Women In 1900, the vast majority of women were disenfranchised, economically dependent on men, prevented by social convention and safety concerns from venturing beyond narrow confines, and restricted in their ability to express individual identities. It was a time when the very notion of female carpenters, doctors, or musicians - not to speak of national leaders - was controversial, and eccentric at best.
Now it is common for a woman to drive a bus, build a table, or perform surgery. In fact, for the first time ever, women hold two of Canada's most important positions under the Constitution. In 1999, Adrienne Clarkson became Canada's Governor General, and Beverley McLachlin was named the first female Chief Justice of Canada (the formal appointment came on January 7, 2000).
While these achievements are significant, it is much too soon to rest on our laurels and ignore the real issues that persist. Substantive equality for women involves more than eliminating formal restrictions and blatant biases. It also means obtaining equal access to the resources and conditions needed to make a full life. Two of the most important areas in this regard are employment and the right to physical security.
The Employment Challenges
Women have long had to struggle to attain the same range of employment opportunity and income as men. In three out of four dual-income families, the male partner still makes more than the female. More women live in poverty. While non-traditional occupations have become more open to women, it remains difficult for many to enter senior positions, balance the demands of paid work and other responsibilities, and obtain the support of managers in ensuring harassment-free work environments.
The significance of having a woman in a senior job goes beyond the benefit to the individual. When a woman becomes a chief executive officer, vice president, or deputy minister, the organization sends a message that it is ready to provide opportunities to capable people, whatever their sex. Also, as women fill key decision-making roles in an organization, its sensitivity to the work styles and needs of women increases, thereby making it a more receptive employer for women in general.
For these reasons, the Commission remains concerned that the glass ceiling has yet to be broken in many workplaces. Even as women have started to obtain jobs at the entry and middle levels in former male bastions, preconceptions about who will "fit" into executive positions, and the widespread use of personal connections for recruiting into them, still exclude many women from consideration. Changing this state of affairs should be a central objective for Canadian employers in the years to come.
The challenge of balancing paid work and other priorities may be another reason why women find it hard to move up the organizational ladder, or, in some instances, to keep their jobs at all. Although men also face this challenge, it affects women more frequently, since they do most of the work associated with the care of children, older family members, and other dependents. Census data, for example, show that twice as many women as men provide unpaid care to seniors.
The growing strain stemming from competing pressures was documented in a study by the Conference Board of Canada released in July, entitled Is Work-Life Balance Still an Issue for Canadians and Their Employers? You Bet It Is! Almost 50 per cent of participants reported a moderate to high degree of stress, compared to just 27 per cent in 1988. In August, the Conference Board issued a follow-up report, which emphasized that any effective response would have to include changes to corporate culture and policies.
When an organization "equally" expects all employees to work rigid hours, stay late, or do weekend shifts, it often places women at a disadvantage. By the same token, a supervisor who reluctantly grants a worker time off to care for her children, then labels her a "slacker," is not really providing non-discriminatory working conditions. In contrast, an employer who accommodates employees' family responsibilities and provides flexible work hours creates a more truly equitable environment. In fact, the Conference Board's follow-up report concluded that managers sensitive to the personal and family needs of staff were well rewarded - their employees reported significantly higher job satisfaction and missed fewer days of work.
Government can help by encouraging employers to adopt a more flexible approach to the accommodation of domestic commitments, and by investing in initiatives related to the care of children, older Canadians, the chronically ill, and people with disabilities who require regular attention. As a study prepared by the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (and sponsored by Status of Women Canada) noted in November, the disproportionate responsibility women have for such activities, combined with the poor recognition of home care work, have negative implications for women in terms of earnings and professional fulfilment. In an era of budgetary surpluses, directing more public funding to child care and home care programs is one way that Canada as a society can support people seeking to integrate paid employment and care of dependents.
