REGINA — A new online tool is helping prevent gender-based violence in the workplace.
Upstander Online, a pilot educational program created by YWCA Regina, aims to bring awareness to the subject.
“There are people in our lives that are impacted [by this],” said Olivia Gergely, Upstander education coordinator at a media event on Tuesday.
She added, “It could be like your neighbour or even your co-workers. It creeps into the workplace, and you know, we want to be able to support the people in our community.”
The online tool is an updated version of the organization's in-person upstander training.
This new version is broken into three modules: large corporations/ big businesses, non-profits/small businesses, and Indigenous workplaces.
Large corporations' models focus on hiring processes and removing traditional masculinity in the workforce.
“We don't do that [practice] anymore because it creates a culture of unsafety,” noted Megan Moore, senior director of programs at YWCA Regina.
As for non-profit models, the modules acknowledge “blurry lines.”
“It can be as simple as, you know, a smaller organization might not be sharing personal cellphone numbers with clients or with partners. And what does that look like when it devolves into potentially inappropriate text messages?” noted Moore
She added, “and so there's different ways that gender based violence can occur.”
The final module, Indigenous workplaces, focuses on traditional teachings which can prevent gender-based violence.
Moore noted that this tool is essential as gender-based violence rates in the province were higher than the national average, according to Statistics Canada.
Several workplaces have already piloted the tool, including the John Howard Society and Homebase Saskatchewan, InspirED Saskatchewan Student Club, and Nēwo-Yōtina Friendship Centre.
Moore is encouraging all employers to try the tool, helping them shape the module moving forward.
“The more feedback we can receive, the stronger we can make the content.”
Based on the feedback, Moore said the online tool could change.
“So it could be breaking it into smaller modules. It could be dividing it into two different courses.”
