At Humber, we recognize that we all have a responsibility in preventing and addressing sexual violence. Sexual violence is rooted in gender-based violence, and so men may feel that it is a "women's issue"; however, we acknowledge that men must also take action and hold one another accountable. The Survey on Individual Safety in the Postsecondary Student Population (Statistics Canada, 2019) found that men were less likely to view unwanted sexualized behaviours as harmful, twice as likely to think people are too offended by unwanted sexualized behaviours, and the perpetrators of unwanted sexualized behaviours are more often men.
The Men Seeking Change working group encourages men to reflect on behaviours that could cause harm to others and to intervene when they see these behaviours happening. We will be sharing examples of inappropriate behaviours and ways men could intervene in these behaviours over March and April as a reminder to take action and maintain our culture of respect.
Unhealthy Behaviour: Unwanted sexual attention (such as catcalls, whistles, etc.)
Example: Jerome (he/him) is running on the treadmill in the Athletic Centre when Jatinder (he/him) walks by. Jatinder winks and whistles at Jerome while he passes by on the way to the locker room. Elliott (he/him), who is also on his way to the locker room, sees Jatinder looks uncomfortable, but keeps walking.
What could Elliott have done differently?
Elliott could have checked in with Jatinder to see how he felt about Jerome’s actions. Elliott could also have spoken to Jerome and shared how his actions could have made Jatinder feel uncomfortable in the Athletic Centre.
Example: Phil (he/him) is sitting in a lounge with Chantal (she/her), Izzy (they/them), Derrell (he/him), and Mel (she/her) when Emily (she/her) walks in. Phil draws attention to her entrance and starts whistling at her, encouraging his friends to join in. Derrell joins in.
What could Derrell have done differently?
Derrell could have let Phil know that whistling and drawing unwanted attention to Emily is inappropriate and could create fear or make her uncomfortable; the unwanted attention could also give people the impression they can approach Emily however they want without considering her feelings.
