PLEA gratefully acknowledges our primary core funder the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan for their continuing and generous support of our organization.
Some forms of workplace harassment or violence are crimes and can be reported to the police.
In many cases it will be up to the person to decide if they want to involve the police. As an employer you may decide that an incident is serious enough that the police should be called even if the employee does not want them involved. The police may investigate the matter. Criminal charges will be laid if there is enough evidence to support the charge.
The law recognizes the right of every person to choose whether to have sexual contact with another person. This applies to all kinds of sexual contact – from a touch to intercourse. Sexual harassment becomes sexual assault if there is any kind of touching of a sexual nature without the person's consent. It is also sexual assault to threaten to have sexual contact with someone without their consent.
No always means no and only yes, expressed by the person's words or actions, means yes. A person cannot rely on implied consent as a defence to sexual assault. Unless the person agrees to the activity, it is sexual assault. Lack of consent does not have to be verbal. It may be expressed by words or conduct. If someone is not capable of giving consent, perhaps because they are unconscious (sleeping or passed out), it is sexual assault to engage in any sexual activity with them.
It is a criminal offence for anyone to make someone reasonably fear for their safety or the safety of someone they know by...
No actual injury need occur. The offender does not need to have intended to harm the person. If their behaviour would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety, it is criminal harassment.
It is a criminal offence to make an indecent telephone call, or to repeatedly call someone to harass them.
Extortion means using threats or violence to get someone to do something or to obtain something. Extortion is a criminal offence. Many people think of extortion as involving only money, but this is not always the case. For example, a person could be convicted of extorting a sexual act.
During a relationship partners may agree to take or exchange intimate images with one another. When the use of such images goes beyond what was originally agreed to or anticipated, it could be against the law. Under the Criminal Code, it is an offence to share intimate images without a person’s consent. Intimate images are broadly defined as images where an individual is nude or semi-nude, or engaged in explicit sexual activity and has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
In Saskatchewan, victims of the unauthorized sharing of intimate images may also start a civil action for damages. Civil suits can be in addition to criminal charges or used as an alternative to criminal charges. In civil cases, it is up to the individual who shared the intimate images to prove that they had consent to do so.
PLEA offers free online training on preventing and addressing workplace harassment.