about the incident to someone on campus, says harassment and discrimination prevention officer Lisa Stone.
“Even fewer,” says Stone, who took up her new post in October, “will talk to someone who can take action to resolve the issue.”
Stone returns to the University of Ottawa after six years away with the hope of creating an environment for study and for work that is free from all types of harassment and discrimination.
“I think people are afraid to speak up for a lot of reasons. They are afraid of repercussions, or of feeling responsible, or they simply don’t know what to do.”
Stone believes people can be empowered and encouraged to come forward and take action if they understand what constitutes sexual harassment and how it can be addressed.
“As a university, as a whole, we want to be creating positive work space and study space by engaging everyone in contributing to that awareness.”
Stone studied biochemistry at the University of Ottawa as an undergraduate and a master’s student in the 1980s before beginning her career in the University’s co-operative education department.
“My heart wasn’t in science,” she admits. “In 2002, I left the University to work for a consulting firm that deals with issues of harassment in the workplace and completed my graduate certificate in conflict resolution at Carleton.
“Then I saw this job posting and was really excited, because it combines my years of experience here at the University and my love of working in a university environment, with my training and expertise in conflict resolution, harassment investigation and prevention and mediation.”
In her new position on campus, Stone will help students, professors and staff resolve issues of harassment, and raise awareness of the issue and of the resources available.
“The kinds of things I would like to get involved in are providing training to community advisors in residences who deal with students, providing managers with the necessary tools to deal with harassment in the workplace and use workshops and a multimedia approach to convey the message in a way that students will hear.
“Students,” says Stone, “need to be able to feel safe and concentrate their energies on academic success and on feeling accepted and a part of the university, and not be worrying about dealing with these types of issues.”
To find out how you can recognize and prevent sexual harassment, or to report an incident, visit the Sexual Harassment Prevention Office site or call Lisa Stone at 613-562-5222.
