Sexual harassment is widespread in Ontario.

In a survey of Ontario high school students:

• 8 out of 10 female students said they had been sexually harassed at school.
• Victims of sexual harassment revealed that the harassment had a dramatic effect on their lives. They experienced fear, loss of self-esteem, concern for their personal safety, intimidation, anger, isolation and mistrust of the opposite sex.
• The majority of male students surveyed seemed to take the topic much less seriously, particularly when discussing being harassed by a female.
• Male students who had been harassed by other males tended to take the issue more seriously.
• 3 out of 10 male high school students surveyed said that they were afraid of being sexually harassed.

Source: “The Joke’s Over – Student to Student Sexual Harassment in Secondary Schools”, published by The Ontario Women’s Directorate, The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and the Ministry of Education, (1995).