Against harassment and violence in the circus sector
Unfortunately, the circus arts sector is not spared by the presence of psychological and sexual harassment in the workplace.
In order to support and equip our professionals, and thus promote a healthy work environment free of all forms of harassment and violence where all members of the community feel at ease, we have made several resources available to them on our website.
In addition, on August 25, 2020, in partnership with L'Aparté, a Juripop service, we set up a free and confidential clinic to support circus professionals in their efforts to obtain help. A webinar in French 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 contact information for these organizations are now available on our website.
A second clinic, held on September 3, 2020, was aimed at managers and leaders of companies, schools and circus arts organizations. Three webinars were offered in French to address prevention and crisis management strategies from a media, legal and human resources point of view. The first webinar was presented by the public relations firm NATIONAL, a second in partnership with Langlois Avocats, and a final one was offered in collaboration with the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA). If you missed them, you can also find their recordings on our website.
Close to 75 people attended our webinars, in both French and English, on July 23, presenting the services of L'Aparté, the one-stop shop against harassment and violence in the cultural milieu, and more than 60 people have watched their recordings since then. We know there is a need in our sector for these tools and we hope that the recordings of the webinars from these two clinics will be just as useful to our community!
Moreover, we invite you all to take part in the Pan-Canadian survey on sexual harassment at work in the performing arts carried out by Rosa and Hill Strategies.