Unfortunately, the circus arts sector is not immune to psychological and sexual harassment in the professional environment.
To support and equip our community, and thus foster a healthy work environment free from all forms of harassment and violence where all community members feel confident, we have made several resources available on our website.
Furthermore, on August 25, in partnership with L’Aparté, a service from Juripop, we launched a confidential and free clinic to support circus artists in their efforts to obtain help. A webinar presenting the services of the Centre d’aide aux victimes d’actes criminels (CAVAC) and the Groupe d’aide et d’information sur le harcèlement sexuel au travail de la province de Québec inc. (G.A.I.H.S.T.) was followed by private appointments with psychosocial workers and criminal lawyers. The webinar and the contact details for these organizations are now available on our website.
A second clinic, held on September 3, was aimed more at managers and leaders of circus arts companies, schools, and organizations. Three webinars were offered to address prevention and crisis management strategies from a media, legal, and human perspective. A first webinar was presented by
Nearly 75 people attended our webinars, in French and English, on July 23, presenting the services of L’Aparté, the free, confidential, and independent one-stop shop against harassment and violence in the cultural sector, and over 60 people have watched their recordings since then. We know that these tools address a need, and we hope that the recordings of the webinars from these two clinics will be just as useful to our community!
Finally, to guide desirable changes in our workplaces, we invite everyone to participate in the pan-Canadian survey on sexual harassment in the performing arts developed by Rosa and Hill Strategies.