The Yukon Legal Services Society, with funding from Justice Canada, has opened a new clinic providing free and confidential legal advice and information related to workplace sexual harassment.

The clinic, staffed by a senior lawyer, can provide legal advice up to the point of litigation to those who believe they may have been sexually harassed in the workplace or may have witnessed harassment.

It can also provide more general legal advice, information and resources relating to the law to those who wish to ensure that their workplace is a sexual harassment free zone.

The clinic is also available to provide general legal education on the issue, and anticipates providing materials and making presentations to the public.

“We welcome the opportunity to partner with other organizations with similar mandates in providing public legal education and information,” the clinic said in a statement Tuesday.

It’s located in the Tutshi Building at #103-2131 Second Ave.

Staff will be available to meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and on Friday mornings, for either in-person or remote interviews with clients seeking legal advice on workplace sexual harassment issues.

Appointments can be made by contacting Lesley McCullough at lmccullough@legalaid.yk.ca or by phoning 393-6219.

Clinic staff will also be visiting Yukon communities outside of Whitehorse on a monthly basis beginning in December, with Carcross likely the first destination. A schedule of monthly community visits will be posted shortly.

Sexual harassment refers to a pattern – and in some severe cases, a single incident – of offensive or unwelcome behaviour which relates to an aspect of the victim’s sex, gender identity or gender expression.

The more serious an action and its impact on a victim, the fewer events are required to constitute harassment.

“The perpetrator’s intent is not important if the behaviour is something that they knew or should have known would be unwelcome,” the clinic said.

“Workplace sexual harassment is not a display of sexual attraction but, like other forms of discrimination, an exercise in unequal power relations.

“While sexual harassment may take place in any type of workplace, some types of workplaces, because of their structure, may be particularly prone to incidents of workplace sexual harassment.”

Studies indicate that upward of 20 per cent of Canadian women state they have been sexually harassed in the workplace, although a much lower per centage officially report harassment.

But sexual harassment is not limited to one sex or gender identity or expression. And its negative impact is felt by others, including bystanders who witness it, as well as by the victim.

While most people recognize that a physical advance or a sexual invitation constitute sexual harassment, the term actually encompasses a much wider scope of behaviour, including but not limited to:

• Using sexually charged language, including making jokes, about sex, gender identity or presentation or sexual roles or stereotypes;

• making comments about a person’s body or appearance;

• staring or “leering” at a person’s body;

• misgendering a person or refusing to use their chosen pronouns;

• sexual pictures or visuals being displayed where the complainant can see them; and

• spreading rumours about a person related to their sex, gender identity or gender expression.

“Much of the actual legal advice the clinic will provide to clients will probably focus on triage: explaining the law in the area of workplace sexual harassment, helping them to determine whether their concern actually constitutes workplace sexual harassment, helping address circumstances which may pose an immediate physical or legal danger and referring them to local resources,” the clinic said.

“Within the access to justice mandate, however, there may be additional scope to provide legal advice and services that would support a complainant’s litigation, either with their own legal counsel or self-represented.”