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IN-SIGHT Glossary of Terms

IN-SIGHT Anonymous Submission Form

1. Bias

A predisposition, prejudice or generalization about a group of persons based on personal characteristics or stereotypes.

A bias can be conscious “explicit” and/or unconscious “implicit”.

Unconscious (or implicit, hidden) biases are mental processes that operate outside of our consciousness, intentional awareness, or control. These can manifest as shortcuts in our brains that can lead us to make decisions based on assumptions.

Note that biases can include but are not limited to assumptions relating to sex, gender, race, nationality, and ability. Biases can also lead to instances of harassment (see definition), sexual harassment (see definition) and discrimination (see definition).

Adapted from HREO Key EDII Terms

2. Disability

“Disability” means, any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,

  • a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,
  • a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,
  • a mental disorder, or
  • an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act 1997.

Adapted from Accessibility Policy | University Secretariat and Legal Counsel

3. Discrimination

Discrimination is a distinction relating to personal characteristics of an individual or group based on a ground protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code that has the effect of imposing burdens, obligations or disadvantages on such individual or group not imposed upon others, or that withholds or limits access to opportunities, benefits, and advantages available to other members of society;

  1. can be direct, indirect, or systemic in nature;
  2. need not be intentional;
  3. includes a distinction imposed because of a person’s or group’s relationship to, association with, or dealings with, another person or persons who are identified by a protected ground; and,
  4. includes a failure to accommodate the needs of individuals related to one or more grounds protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The duty to accommodate must be fulfilled in accordance with the principles of dignity, individualization, and inclusion; but,
  5. does not include restricting membership in a special interest group that is primarily engaged in serving interests of people identified by a prohibited ground to people who are similarly identified

Adapted from Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy | Glossary of Terms

4. Discrimination – Systemic

Systemic Discrimination refers to policies, practices, patterns of behaviour or attitudes that are part of the social or administrative structures of an organization, and that while appearing neutral on the surface nevertheless have an “adverse effect” or exclusionary impact on people based on a ground protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code. Examples of Systemic Discrimination include:

  1. not permitting time away from work or studies for religious or spiritual practices other than on statutory holidays;
  2. less favourable differential career opportunities or career paths for qualified members of equity seeking groups;
  3. failing to deal with discriminatory incidents or downplaying their seriousness because, for example, “no harm was intended.”

Adapted from Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy | Glossary of Terms

5. Gender Fluid/Genderqueer/Gender Non-Conforming

One whose gender identity varies from time to time. Those who claim this identity might be doing so in order to denote something significant about their gender, but it is also sometimes a space occupied by those who are taking a stance against the gender-binary system of classification embedded within society (male vs. female).

6. Harassment

Harassment means engaging in a course4 of vexatious comment or conduct that exceeds the bounds of free expression or academic freedom as these are understood in University policies5, which is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome. This includes not merely direct and intentional acts of Harassment, but also includes engaging in verbal or non-verbal behaviour or communication that is known or ought to reasonably be known to be hostile, intimidating or threatening, or that deliberately seeks to control or manipulate or otherwise harm another person, and can include comment or conduct through any electronic media regardless of where it originates. While it might be, Harassment need not be connected to a ground protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Differences of opinion, personality conflicts, or disagreements between individuals are not generally considered to be Harassment.

Harassment, defined above, can take on a variety of specific forms; some commonly recognized forms include:

I. Discriminatory Harassment

This is a form of Harassment (engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct that exceeds the bounds of free expression or academic freedom as these are understood in University policies) against a person or group, which is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome that is based on one or more grounds protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Discriminatory Harassment also includes Harassment based on a person’s relationship to, or association with, or dealings with, a person or persons identified by one or more protected grounds. Discriminatory Harassment may include, for example, racist jokes, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment and microaggressions

II. Harassment by Provocation or Incitement

(sometimes referred to as 'hate incidents')

This is a form of Discriminatory Harassment involving public behaviour that exceeds the bounds of free expression or academic freedom as these are understood in University polices, which incites hatred, contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, a person or group of people because of or based on one or more grounds protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code or because of a person’s relationship to, or association or dealings with, such a person or group.

III. Sexual Harassment

This means a course of vexatious comment, conduct and/or communication of a sexual nature or based on sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression that is known, or ought to have been known to be unwelcome. Depending on the circumstances, one incident could be significant or substantial enough to be considered Sexual Harassment. Sexual Harassment includes but is not limited to:

  • unwanted sexual solicitations, attention, advances, or comments and gestures (including songs and chants); o stalking;
  • the display of sexually suggestive pictures, posters, objects, or graffiti;
  • the implied or express promise of benefits or advancement in return for sexual favours;
  • threats of reprisals for rejecting unwanted solicitations or advances;
  • engaging in conduct or making a comment(s) that creates a poisoned environment for individuals of a specific sex, sexual identity, gender identity or gender expression;
  • non-consensual posting of pictures, aggressive comments, and slurs of a sexual nature on any form of social media or other electronic media;
  • non-consensual physical contact of a sexual nature (including Sexual Assault); and
  • sexual conduct that interferes with an individual's dignity, or privacy such as voyeurism and exhibitionism.

IV. Workplace Harassment

This is engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.

Workplace Harassment includes Sexual Harassment and Discriminatory Harassment in the Workplace.

Differences of opinion, personality conflicts, or disagreements between co-workers are not generally considered to be Workplace Harassment.

