The Human Rights and Dispute Resolution Program provides consultation on issues related to human rights; acts as an Intake Office for formal complaints of discrimination, harassment or sexual violence; oversees and investigates formal complaints lodged under the University’s Discrimination & Harassment Policy and/or the Sexual Violence Policy; when requested, facilitates resolution of concerns and complaints using alternate dispute resolution practices.

Additional sexual violence intake office*

The Faculty of Health Sciences professionalism office has a mandate to address issues including but not limited to harassment, intimidation and discrimination according to the University’s policies.

Additional sexual violence intake office*

The Employee and Labour Relations Team leads in the provision of Human Resources Services in the areas of collective bargaining, collecting agreement administration, labour relations, employee relations and manager training. The team also services as an intake office for concerns raised under the Policy on Discrimination & Harassment as well as the Sexual Violence Policy.

Additional sexual violence intake office*

Employee Health Services manages the disability benefits, the return to work process and employment accommodation needs of employees.

The Employment and Family Assistance Program offers extended benefits through Homewood Health. Their complete suite of services includes organizational wellness, employee and family assistance programs, assessments, outpatient and inpatient treatment, recovery management, return to work and family support services customized to meet the needs of individuals and organizations.

The Chaplaincy Centre helps students, faculty and staff with issues affected by academic, relational, spiritual and practical concerns. The personal support they seek to offer also can lead to a wide variety of programs ranging from prayer to social justice, community connections to self-care of mind, body and spirit, peace-making to awareness-raising.

The mandate of the Ombuds Office is to ensure that all students, staff, and faculty are treated in a fair and equitable manner within the institution. To this end, the Office provides independent, impartial and confidential dispute-resolution advice and assistance on University-related issues to all members of the McMaster community, promotes discussion of institution-wide concerns, and makes recommendations for systemic changes as appropriate.

Security Services is responsible for the protection of persons and property within the McMaster community.

PACBIC’s mandate is to “identify and anticipate issues affecting equity-seeking communities…both within the University and relevant to those seeking access to the University, and advise the President on such issues“

Through dialogue, education and thought leadership, Pride at Work Canada/Fierté au travail Canada empowers Canadian employers to build workplaces that celebrate all employees regardless of gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Their learning, networking and community events happen across the country, advising, celebrating and connecting the most inclusive Canadian employers.

Phone (24/7): 905-525-4162

Text (Mon, Thu, Sun 4pm-12am EST; Fri 8am-12pm EST): 289-207-7790

eChat (Mon, Thu, Sun 4pm-12am EST; Fri 8am-12pm EST): https://www.sacha.ca

SACHA is a fem­i­nist, non-prof­it, com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tion that pro­vides sup­ports to peo­ple who have expe­ri­enced sex­u­al­ized vio­lence at any point in their lives.

Text (Sun-Fri 4pm-9:30pm EST): 647-694-4275

eChat (Sun-Fri 4pm-9:30pm EST): https://www.youthline.ca/

Youth Line offers confidential and non-judgmental peer support through telephone, text and chat services.

Phone (24/7): 1-866-887-0015

The Support Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse program provides help for male survivors of sexual abuse, both recent and historical.

Phone (24/7): 1-866-925-5454

Text (24/7): text GOOD2TALKON to 686868

Good2Talk provides confidential support services for post-secondary students in Ontario.

Crisis Line (24/7): 905-529-7878

Toll-Free Crisis Line (24/7): 1-844-777-3571

Barrett Centre for Crisis Support provides a safe environment in the community for individuals who are experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis and who do not require a hospital stay.

Phone (24/7): 1-855-544-4325

Crisis Line (24/7): 1-888-200-9997

eChat (24/7): talk4healing.com

Talk4Healing is a culturally grounded, fully confidential helpline for Indigenous women available in 14 languages all across Ontario.

Phone (24/7): 1-866-925-4419

The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line is available 24-hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of his or her Residential school experience.

Phone (24/7): 1-877-330-6366

Trans Lifeline is a grassroots, peer-support crisis hotline offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.

Local centres across Canada that operate 24/7 support lines, listed by province/territory.

Phone (24/7): 1-833-900-1010

eChat (24/7): canadianhumantraffickinghotline.ca

The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is a confidential, multilingual service, operating 24/7 to connect victims and survivors with social services, law enforcement, and emergency services, as well as receive tips from the public.

