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Shocked but not surprised.

That was a common reaction at a meeting of reforestation contractors in Prince George last month when they heard a litany of stories about sexual harassment and assault in tree planting camps.

sa国际传媒淚t is in remote areas where young people are working and sleeping and partying together. I donsa国际传媒檛 think anybody was surprised,sa国际传媒� says Airika Owen of the Northern Society for Domestic Peace, the Smithers organization that collected the stories and presented it to the meeting.

sa国际传媒淏ut I think people were overwhelmed and sad to see how many stories we were getting.sa国际传媒�

Owen has been teaching sexual safety workshops in tree planting camps for two years. Last year she published an online survey asking tree planters whether they had witnessed or experienced sexual harassment in camp, and asked them to share the story if they wished.

So far she has received a flood of responses, and over 70 of them are stories of serious incidents.

sa国际传媒淒uring my second year of planting I was raped. It took me a long time to tell anyone, took two years to tell management,sa国际传媒� reads one response. sa国际传媒淚 tried to pretend it didnsa国际传媒檛 happen, tried to shrug it off because that is the mentality around planting, to shut up and plant. In looking back I let a lot of things slide before the actual event because I did not want to make a scene.sa国际传媒�

Owen says most of the stories are of that nature, not just sexist jokes but sa国际传媒渟cary fear-based incidents that affected them deeply.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 was raped and management did nothing,sa国际传媒� reads another. sa国际传媒淭hey continued to employ the man and even put me in a living situation with two men I did not know after the incident. I was slandered and bullied by other employees.sa国际传媒�

Some stories were about sexist camp culture. In one reported situation, there were no shower curtains in the camp so the women bought curtains on their day off and put them up. Management took them down again because sa国际传媒渢hat was not the vibe they wanted in the camp.sa国际传媒�

Contractorssa国际传媒� association responds

John Betts, president of the Western Forestry Contractorssa国际传媒� Association and a West Kootenay resident, says they have been aware of the problem for several years and have been working to address it, partly through inviting Owensa国际传媒檚 staff into their camps to give workshops.

sa国际传媒淭he Northern Society for Domestic Peacesa国际传媒檚 work in our camps is part of that effort as a resource for employers and workers,sa国际传媒� he told the Star in an email.

sa国际传媒淩apes and assaults are not rampant across the sector,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淯nfortunately, this kind of violence has occurred, which is tragic and distressing for the victims who need our support.sa国际传媒�

He said many member companies donsa国际传媒檛 have problems with sexual harassment, and things are improving as his association develops guidelines on what a safe camp or workplace looks like and educates companies.

Learning bystander intervention techniques

Owen says planters are very open to her workshops sa国际传媒渆ven though it is at the end of their day and they are exhausted and it is often rainy and muddy and mosquito infested. They are not being paid to sit through it. Itsa国际传媒檚 not the ideal delivery model for training. But they have been super engaged, super polite, happy to have us there.sa国际传媒�

She says the planterssa国际传媒� biggest need is a deeper awareness of the meaning of consent, as in the rest of society.

They also need to learn about bystander intervention techniques.

sa国际传媒淭hat means training people to recognize a situation that is unfolding in a bad direction before it gets to someone being assaulted in their tent.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒楽uch a strong sense of belongingsa国际传媒�

Nina Sylvester of Nelson has worked in treeplanting camps in B.C. and Alberta for seven years and for three of those years ran crews of up to 18 people.

She says the stories coming out of the survey are believable and shesa国际传媒檚 happy itsa国际传媒檚 being talked about because in the camps it is possible to be oblivious to it, as she was in her early years of planting.

sa国际传媒淣ow that I look back with a different lens and perspective, it seems so obvious. But when you are in that insular world outside of your regular life, without a control or standard to reference what is happening, you donsa国际传媒檛 see it.sa国际传媒�

Although many women work as planters, she says, the supervisors are mostly men, and shesa国际传媒檚 seen lots of harassment in camps go unaddressed.

The youth and inexperience of many planters is a factor, she says.

sa国际传媒淚 was 19 [when I started], so it is like a coming-of-age experience. You enter into this community that you are immediately and tightly involved with. You are looking around and saying sa国际传媒極kay, these are the rules in this society,sa国际传媒� and you get accustomed to them. There is such a strong sense of belonging. It is a total bubble, completely removed from your regular life, worlds away.sa国际传媒�

Sylvester says change has to start with the owners of the companies, who should be taking training.

sa国际传媒淎 lot of these owners, predominantly male, have owned these companies for decades in different cultural times. They should go through education and then not only adopt it but incorporate it and believe it.sa国际传媒�

Creating a respectful workplace

Sylvester is glad to see a trend toward education on consent, harassment, and inclusivity for treeplanters such as recent work by Caitlin Burge of Nelson, who works for Next Generation Reforestation, based in Alberta, a company that employs up to 200 people in camps.

Burge, who has 14 years of planting experience, is developing policies and training for treeplanters and their managers in her company.

The policies are behaviour guidelines. Employees will hear about them before they start with the company.

So if supervisors want to confront a sexual safety issue on the job they can say sa国际传媒淭his is not personal. It is company policy.sa国际传媒�

Employees will be told that sexual consent is defined as sa国际传媒渋nformed and enthusiastic consent.sa国际传媒�

All employees will hear about the companysa国际传媒檚 expectations regarding a variety of things including health and safety, emergency response procedures, drugs and alcohol, protocols for working alone, and interactions with wildlife.

sa国际传媒淏ut it starts out with respectful workplace because that frames everything, and that is our biggest priority right now. sa国际传媒�

Creating a respectful workplace includes sexual safety and mental health.

An online orientation will be followed up on by project managers in the camps who will be trained as trainers in sexual safety, peer support, and conflict resolution.

sa国际传媒淲e need to move all those things forward at once in order to create the culture that is comfortable,sa国际传媒� Burge says. sa国际传媒淲e have not had open conversations about what it means to be sexually respectful or sexually safe.sa国际传媒�

She says the three core values of this work are clarity, accountability, and wellness.

A duty of care

John Betts of the contractorsa国际传媒檚 association saysa国际传媒檚 hesa国际传媒檚 on board. He says tree planting has been a very important job for young women.

sa国际传媒淭hey have grown more independent, grown stronger, made money and made friends,sa国际传媒� he says. sa国际传媒淲e are proud of that record. We are working to eliminate this awful element we have with some camps and crews and the suffering it can create.

sa国际传媒淲e have a higher standard of care because of the age of our workforce and the remoteness of much of the workplaces. We have a duty of care.sa国际传媒�

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. See the provided by . You can also call or for information and support.

bill.metcalfe@nelsonstar.com
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