A kinder and more respectful world starts with tough conversations, and a few whiskers
By: Dawn McKee, Arts and Culture Contributor
From 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2025, Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and McMaster’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office hosted Cats Against Catcalling, a joint event in the McMaster University Student Centre.
This event tackled the issue of street harassment while offering students the chance to engage with adoptable cats from the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA. The event used a unique approach to address a serious topic, combining education with stress relief to facilitate meaningful conversations about catcalling and its impact.
The event organizers—Miranda Jurilj, Jessica Sondhi-Cooke, Rinsy Gandhi and Nada Nassar—emphasized that catcalling is a form of sexual violence, not a harmless compliment. Sondhi-Cooke explained that Canadian statistics show over a quarter of women on post-secondary campuses experience harassment, along with six percent of men. Marginalized groups, including non-binary individuals, are disproportionately affected.
Cats were a creative way to draw in people to attend while creating a welcoming environment for discussions about sensitive topics. Before interacting with the cats, students attended a presentation on bystander intervention, ensuring that they left with both knowledge and an engaging experience.
“We want students to understand that harassment is never acceptable and that they can take steps to stop it," said Sondhi-Cooke.
We want students to understand that harassment is never acceptable and that they can take steps to stop it.
Jessica Sondhi-Cooke, Peer Educator
McMaster SVPRO
The HBSPCA’s involvement also highlighted animal welfare, adding another layer to the event’s message of compassion. “We love animals, and working with the SPCA allowed us to align our goal of providing care for both people and animals” shared Jurilj.
Nassar explained that the event focused on teaching the "five Ds" of bystander intervention: direct, distract, document, delegate and delay. At the event, organizers explained how students could use these strategies to intervene safely when witnessing harassment, tailoring their actions to their comfort levels and circumstances.
“Whether it’s distracting the harasser, recording the incident, or supporting the person being targeted afterward, there’s always something you can do to help,” said Jurilj.
Whether it’s distracting the harasser, recording the incident, or supporting the person being targeted afterward, there’s always something you can do to help.
Miranda Jurilj, Public Education Coordinator
SACHA
Street harassment resonates with students, many of whom are away from home for the first time and navigating unfamiliar environments. The event emphasized that everyone plays a role in creating a safe campus culture and showed survivors that they are not alone.
“Ending harassment is possible when we work together. Every action, no matter how small, can make a difference,” said Gandhi.
Peer-led education played a significant role, with student presenters breaking down barriers to participation. Stickers and other take-home materials encouraged participants to continue the conversation beyond the event.
By combining education with engagement, Cats Against Catcalling demonstrated that small actions can drive meaningful cultural change. The event left students with tools to address harassment and a sense of shared responsibility for fostering respect and safety on campus.
The McMaster Students Union and McMaster University are preparing to re-examine their policies and protocols on sexual violence in light of the recent Student Voices on Sexual Violence report released by the provincial government earlier this month.
The Student Voices on Sexual Violence survey was sent out last year and involved 160,000 students from over 40 Ontario post-secondary institutions outlining their experiences of sexual violence and harassment.
According to the survey, three in five McMaster students disclosed at least one experience of sexual harassment.
Sixty-one per cent of McMaster students said they do not have knowledge of McMaster’s sexual violence supports and services.
A McMaster Daily News article responding to the report states that McMaster has provided sexual violence prevention and response training to more than 8,600 students, staff and faculty over the past year.
Arig al Shaibah, McMaster’s associate vice president (Equity and Inclusion), said the university’s sexual violence education team will begin planning a bystander intervention training program in April.
In response to the report, the university will also shortly be reviewing the McMaster’s sexual violence policy, which was created in 2017.
“We are just in the beginning processes of looking at the policy,” al Shaibah said. “We know the numbers that come through our offices are not necessarily indicative of the full picture, so periodically going out there and being able to anonymously get a good gauge of people’s experiences and perceptions is really important.”
Every year, the EIO releases a report highlighting statistics on disclosures of sexual violence and harassment.
However, al Shaibah said the EIO needs to make sure that definitions used to classify disclosures are standardized.
“We have just improved the way we are collecting and centralizing data,” al Shaibah said. “Moving forward, one of the things we are doing is trying to make sure that everyone in the intake office is using the same definition so that we can start to capture trend data over time.”
MSU vice president (Administration) Kristina Epifano will be revising the current “Workplace Anti-Violence, Harassment, and Sexual Assault Prevention Policy” in response to the survey.
“With these revisions, we will host some feedback sessions, inviting student-staff and volunteers to share some of the challenges they've experienced with policies in the past and recommendations they would like to see moving forward,” Epifano said in an email. “I believe it is important to adapt the policy to highlight different options and courses of action that a survivor can take during the process.”
The provincial report comes against the backdrop of multiple allegations of sexual assault within the MSU Maroons.
On March 29, Farah released a statement addressing the subject, promising a formal investigation.
Nevertheless, Farah states that she hasn’t “found actual reports, anonymous or otherwise, of sexual violence within the Maroons team this year.”
