Glossary - Human Rights
In Human Rights
Gender expression is how someone outwardly expresses and presents their gender. For example, people can do this through their name, pronouns, behaviour, and clothes.
In Human Rights
Gender identity is a person’s internal and individual experience of gender.
In Employment and Work, Human rights at work, Human Rights, Types of discrimination
A grievance is an official complaint by a union against an employer. Grievances are decided by arbitrators, who are private judges hired by the union and the employer. Arbitrators hear your complaint and decide whether it happened. If you win, the arbitrator can order your employer to pay you money, change workplace rules, or stop doing something that’s not fair to you.
In Employment and Work, Housing Law, Human Rights
Ontario’s laws say that harassment happens when someone says or does things that they know, or should know, will bother you. This could be because what is said or done is offensive, embarrassing, humiliating, demeaning, or not welcome. This usually has to happen more than once to be considered harassment, but a single incident can be considered harassment if it causes you to feel very uncomfortable.
Harassment can include sending emails, posting materials or pictures, making jokes or other comments about:
- your race, gender identity, gender expression, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or age
- things like the way you dress, how you talk, or your religious practices
- in housing law, if you are receiving social assistance
- in employment law, your record of criminal offences
Harassment like this goes against human rights laws and is a kind of discrimination. For example, if an employer harasses you because of your record of criminal offences or a landlord harasses you because you are on welfare.
Harassment is also against the laws that protect a workers’ health and safety, and the laws that protect tenants.
In Human Rights
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the Tribunal) decides if your human rights have been violated. If you think your rights under the Code have been violated, you can file an application directly with the Tribunal. The Tribunal will decide the best way to deal with your situation. The Tribunal might also decide that your rights have not been violated or that they do not have the power to deal with your case.
An independent agency set up by the Ontario government to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. It is similar to a court, but less formal. It has “members” who are like judges and make decisions after hearing both sides.
In Human Rights
A mediated agreement is an agreement that 2 parties make with the help of a third person called a mediator during mediation. If the parties make a mediated agreement on some or all of their issues, they do not need to have a hearing at a court or tribunal about the things they have agreed on.
In Debt and Consumer Rights, Employment and Work, Housing Law, Human Rights
In mediation, people who don’t agree on something meet with someone called a mediator. The mediator tries to help them find a solution that they agree on.
A mediator does not make decisions or force anyone to agree to anything. If people make an agreement after mediation, they either:
- won’t need to have a hearing at a court or tribunal, where a judge or adjudicator decides for them, or
- will only need a hearing about the things they still don’t agree on.
In Human Rights
When 2 parties don’t agree on something, a third person called a mediator can talk to both of them to try to help them reach an agreement. This process is called mediation. A mediator is neutral, which means they don’t take sides. They don’t have the power to decide anything or force anyone to agree to anything.
If the mediation process works, both parties will make an agreement on some or all of their issues. This will not need to have a hearing at a court or tribunal about the things they agree on.
In Human Rights
Non-binary is a general term that describes gender identities that are outside of the categories of man or woman.
Non-binary is also a term that someone may use to describe their own gender identity. For example, someone who identifies as non-binary may have a gender identity that is not, or not just, man or woman.
