Sexual assault in the Canadian Forces explained

Sexual assault in the Canadian Armed Forces has been a pervasive issue affecting women, youth, and men in the Canadian Forces and Canadian Cadet Organizations. Canadian Forces sexual assault cases have been extensively reported in national Canadian news media. The scope and depth of the sexual assault problem first came to light in 1998, when Maclean's magazine broke the story.[1] Individual cases continued to be reported. The issue became a national focus again when MacLean's magazine published another exposé exploring the extent of rape culture in Canada's military.[2]

Context

See main article: Sexual harassment in the military. Sexual misconduct, including harassment and assault, is a pervasive problem in militaries worldwide. It affects women disproportionately,[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] particularly younger women and girls.[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Other groups at high risk include partners of personnel, child cadets, and military detainees.

While prevalence varies by country, military branch, and other factors, official statistics from Canada, the UK, and the US indicate that between a quarter and a third of military women in these countries are sexually harassed at work at least once each year.[14] [15] [16] Military training settings are characterised by a particularly high level of sexual harassment and assault relative to both the civilian population and other military settings.[17] [18] [19] [20] Research further shows an increase in perpetration during and after deployment on military operations.[8] [21] [22]

Prevalence

Canadian armed forces

Through Canada's Access to Information Act, it was revealed that Canadian Military Police have received between 134 and 201 sexual assault complaints every year since the year 2000, averaging to 178 per year.[23] Given that the Canadian Armed Forces has 119,000 personnel (military and civilian), this represents a reported rate of 1.5 incidents per 1000.[24] In 2014, the rate of self-reported sexual assault in the whole of Canada was 22 incidents per 1000.[25] A 2012 survey showed that women, minorities, and First Nations suffered disproportionate levels of sexual and personal harassment in the Canadian Forces.[26]

The Canadian Forces claims that it takes sexual assault and abuse seriously.[27]

It has been further reported that one-in-thirteen women in the Canadian Forces has been sexually assaulted in connection with their military employment.[28]

High-profile sexual assaults by Canadian Forces offenders, like the case of Colonel Russell Williams have brought further attention to the issue in Canada.

In some cases, members charged with sexual assault have been retained on active service by the Canadian Forces, and placed on administrative duties.[29] This issue was brought about in May 1998 by a dozen women in Maclean's magazine.

Canadian cadet organizations

There have been numerous documented instances where cadets in the care of the Canadian Cadet Organizations have been sexually abused or assaulted.[30] [31] [32] [33] [34] According to MacLean's magazine, one-in-ten reported sexual assaults in the military is against a member of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets.[2] Some of these incidents have come to light years after the abuse occurred.[35] [36] Cadets Canada has a program called Positive Social Relations for Youth intended to stop future offences.

According to Vice Magazine, the Royal Canadian Army Cadets is "plagued with sexual abuse allegations".[37]

2014 External sexual assault review and later

In 2014, the Government of Canada announced an external review of the sexual assault crisis within Canada's military.[38] The Government named former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps to conduct the review.[38] The review has received international coverage.[39]

In 2015, the military launched Operation Honour to combat sexual assault and misconduct in its ranks. The military launched reviews in response to an extensive 2017 Globe and Mail investigation on problems with Canadian sexual assault cases deemed unfounded. In September 2018, after a review of 179 cases closed as unfounded, 23 cases were re-opened. Another 43 were re-classified to better reflect the actual findings of the investigations.[40]

