By Shilpashree Jagannathan
New Canadian Media

A new survey suggests immigrants are less likely to experience sexual and other harassment in the workplace, but experts say it’s more likely that fear of reprisal is preventing newcomers from reporting the incidents in the first place.

The survey by Statistics Canada titled, “Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work,” found that one in three immigrant women (35 percent) and one in five immigrant men (20 percent) reported having experienced harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

This contrasts with 52 percent of Canadian-born women and 36 percent of Canadian-born men.

“Understanding this breakdown is crucial because it could reveal significant variations in reporting percentages among these three groups,” said Calgary-based Rowan Fisher, managing lawyer of the immigration division at Osuji & Smith Lawyers.

“It’s [under reporting] very hard to know, statistically, it’s easier to understand from a cultural and an immigration context.”

Immigrants include temporary foreign workers, permanent residents, or citizens. Fisher said the impact of reporting such incidents is far higher on temporary foreign workers.

“They don’t report because of the fear that if they report and it impacts their employment situation, they will therefore be in violation of their conditions on their work permit, and they will no longer be eligible to stay in Canada.”

Temporary foreign workers also fear losing their jobs and jeopardizing their permanent residency. “Many temporary foreign workers aim to accumulate a year of work experience to qualify for permanent residency,” she said. “However, if they lose their job and can’t find another one, it jeopardizes their permanent residency application progress, potentially causing them to lose the months they’ve already worked towards it.”

The survey found that among immigrants, Latin Americans reported the most incidents of harassment, at 39.8 percent, followed by South Asians at 26.6 percent and Chinese at 26.4 percent.

Among racialized women, 35 percent reported experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace, and 20 percent of racialized men reported harassment incidents. Among non-racialized workers, 51 percent of women and 35 percent of men reported experiencing harassment or sexual assault.

Akshaya Shashidhar, a Mississauga-based product manager for a telecom company, runs an informal network that helps immigrants with references for real estate, jobs, sports and outdoor activities. She believes immigrant women often face many challenges, including language barriers, unfamiliarity with their rights, and the looming fear of retaliation or deportation. These challenges significantly hinder their ability to report incidents or seek assistance, resulting in pervasive underreporting.

“Many women grapple with the fear of stigma or shame within their communities should they choose to speak out against harassment,” Shashidar said.

“This fear often compels them to suffer in silence, opting to avoid potential negative repercussions rather than confront the issue openly.”

She said immigrant women frequently lack strong support networks or access to resources that could aid them in navigating such challenges. This dearth of support further compounds their vulnerability and impedes their ability to address instances of harassment effectively.

Rizwana Majith, founder of the Association of Tamil Community in Canada, said immigrant women benefit from awareness programs and career workshops that provide platforms for women to openly discuss the challenges they face and share strategies for overcoming them —  and prepare themselves with proactive measures to address instances of harassment or assault if they arise.

Workplace harassment survey highlights

• In Canada, 31% of men and 47% of women reported ever experiencing some form of harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

• Among employed people, 60% of women and 39% of men aged 25 to 34 years reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace. This was primarily driven by the rates of inappropriate sexualized behaviours reported by women (57%) and men (37%) aged 25 to 34.

• Among those with disabilities, 58% of women and 41% of men reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace. Meanwhile, 41% of women and 28% of men without disabilities reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

• Among Indigenous people, rates of those who ever experienced harassment or sexual assault in the workplace were 43% among women and 30% among men, whereas 48% of non-Indigenous women and 31% of non-Indigenous men reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

• In 2020, 76% of lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) women and 53% of LGB men reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace. Meanwhile, lower proportions of heterosexual women (46%) and heterosexual men (31%) reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

• Among racialized women, 35% reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace, whereas 20% of racialized men reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace. Among non-racialized people, 51% of women and 35% of men reported ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace.

• Women were also more likely than men to experience harassment and sexual assault outside the workplace. For example, Statistics Canada reported that women were three times more likely to experience unwanted sexual behaviours in public, four times more likely to have been sexually assaulted since age 15 and twice as likely to experience negative emotional consequences as a result of experiencing unwanted sexual behaviours, compared with men.