The statement also said Epifano will be standardizing an anonymous online reporting tool used for Marrons for all MSU volunteers.
Jocelyn Heaton, the coordinator of the MSU Women and Gender Equity Network, said the MSU’s steps in addressing sexual violence are helpful, but there remains a lot of work to be done.
“The fact that less than three quarters of students know that there are supports and services available is pretty harmful for people who experience sexual violence,” said Heaton. “Also, knowing that a lot of that group is going to receive a disclosure during their time at university and they're not going to know where to refer people to is harmful as well,” she said.
Heaton also mentioned that there has been no consultation thus far with services like WGEN when it comes to the Maroons incident and revising the MSU’s workplace sexual assault prevention policy.
“As the coordinator of a service, the only service specifically meant to address sexual violence, I was never once consulted or brought in to talk about that situation,” Heaton said. “Students have not been consulted on what the policy should look like.”
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When I started out as the Opinions Editor for The Silhouette this past year, I admittedly didn’t care much about student politics or governance. I was unfamiliar with the policies of the McMaster Students Union and had no idea what happened during Student Representative Assembly meetings.
Nowadays, I regularly watch the SRA livestreams and perform my due diligence to be aware of changes occurring within the MSU. A large part of that is for my job, but I’ve found that staying informed has benefits beyond finding something to write about.
The purpose of the MSU is to “represent you and to help build a better community for all students”. As the governing body of the MSU, SRA members have a responsibility to represent and lobby on behalf of their students.
It’s only fair then that we as students hold these members, and the MSU in general, accountable for their actions. In doing so, we are ensuring that any changes occurring are truly reflective of the needs and desires of students.
There’s many ways for students can hold these organizations accountable. They can attend SRA meetings, speak to their SRA representative, voice their concerns online or even protest for change.
Alternatively, you can do what I do, and write about your concerns for the campus newspaper. Perhaps some of my criticisms have been harsh or slightly misguided. But at the end of the day, I’m proud of the articles that I’ve written and edited for The Silhouette. Even if they have stepped on some toes, I’d like to think they’ve helped incite some positive changes on campus.
Whether these changes are a fully-stocked Union Market or investigations into MSU-recognized clubs, it’s evident that speaking out on issues is important.
Not everything the SRA or MSU has done has been negative. In fact, they have made some great, positive changes that are deserving of praise, or at the very least, of respect.
A few weeks ago, I had plans to write about the SRA’s contradictory playing of the national anthem and delivery of a land acknowledgment at their meetings. To my surprise, I found that they passed a motion to stop playing the national anthem at their meetings altogether. Things like these are positive changes that students should be aware of.
Of course, there is only so much that students can do. Given the record eight students who attended the General Assembly on March 20, it is obvious that the MSU must do a better job at engaging with their student constituents.
But just because the MSU and SRA have much to improve doesn’t mean that students are off the hook for staying informed. Without student input and advocacy efforts, organizations are given too much power and can make decisions that negatively impact us all.
For example, without the efforts of a few brave survivors telling their experiences with sexual assault within the MSU Maroons, it’s unlikely that the service would be doing anything to account for the issue, much less propose developing a long-overdue sexual assault and harassment policy.
I encourage students to get engaged with their university’s politics. It might seem overwhelming, and the information is certainly not easy to navigate, but it’s important work.
Especially in light of the upcoming changes to post-secondary education made by the provincial government, it is in the best interests of all students to be engaged with their union’s activities.
My term at The Silhouette is reaching a close. I’ve learned a lot during my time working for the newspaper but my biggest takeaway is that student politics affects us all, including those outside of the MSU bubble. For our own sake, we ought to keep our student organizations accountable for their actions.
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Over the last two years, Halima Al-Hatimy, a former McMaster University public health grad student, has launched multiple Ontario human rights complaints against McMaster and Hamilton Health Sciences.
She also has legal proceedings against McMaster officials Patrick Deane, Wanda McKenna, Sarah Dickson, Glenn De Caire, Joseph Zubek and constables Tyler Rogers and Peter Broz.
Al-Hatimy’s issues with the university first materialized in 2017, before her anticipated departure to Ghana with “Waters Without Borders,” a program facilitated through a partnership between McMaster and the United Nations University.
The day before Al-Hatimy was expected to leave, the university informed her that she had been taken out of the program’s trip as a result of her presumed plan to bring medicinal marijuana overseas.
Thirteen days later, Al-Hatimy filed a human rights complaint against McMaster and the UNU.
“The administration asked me to sign an affidavit saying that I wouldn’t take medicinal cannabis with me illegally. It was riddled with criminalizing language, telling me that I had to promise I wasn’t going to traffic, import, export or illegally purchase illicit drugs or substances. I was traumatized by the experience,” she said.
Al-Hatimy is firmly convinced the university discriminated against her on the basis of “race, age, disability and use of medicinal cannabis.”
Thus far into the proceedings, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has affirmed Sarah Dickson’s involvement in the case but cut out the UNU and David Wilkinson, McMaster provost and vice-president (Academic).
