OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- On March 8, International Women’s Day, the CBA National Women Lawyers Forum will launch Not Just a Bystander, a free podcast that grew out of their 2015 campaign about sexual harassment in the workplace.
After passing a resolution at the February 2015 CBA Council meeting calling for an end to sexual harassment in the workplace, the WLF ran a campaign called #WriteYourWrong, inviting lawyers – male and female – to write in about their experiences with sexual harassment in law firms.
The podcast, Not Just a Bystander, is the next stage in the campaign. The title of the podcast is meant to emphasize that it’s everyone’s job to end sexual harassment – witnesses have to speak up, especially when victims can’t.
There are two podcasts, one in English and one in French. Both bring together a diverse group of speakers to talk about what sexual harassment and sexual assault mean in legal terms, why they happen and what can we do – as lawyers, as clients, as members of a society – to fix the problem.
While it began with the Women Lawyers Forum, the podcast is being presented by a number of CBA groups, including the Equality Committee, the National Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Section, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, the National Military Law Section, the National Labour and Employment Law Section and the National Civil Litigation Section.
Podcast participants
- Gail Gatchalian is a lawyer and workplace investigator at Pink Larkin in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is also the Chair of the National Labour and Employment Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association.
- Dr. Harry Stefanakis is a psychologist and educator in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is an active participant in programs seeking to end violence in relationships and workplaces.
- Tracy Porteous is the Executive Director of the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia and co-chair of the Ending Violence Association of Canada.
- Angus Reid is a spokesperson for the Ending Violence Association of British Columbia. He is a former award-winning offensive lineman who played in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions.
Podcast details
Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Time: Available as of 9 a.m.
Place: www.cba.org/notjustabystander
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About the Canadian Bar Association
The CBA is dedicated to support for the rule of law, and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 36,000 lawyers, notaries in Quebec, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.