Table 12
Impacts and consequences of work-related sexual assault experienced by women in the past 12 months, 2020


Table 12
Impacts and consequences of work-related sexual assault experienced by women in the past 12 months, 2020
Table summary
This table displays the results of Impacts and consequences of work-related sexual assault experienced by women in the past 12 months. The information is grouped by Impacts and consequences (appearing as row headers), Women, percent and 95% confidence interval, calculated using from and to units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Impacts and consequences Women
percent 95% confidence interval
from to
Personal and emotional impacts
Avoided or wanted to avoid specific people at work 65Note E: Use with caution 52 76
Avoided or wanted to avoid specific locations or tasks at work 48Note E: Use with caution 35 60
Wanted to miss work or work fewer hours 41Note E: Use with caution 29 54
Missed work or worked fewer hours 25Note E: Use with caution 16 38
Had difficulty doing your work 43Note E: Use with caution 31 56
Turned down a job opportunity 12Note E: Use with caution 6 22
Experienced a loss of trust in the person in authority at work or in your company or organization 42Note E: Use with caution 30 55
Wanted to change your job, transfer or quit 39Note E: Use with caution 27 52
Changed your job, transferred or quit 16Note E: Use with caution 9 26
Avoided optional work-related social functions 41Note E: Use with caution 29 54
Experienced negative emotional impact 56Note E: Use with caution 44 68
Experienced negative impact on your personal or social life 44Note E: Use with caution 32 57
Sought support services 19Note E: Use with caution 11 29
Used drugs or alcohol to cope with the experience 20Note E: Use with caution 12 31
Impacts in the past month
Had nightmares about it or thought about it when you did not want to 28Note E: Use with caution 17 42
Tried hard not to think about it or went out of your way to avoid situations that reminded you of it 46Note E: Use with caution 33 59
Felt constantly on guard, watchful or easily startled 44Note E: Use with caution 31 57
Felt numb or detached from others, activities or your surroundings 22Note E: Use with caution 14 34
Three or four of the above impactsTable 12 Note 1 14Note E: Use with caution 7 27
Spoke to anyone associated with work about the assault
YesTable 12 Note 2 47Note E: Use with caution 34 60
No 50Note E: Use with caution 38 63
Filed a formal complaint or grievance
YesTable 12 Note 2 9Note E: Use with caution 4 17
No 91Note E: Use with caution 83 96
E use with caution
Note 1

These questions come from the Primary Care PTSD Screen (PC-PTSD) tool, a front-line assessment tool used to identify individuals who should be referred to further psychological and psychiatric treatment for the disorder. The tool is designed to assess whether an individual demonstrates key effects related to the core PTSD symptoms of re-experiencing, numbing, avoidance and hyperarousal. If an individual answers ‘yes’ to any three of the four questions, the presence of PTSD is suspected. It is crucial to note that the PC-PTSD is not a diagnostic tool, and a suspicion of PTSD is not the same as a diagnosis. In a clinical setting, a positive score on the PC-PTSD would indicate that the patient should be referred for more in-depth assessment and possible diagnosis.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Includes respondents who said "yes" or "for some incidents yes, for others no".

Return to note 2 referrer

Note: Estimates for men are not available due to small sample size. Sexual assault includes sexual attack, unwanted sexual touching and sexual activity to which the victim was unable to consent because they were manipulated, coerced, intoxicated or forced in another non-physical way. Includes sexual assaults which occurred in the workplace and outside the workplace involving coworkers. Includes trans and cisgender women. Percent calculations are based on unrounded estimates and exclude missing responses.
Source: Statistics Canada, Survey on Sexual Misconduct at Work.
Date modified: