KAWARTHA LAKES – As gender-based violence continues to intensify, Kawartha Lakes City Councillors Kathleen Seymour-Fagan and Tracy Richardson have both recently endured harassment and bullying which recently lead to death threats and police involvement.
According to Seymour-Fagan, women are most definitely treated differently than men.
Recently, the councillor experienced two incidents that left her feeling attacked and belittled as a woman.
“Social media, I don’t like posting on it, I do not like the comments that can be made,” she said. “ I want to get information out and if people want to have a dialogue, email or phone me but no back and forth on social media as it is always negative and it’s unfortunate.”
Within the last two weeks, Seymour-Fagan says she has been receiving countless phone calls from a male resident in her region. The calls continued and were answered by her assistant, the calls eventually ended in death threats and police were called.
“Its constant, people think they can say whatever they want, they do it to men as well but not to the extent that they will to a women,” she explained.
Seymour-Fagan has also been attacked online about her appearance.
“He would never have said that to a man and it could have crushed me,” she said. “Who do you think you are, I have confidence and I can handle that but you could have crushed someone else.”
For Richardson, gender-based violence on social media became a big part of her life when she took on a role as a public figure.
“I chose to be a city councilor to make a difference in the community because I have been engaged in the community for my entire life,” she said. “I wanted to do this to make a difference and when your out there doing your best and people choose to target you and tare you down, it is astonishing, hurtful and sad, there are so many feelings that run through you.”
According to Richardson, social media has allowed individuals to be bullied through virtual harassment and public shaming, which often leaves the victim feeling beaten and discredited.
“The utter lack of respect with posts can leave you thinking why and how come gender-discrimination against women, especially online and behind social media is at an all time high,” she said. “Since becoming a City Councillor I have been the target of online trolling, and it is hurtful and makes you wonder about the lack of respect because that person has no idea who I actually am and they have no right to be able to do this.”
And as the gender-based violence continued and worsened, Richardson’s safety felt compromised and police were notified.
“The social media taunts became so aggressive, I did feel threatened,” she said. “I am in a position in my life where I do realize other peoples opinions and thoughts of me really doesn’t matter but it does make you reflect and think of those who can’t deal with such taunts, leaving the victim traumatized.”
Richardson encourages social media users to think before they comment, choose to be on the better side of social media and to use it for good and to impact other peoples lives positively.
“No person has the right to treat others disrespectfully and sometimes that damage cannot be reversed,” she said. “We can all play a role in preventing gender-based violence, please be kind and remember no person should have the ability to ruin someone’s life.”
Every year from November 25 to December 10, Canadians participate in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. These 16 days give individuals affected by gender-based violence an opportunity to come together, speak out and restore a commitment to end this continuing tragedy. Read part one of our series on the issue here: https://www.kawartha411.ca/2020/11/25/women-starved-confined-and-severely-beaten-as-domestic-violence-increased-locally-during-pandemic-lockdown/
According to Alisha Fisher, Prevention Education Supervisor with the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, 150 King St., Peterborough, gender-based violence affects a lot of people.
In Canada, one in three women are affected, one in six men are affected and one in two transgender and non-binary individuals are affected, she said.
“Gender-based violence is violence enacted on someone based on their gender, identity or expression,” she said. “That violence can range in a variety of ways.”
Gender-based violence can be classified as threats, physical abuse, emotional abuse, stalking and more, she added. According to Fisher, in 2019, a survey that focused on post secondary education students from Trent University was released and the numbers are staggering. At Trent University, 68.9 per cent of students had experienced some form of sexual harassment, 81.7 per cent witnessed sexual harassment or violence, 28.1 per cent reported being stalked which also included cyber stalking, and 30 per cent experienced nonconsensual sex.
“Stalking, that is an important number because stalking tends to be closely associated with femicide and murder,” explained Fisher.
Fleming College also had similar numbers.
According to Fisher, the most common age of those who had experienced gender-based violence was around 18 to 25 years of age. Recently that number has changed to 15 to 25.
Cyber abuse is another common form of gender-based violence that consistently occurs on social media platforms. Fisher says a lot of comments tend to focus on gender identity and expression and tend to be sexual in nature and more often towards women.
“More women certainly report some form of cyber assault or harassment,” she said. “When someone is able to hide behind a computer screen, anonymous or not, you are exerting power and control over someone and when its in a virtual space it can be easier to be anonymous or to think that you’re actions don’t have any accountability.”
The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre offers a lot of sexual harassment in the workplace training and person’s actions online can have consequences to their professional life, said Fisher.
“Sexual violence is a systemic issue, not something that is a one off incident or act, it’s a continuing of harm, ” she explained.
At the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, gender-based violence is viewed as a pyramid. At the bottom lies a foundation of sexist jokes, statements and derogatory comments, which then escalates into gender-role stereotyping, harassment, threats and verbal abuse which then leads to more overt harms such as rape or sexual assault.
According to Deputy Mayor for the City of Kawartha Lakes, Pat O’Reilly, he has heard from many individuals that have experienced verbal and derogatory abuse towards them.
“It certainly does happen in our business, whether it be the past or the present, individuals, men and women should not experience verbal abuse or derogatory comments, its not acceptable. Men and women shouldn’t be expected to endure that,” he said “There is probably so much more now with social media, its open season for people to say whatever they want, unfiltered, and maybe women have been more of an unfair target than men.”
Fisher explained, since the pandemic, the centre saw a 50 per cent increase in phone calls from those seeking help and as a result, they launched a 24/7 text and web chat option to compliment their phone line.
“It has been very busy,” she said. “These things have been going on before COVID, it is just exasperated by COVID but COVID is not an excuse. We do know that a lot of people are reaching out to the centre for support, navigation and advice on these topics. ”
And while so many campaigns and government advice encourages people to “stay at home and stay safe”, for many people, safety is not found at home. According to Fisher, 94 per cent of sexual violence in Peterborough was perpetrated by someone known to the victim.
Fisher noted that the centre has received calls internationally, not only in Ontario but calls are coming in from the east and west coast of Canada as well as some clients from Belgium.
Fisher believes that offering a 24/7 option for text and web chat could be drawing in more clients that are in need of help. The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre is the first in Ontario to offer that service.
“What our crisis support workers have been finding is that a lot are reaching out as they see us as a trusted resource in the community and they want to come to us to talk about what happened to them,” said Fisher.
And as a woman who often stands in front of large audiences and is known to many on social media, Fisher has personally been a victim of gender-based violence. Through the summer months, Fisher participated in live streams and she would continually receive comments regarding her body and her appearance.
“It’s quite exhausting,” she said. “Our actions matter, not only are we standing up to make a difference but we also continue to support people who are impacted.”
Those in need can receive free, 24/7, confidential, immediate support with the Kawartha Lakes Sexual Assault Centre. The online web chat can be found at KawarthaSexualAssaultCentre.com, or by phone at 1-866-298-7778 or text at 705-710-5234.
