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By Derek Craddock

LEGAL ADVICE

Free legal advice on sexual harassment receives positive and negative feedback

Feb 14, 2023 | 5:00 PM

An offer of free legal advice to those who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace has been met with positive reviews, but unfortunately, some negative comments have also been fired its way.

The Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan (PLEA) announced late last year it was offering up to four hours of free legal advice to those who believe they experienced sexual harassment in their workplace.

As part of the campaign to raise awareness on the issue, PLEA worked with a marketing company to spread the word, using posts designed to catch users’ attention.

However, some of those posts were met with negative responses according to legal program coordinator with PLEA Hilary Peterson.

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“A number of the comments were either diminishing the severity of sexual harassment, making jokes about people who bring forward complaints like this,” she said. “That was just quite discouraging to see.”

Peterson said having comments like that shown on a public platform like social media is hurtful and she worries those will further minimize the severity and impact of sexual harassment.

“There’s a worry and concern that there continues to be people who diminish this type of damage that is suffered within the workplace,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do in terms of public awareness.”

Despite the negativity, Peterson said it hasn’t deterred them from their campaign as many people in the province have signed up for the free legal advice. Since the program launched PLEA has had a total of 69 applicants, 20 from rural areas and 49 from urban communities. Of the 20 rural applicants, six have come from northern Saskatchewan with six more from the northern urban centres.

“It is overwhelmingly positive and we’re able to provide people with the information they need and the legal options they have whether that’s bringing forward a complaint to the union, possibly speaking to Occupational Health and Safety,” Peterson said.

“We do have a number of people saying ‘thank you for your service, thank you for the information you’ve provided.’”

More details on the services of PLEA can be found on its official website.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock