MILITARY ‘HOSTILE’ TO WOMEN: REPORT
Year-long probe into sex assault in Armed Forces
OTTAWA • Senior military leaders are promising action after an explosive report found an “underlying sexual culture” in the Canadian Armed Forces that is hostile to women and leaves victims of sexual assault and harassment to fend for themselves.
On Thursday, the military released the results of a yearlong independent investigation into sexual harassment and assaults in the forces. Military commanders ordered the probe in April 2014 after an investigation by l’Actualité and Maclean’s concluded that such incidents were being ignored or downplayed.
Retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps interviewed more than 700 of fulland part-time military personnel, as well as commanding officers, military police, chaplains, nurses and social workers.
The interviews pointed to what Deschamps described as a “hostile sexualized environment” in the military, particularly among recruits and the junior ranks, which included everything from swearing and sexual innuendo to “dubious relationships” between low-ranking women and high-ranking men. It also included rape.
“At the most extreme, these reports of sexual violence highlighted the use of sex to enforce power relationships,” Deschamps’s report reads, “and to punish and ostracize a member of a unit.”
The report details rape jokes, innuendo and crude, casual references to female genitalia as some of the incidents faced by soldiers. It also provides an insight into the perpetrators.
“For example, a commonly held attitude is that, rather than be a soldier, a sailor or an aviator, a woman will be labelled an ‘ice princess,’ a ‘bitch’ or a ‘slut,”’ the report says.
One male participant told her: “Girls that come to the Army know what to expect.”
The military’s leadership came under particularly harsh criticism.
Deschamps found military personnel “became inured to this sexualized culture as they move up the ranks,” with officers turning a blind eye to inappropriate conduct and senior non-commissioned officers “imposing a culture where no one speaks up.”
Deschamps said it is “readily apparent” that a large percentage of incidents involving sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military are not reported. Victims were worried they would hurt their careers, not be believed, or even face retaliation from peers and supervisors.
“Underlying all these concerns is a deep mistrust that the chain of command will take such complains seriously,” the report says, adding, “Comprehensive cultural change is therefore required, and such change cannot occur without the proactive engagement of senior leaders.” Deschamps made 10 recommendations; the key one was the establish- ment of an independent centre outside the military that would be responsible for receiving reports of inappropriate sexual misconduct, as well as overseeing prevention, victim support and research.
In the face of such stinging criticism, the military’s most senior leadership went to great lengths Thursday to convey to Canadian Forces mem- bers and the public that it had accepted the findings and was ready to act. However, it was uneasy with the idea of an independent centre.
“What we need to do is look at what provides the proper outcome for our members,” Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Tom Lawson said. “We need to look at what’s legal within our system, what’s expected of us from the government, what the chief of defence staff expects from his chain of command. It’s important that we look at all of those factors.”
He touted the recent appointment of Maj.-Gen. Christine Whitecross, the military’s most senior female officer, to head a task force charged with developing a course of action, and monitoring and reporting on the results.
“This is a complex problem within a complex institution,” Lawson said. “The situation therefore will require a sustained effort from across the Canadian Forces for an extended period of time. We’re not talking about days and weeks, but months and years.”
Whitecross and her team are expected to visit the United States, Australia and several European countries in the coming weeks, as well as meet with experts in Canada, before drawing a final conclusion.
For her part, Deschamps told reporters the creation of an independent centre outside the military, as has already been established in the United States, Australia and France, is “essential.” But she later added that if Canadian military officials “find better practices than what I found, I will listen.”
During the press conference, Lawson found himself defending comments he made in May 2014, in which he referenced an internal Canadian Forces survey from 2012 that found 98.5 per cent of military members said they had not been subject to sexual misconduct. At the time, he warned against “jumping to conclusions.”
“We had indications of very few individuals coming forward. Our belief therefore was that our policies and procedures were working very well,” he said Thursday. “But what Madame Deschamps’s study and report brought forward is it may not have been working at the level we had confidence in.”
Lawson is due to be replaced by Lt.-Gen. Jonathan Vance as the Canadian Forces’ top officer in the coming weeks. Vance, who currently oversees all Canadian military operations, was not at Thursday’s press conference.
This is a complex problem within a complex institution