Reasonable action(s) taken by the University or by a Person of Authority, relating to the management and direction of workers or the Workplace is not Workplace Harassment. Reasonable management actions could include things such as changes in work assignments, scheduling, job/performance assessment and evaluation, workplace inspections, implementation of health and safety measures, and disciplinary action. If these actions are not exercised appropriately, they may constitute Workplace Harassment.

  • Workplace Harassment can involve unwelcome words or actions that are known or should be known to be offensive, embarrassing, humiliating, or demeaning to a worker or group of workers, in a workplace.
  • Workplace Harassment can also include behaviour that intimidates, isolates, or even discriminates against the targeted individual(s). This may include:
    • making remarks, jokes or innuendos that demean, ridicule, intimidate, or offend;
    • displaying or circulating offensive pictures or materials in print or electronic form;
    • bullying;
    • repeated offensive or intimidating phone calls or e-mails;

Adapted from Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy | Glossary of Terms

7. Human Rights

Human rights are the rights to which persons are inherently entitled to because they are human beings. Human rights describe how we instinctively expect to be treated as persons. They define what we are all entitled to – a life of equality, dignity and respect, to live free from discrimination and harassment

In Canada, your human rights are protected by Canada’s Constitution and by federal, provincial and territorial legislation. These rights are consistent with those under international treaties to which Canada is a party.

Adapted from About human rights - Canada.ca

8. Indigenous Person

"Indigenous" is an umbrella term for First Nations (status and non-status), Métis and Inuit. "Indigenous" refers to all of these groups, either collectively or separately, and is the term used in international contexts, e.g., the ‘United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ (UNDRIP). Recently, it has been associated more with activism than government policy and so has emerged, for many, as the preferred term.

Adapted from Indigenous Terminology Guide | Queen's University

9. Microaggression

These are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or the result of unconscious bias, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to targeted persons based solely upon their membership in a human rights protected group. Microaggressions can be subtle. Microaggressions, cumulatively, may constitute Discriminatory Harassment. A singleincident alone, particularly where the conduct results from unconscious bias, will rarely constitute Discriminatory Harassment, except where the conduct is particularly egregious and results in severe impact. A persistent environment in which microaggressions are permitted or tolerated can constitute systemic discrimination. The university’s goal is to foster an understanding of the impacts that microaggressions can have on those in equity deserving groups. As such, the initial focus in responding to a finding of Discriminatory Harassment or systemic discrimination based on allegations of microaggressions will often be educational and restorative.

Adapted from Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy | Glossary of Terms

10. Person with a Disability

A person with one or more long-term or recurring disability (see disability).

Adapted from Appendix 1: Glossary of human rights terms | Ontario Human Rights Commission

11. Prohibited/Protected Grounds

The Ontario Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination or harassment based on these personal characteristics.

Protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code include:

  • race
  • gender identity
  • ancestry
  • gender expression
  • place of origin
  • age (protected only in relation to those 18 years or older)
  • colour
  • record of offences (protected in relation to employment only)
  • ethnic origin
  • marital status
  • citizenship
  • family status
  • creed
  • sexual orientation
  • sex
  • disability, and
  • any other ground that may subsequently be designated as protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code

Adapted from Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy | Glossary of Terms

12. Race & Racialization

“Race” is a protected ground under the Ontario Human Rights Code, but like racial discrimination, it is not specifically defined. The Ontario Human Rights Commission explains race as socially constructed differences among people based on personal characteristics. Racialization is the process of social construction of race, by which people and societies construct races as real, different, and unequal in ways that matter to economic, political, and social life.

Adapted from Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy | Glossary of Terms

13. Stereotype

A stereotype is an incorrect assumption based on things like race, colour, ethnic origin, place of origin, religion, etc. Stereotyping typically involves attributing the same characteristics to all members of a group regardless of their individual differences. It is often based on misconceptions, incomplete information and/or false generalizations.

Adapted from Appendix 1: Glossary of human rights terms | Ontario Human Rights Commission

14. Trans/Transgender

Someone whose gender identity and/or expression is different from that associated culturally with the sex assigned to them at birth. (An individual who identifies as trans and/or transgender might or might not also identify as transsexual. See entry on "Transsexual.") "Trans" and "transgender" are also sometimes used as umbrella terms to include those whose gender identity is nonbinary, or fluid, or who do not identify with any gender.

Adapted from Glossary | Positive Space

15. Transsexual

People who are identified at birth as one sex, but who identify themselves differently. They may seek or undergo one or more medical treatments to align their bodies with their internally felt identity, such as hormone therapy, sex-reassignment surgery or other procedures. While this term is embraced by some people as an identity, it is rejected by others and should be used with caution.

Adapted from Appendix 1: Glossary of human rights terms | Ontario Human Rights Commission

16. Two-Spirit

Two spirit identity, though varied in its interpretation, has roots in Indigenous communities in North America. Initially, upon its creation, "two spirit" referred to someone whose humanness is thought of as embodying aspects of the male and the female spirit. The phrase emerged in 1990 at an annual International Gathering of American Indian and First Nation Gays and Lesbians held in Winnipeg. It was selected as a way of interrupting the colonial use of the French ‘berdache’, with its negative connotations regarding homosexuality, which was applied by settlers to a social role found in certain Indigenous communities. It has broadened in its use and subjective meanings for Indigenous peoples.

"Two spirit" has been adopted by some contemporary North American Indigenous peoples (and, increasingly, Indigenous peoples worldwide) to encompass various forms of sexual and gender diversity. Such terms as “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” or “trans” are Eurocentric and may be culturally irrelevant or offensive to Indigenous people.

Adapted from Appendix 1: Glossary of human rights terms | Ontario Human Rights Commission