SACHA is a fem­i­nist, non-prof­it, com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tion that pro­vides sup­ports to peo­ple who have expe­ri­enced sex­u­al­ized vio­lence at any point in their lives. We work to end vio­lence and oppres­sion through edu­ca­tion, advo­ca­cy, out­reach, coali­tion build­ing, com­mu­ni­ty part­ner­ships, and activism.

The Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence (SA/DV) Care Centre provides compassionate, confidential health care for children, adolescents, women, transgender persons, and men who have experienced sexual assault and/or domestic violence.

Victim Services is a Branch of the Hamilton Police Service under the command of the Community Mobilization Division. It is the only 24-hour on scene crisis intervention service for victims of crime and trauma in the City of Hamilton.

The Sex Workers’ Action Program of Hamilton is a non-partisan group consisting of concerned individuals—including those with lived experience—agencies and groups committed to assisting and supporting those working in the sex trade industry.

“A non-profit coalition of health care providers, advocates, and community members working to increase the capacity of health systems in Hamilton, Ontario to meet the needs of trans, gender-diverse, and non-binary people.“

Skill-sharing and meetups for trans and queer young people.

YWCA Hamilton strengthens women’s and girls’ voices, broadens their choices, builds dynamic leadership and provides essential and meaningful services that promote safe, inclusive, and equitable communities.

The AIDS Network offers services and support to men, women, children, and families who have been affected by HIV/AIDS, including their Men4Men program, which aims to enhance the lives of gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men by reinforcing self-esteem and personal empowerment through sexual health education and resources

Hamilton Sexual Health Clinic services include sexual health, safer sex practices, abstinence and birth control information; low-cost birth control; low-cost Emergency Contraceptive Pill; free urine pregnancy testing; free testing for sexually transmitted infections; free treatment for chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV (genital warts) and syphilis; HIV testing; free condoms; free hepatitis A and B vaccines for persons at risk; free needle exchange and harm reduction supplies.

The mandate of the Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres is to address the health, psycho-social, and forensic needs of victims/survivors of sexual violence and/or domestic violence in a prompt, professional, and compassionate manner.

Get free counselling and information on sexual violence from a sexual assault centre in Ontario.

Victims of sexual assault living in Ontario may be eligible for up to four hours of free, confidential legal advice by phone or video. This does not include legal representation in court.

The Victim/Witness Assistance Program is here to help victims and witnesses of violent crimes who may need to go to court. They will talk to you and provide assistance based on your specific case and needs.

The Support Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse program provides help for male survivors of sexual abuse, both recent and historical.

From healthy relationships to healthy behaviours and attitudes, understanding your sexual health is an important part of your overall well-being.

“Rainbow Health Ontario creates opportunities for the healthcare system to better serve LGBT2SQ communities” including a directory of competent and welcoming health and social service providers.

A pan-Canadian group of sexual assault centres providing services including counselling and 24/7 support lines.

Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights is a progressive, pro-choice charitable organization committed to advancing and upholding sexual health and rights in Canada and globally.

White Ribbon is the world’s largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equity, healthy relationships and a new vision of masculinity.

Information on symptoms of traumatic stress, such as flashbacks and nightmares, and grounding techniques to manage these symptoms.

“Finding pleasure when trauma and memory collide”

“This zine provides a checklist that you can work through when considering how to do anything – sex, a social event, work, a relationship – consensually. It explores and unpacks the key elements needed to ensure that people are freely agreeing to something, that they can tune into their wants, needs, limits, and boundaries and feel safe-enough to express them to others concerned.”

“Because hooking up doesn’t have to be devoid of feelings.”

“When we are able to admit that the capacity to harm lies within ourselves–within us all–we become capable of radically transforming the conversation around abuse…We can go from simply reacting to abuse and punishing “abusers” to preventing abuse and healing our communities.”

“This zine is all about why self-care is important in difficult times, what kinds of self-care there are, and how you might build them into your life. Different things work for different people so it’s all about figuring out what works best for you.”

“In this assessment you will think about how frequently, or how well, you are performing different self-care activities. The goal of this assessment is to help you learn about your self-care needs by spotting patterns and recognizing areas of your life that need more attention.”

“Personal boundaries are the limits and rules we set for ourselves within relationships.” This resource provides effective tips for determining your own personal boundaries.

“Personal boundaries are the limits and rules we set for ourselves within relationships.” Once you’ve established what your boundaries are, this worksheet helps you consider ways to communicate your boundaries in various situations.

“This is a zine offering a set of questions that it can be useful to ask about our relationships whether or not we see ourselves, or our relationships, as queer.”

A helpful visual for understanding the differences between gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, physical attraction and romantic attraction.

Answers to common questions about gender pronouns.