If one key feature of an equitable workplace is the flexibility to deal with demands on the domestic front, another is the provision of a harassment-free environment. This does not mean that offices and factory floors should be free of good-natured repartee. Rather, it means preventing offensive, unwelcome behaviour that denigrates and demoralizes certain employees, and avoiding the interplay of unequal power relationships and sexual innuendo or pressure.
The Commission continues to receive complaints from women alleging sexual harassment. In one such case, a woman working for a small family business complained that her allegation of harassment by a senior manager had been investigated by one of the manager's relatives. The complaint was settled when the employer agreed to provide anti-harassment training to all staff, and to revise its procedures so that future harassment allegations would be dealt with by non-relatives. In another case, four female employees complained of being subjected to lewd and derogatory remarks by a manager. Three resigned, while the fourth took disability leave as a result of the stress. Settlement of this case resulted in an apology, letters of reference, and financial compensation for the four complainants, as well as the posting of an anti-harassment policy by the employer.
Physical Security Means Real Equality
Real equality requires that women enjoy the same levels of safety and health as men.
In June, Statistics Canada released a report that revealed that in 88 per cent of spousal violence incidents, the victims are women. The Commission was therefore pleased that during 1999, the federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for the status of women adopted a strategic framework and agreed to work cooperatively to deal with domestic violence and stalking. Public policy and society in general must work towards the day when no one feels at risk in her home or in public because she is a woman.
In the past, the Commission has expressed concern about the incarceration of maximum-security female inmates in prisons for men, which clearly makes them particularly vulnerable. Thus, the Commission welcomed an announcement by the Correctional Service of Canada in September that it would make changes to regional women's facilities to accommodate maximum-security inmates. The Correctional Service also plans to build facilities for medium- and minimum-security female inmates with special needs or mental health problems, and to increase the number of staff assigned to supervise and support these women.
On the other hand, the Commission is disappointed that the Correctional Service has not yet extended its staff harassment policy to inmates, as recommended by Madam Justice Louise Arbour in her 1996 report on the work of the Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston.
Women's right to physical security entails not only protection from attack, but also access to equitable health services. Historically, such access was hampered by subtle biases in medical research and treatment that meant insufficient attention to women's health issues. A new awareness of this problem - spurred on, in part, by direct evidence of the biases in question - has already contributed to some noteworthy results, among them the Women's Health Strategy announced by the Minister of Health in March, and the World Conference on Breast Cancer held in Ottawa in July.
The last hundred years have seen women move from largely anonymous lives controlled by others to lives far more of their own creation. It has been a remarkable journey of the increasing recognition of rights and decreasing tolerance for prejudices and barriers based on sex. The continuation of this journey requires a willingness to press forward to take the steps needed to increase women's substantive equality in areas such as employment and physical security.
Complaints
In 1999, the Commission completed work on 387 complaints of discrimination based on sex. Sixty-three cases were settled at mediation, at conciliation, or in the course of investigation. The Commission dismissed 54 cases for lack of evidence, appointed a conciliator in 56 cases, and referred 24 cases to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
Sex Discrimination Complaint Outcomes for 1999
(number and percentage)
Settled1: 63 (16 %)
Referred to alternate redress mechanisms: 33 (9 %)
Referred to conciliation: 56 (14 %)
Referred to a tribunal: 24 (6 %)
Not dealt with2: 8 (2 %)
Dismissed: 54 (14 %)
No further proceedings3: 18 (5 %)
Discontinued4: 131 (34 %)
Total: 387 (100 %)
1 Cases that were settled before or during investigation, through mediation or at conciliation. 2 Cases that the Commission decided not to pursue because they were filed more than one year after the alleged act of discrimination, or were, technically, without purpose.
3 Cases in which the complainants withdrew or abandoned their complaints, the matters were outside the Commission's jurisdiction, or the complaints did not warrant referral to a tribunal.
4 Cases that were closed prior to investigation because the complainants did not wish to pursue them or because a link could not be established between the alleged act and a prohibited ground of discrimination.
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