Article content continued

Nearly 58 per cent of respondents said they had personally been the target of one or more forms of sexual misconduct while in office, including inappropriate or unwanted remarks, gestures or text messages of a sexual nature.

That includes three MPs who said they were victims of sexual assault and four who said they were the targets of sexual harassment, defined in the survey as insistent and repeated sexual advances.

I remember the discomfort of having to push his hand away after

Nearly half of respondents — 47 per cent — said they were subjected to inappropriate comments on social media.

“It’s particularly good moment for us to show leadership, to take advantage of the spotlight that we have on Parliament Hill, to affirm that sexual harassment can happen in any workplace, not only on the Hollywood casting couches,” said New Democrat MP Sheila Malcolmson, who said she opted to speak publicly out of a sense of responsibility.

Some of the behaviour documented by the survey appears to have been at the hands of those within the corridors of power.

Twenty-two MPs who said they had personally experienced some form of sexual misconduct in office chose to answer a question about the perpetrators, with five saying it came from an MP from her own party. Ten said it came from an MP in a different political party.

Eight respondents said the perpetrator was a lobbyist, constituent or other stakeholder known to them through their role in elected politics, while 18 said it was either someone from outside the world of politics or someone who is anonymous or otherwise unknown to them.