Al-Hatimy said the university has been “extremely aggressive and uncooperative” over the past year.
In particular, according to Al-Hatimy, McMaster’s campus-wide smoking ban instituted in 2017 directly tore away her demand that the university construct a medical cannabis policy to protect users on campus.
Since launching her complaint, Al-Hatimy also filed for reprisal and organized two anti-smoking ban protests, one off-campus and the other in the Health Sciences Building.
“Both times, I was racially carded. The police showed up and walked straight to me. The guy beside me was white and smoking his medical cannabis. At the time, they didn’t know he was a licensed user. They just saw an older man and a younger student with a megaphone. You’d think they’d card him first, but they carded me,” she said.
When walking in the McMaster University Student Centre on another occasion, she said she was harassed by Joseph Zubek, the senior manager of McMaster security services.
“He showed me pictures that he had of me on his phone. He said they started an investigative police file on me,” she said.
In addition to lodging human rights complaints, Al-Hatimy has launched an application for reprisal for three counts of racial profiling, intimidation and harassment.
Upon entering the impending proceedings, Al-Hatimy said she feels hopeful.
“I have a strong case, I have evidence in my favour. I have witnesses. I’ve connected with other students who have also been bullied by the university and I have evidence of their stories that I’ll be presenting to the tribunal,” she said.
Gord Arbeau, the communications director at McMaster University, told the Silhouette that McMaster is committed to being inclusive, respectful and harassment-free.
“The university’s policies and procedures support this commitment, including providing medical accommodations to members of the community,” said Arbeau, on behalf of the university’s respondents in the proceedings.
On March 29, Al-Hatimy and McMaster officials will attend a case management conference that will consolidate her applications. From there, cases will be combined and a hearing will be scheduled.
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Five professors in the DeGroote School of Business have been handed “lengthy suspensions without pay” by the University after a tribunal of their peers found their misconduct resulted in a “poisonous and hostile work environment.”
In 2011, two complaints of harassment were filed by and against faculty in McMaster’s business school.
An anti-discrimination tribunal set up to address the complaints recently released its 26-page public report. The report summarizes the tribunal’s findings after two years of proceedings, 2694 documents and testimonies from 65 witnesses.
In the first complaint, five faculty members filed a harassment complaint against a senior administrator and McMaster University.In the second complaint, seven faculty members and one staff alleged that six faculty members, including four who filed the first complaint, harassed them. One counter-complaint was filed against one of the initiators of the second complaint.
A tribunal, made up of three tenured McMaster professors, was commissioned to hear the complaints. They found that several professors committed “serious and multiple” acts of misconduct.
“The most egregious misconduct involved the unlawful and self-serving interference with tenure and promotion,” according to the public report.
“Permanent removal was a remedy seriously considered for some of the individuals. In the end, it was not determined to be necessary,” the tribunal stated, as the University allowed some delays in the process and certain decisions by a “non-party senior administrator” also contributed to the workplace hostility.
The tribunal recommended that three professors should have “lengthy suspensions without pay, benefits, privileges or access to the University’s premises.” It was recommended that two other professors also be suspended, but for a shorter period of time. One other individual will receive a written reprimand.
The identities of the suspended professors have not been disclosed due to a confidentiality agreement. The tribunal did not specify how long the suspensions should last.
McMaster president Patrick Deane issued a statement calling the “complexity and number” of the complaints “unprecedented” at the University.
Deane stated that he “fully accepts the Tribunal’s findings” and has “already begun the process of implementing the recommended sanctions and other remedies.”
Following the release of the tribunal’s report, three business classes were cancelled this week.
McMaster spokesperson Andrea Farquhar said the department is working to ensure all classes are up and running again by next week.
“[The School of Business] has been successful in finding a number of well-qualified instructors,” Farquhar said, to temporarily take over from the suspended professors.
“It will certainly be a priority for us to minimize impact on students,” she said.
The tribunal dismissed allegations against the senior administrator accused of harassment and abusing his power.
The tribunal also found there was no “direct harassment or malicious behaviour” on the part of the University. However, it stated that University must “accept some responsibility” for the unacceptable workplace environment and review its anti-discrimination policy. The tribunal recommended sensitivity training for the reprimanded professors.
The complaints were filed a year after former business dean Paul Bates resigned. Bates stepped down amid disputes among the faculty and claims of bullying. Some believed he was not a qualified academic as he had industry experience but no university degree, while others defended him. The issue created a rift between business school faculty.
Bates, who was not specifically named in the tribunal’s report, still works at McMaster as a special advisor to the president.
Since the tribunal began investigating the complaints two years ago, proceedings have been kept out of the public eye.
Farquhar said it was necessary to protect the identities of the university employees involved in the complaints.
Individual sanctions have taken effect immediately while other recommendations will be gradually enforced.
“There are some recommendations on reviewing the [anti-discrimination] policy, for instance, and some sensitivity training – that takes a little bit of time to implement. The policy will go to the Senate,” she said.