Notable cases

Russell Williams, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, progressed from breaking into homes, sexual assault with no penetration, to rape and murder. He was charged with breaking and entering, forcible confinement, and the sexual assault of two women in connection with two separate home invasions near Tweed, Ontario in September 2009. Williams was also charged in the death of Corporal Marie-France Comeau, a 37-year-old military traffic technician based at CFB Trenton, who had been found dead inside her home in late November 2009. He was sentenced on 22 October 2010 to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment, with no consideration of parole for 25 years. He is housed in a maximum-security prison in Port-Cartier, Quebec.[41]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Speaking out on sexual assault in the military - Macleans.ca.
  2. Web site: Our military's disgrace. May 16, 2014.
  3. Web site: British army . 2015 . Sexual harassment report 2015 . 2018-03-08 . gov.uk.
  4. Web site: Deschamps . Marie . 2015 . External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces . 2018-03-08 . forces.gc.ca.
  5. Book: Leila . Miñano . La guerre invisible: révélations sur les violences sexuelles dans l'armée française . Pascual . Julia . Les Arènes . 2014 . 978-2352043027 . Paris . fr . 871236655.
  6. Web site: US, Department of Defense . 2017 . Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military: Fiscal Year 2016 . 2018-03-09 . May 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190508115225/https://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY16_Annual/FY16_SAPRO_Annual_Report.pdf . dead .
  7. Web site: House of Commons Defence Committee . 12 July 2021 . Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life (the Atherton Review) . 4 November 2021 . Parliament.uk.
  8. Web site: Watkins . Kimberley . Bennett . Rachel . Richer . Isabelle . Zamorski . Mark . Sexual Assault in the Canadian Armed Forces: Prevalence, Circumstances, Correlates, and Mental Health Associations . 2018-03-08.
  9. Web site: American Public Health Association . 2013-10-30 . Cessation of Military Recruiting in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools . 2018-03-08 . www.apha.org.
  10. Web site: Rutherford . Sarah . Schneider . Robin . Walmsley . Alexis . 2006 . Quantitative & qualitative research into sexual harassment in the armed forces . bot: unknown . http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018171845/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf . 2012-10-18 . 2018-03-08.
  11. News: Lichfield . John . 2014-04-20 . France battles sexual abuse in the military . en-GB . Independent . 2018-03-08.
  12. Web site: Cooper . Charlotte . July 2022 . British army: Welfare concerns at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate . 17 August 2022 . Child Rights International Network.
  13. News: Whyte . Lara . Tenfold rise in rapes and sexual assaults on girls in military . en . . 2021-11-04 . 0140-0460.
  14. Web site: British army . 2021 . Sexual harassment 2021 report . 16 August 2022 . gov.uk.
  15. Web site: Government of Canada . Statistics Canada . 2019-05-22 . Sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force, 2018 . 2022-08-20 . www150.statcan.gc.ca.
  16. Acosta . Joie D. . Chinman . Matthew . Shearer . Amy L. . 2021-07-19 . Countering Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: Lessons from RAND Research . en . 4.
  17. Web site: Defence . National . 2022-06-10 . Part I – Sexual Misconduct . 2022-08-20 . www.canada.ca.
  18. Web site: Ministry of Defence . 14 April 2022 . Armed Forces: Offences against Children . 16 August 2022 . parliament.uk.
  19. Web site: Ministry of Defence . 16 May 2022 . Armed Forces: Offences against Children . 16 August 2022 . parliament.uk.
  20. Web site: 2012-08-10 . Air Force relieves commander over sex scandal . 2022-08-22 . The Seattle Times . en-US.
  21. MacManus . Deirdre . Short . Roxanna . Lane . Rebecca . Jones . Margaret . Hull . Lisa . Howard . Louise M. . Fear . Nicola T. . 2022-09-01 . Intimate partner violence and abuse experience and perpetration in UK military personnel compared to a general population cohort: A cross-sectional study . The Lancet Regional Health – Europe . English . 20 . 100448 . 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100448 . 2666-7762 . 35813966. 9256655 .
  22. Web site: Department of Defense Task Force on Sexual Violence. . 2004 . Sexual Harassment Survey of Reserve Component Members. . August 23, 2022 . August 22, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220822175843/http://www.ncdsv.org/images/DOD_SexualHarassmentSurveyReserveComponentMembers_2004.pdf . dead .
  23. Web site: Our military's disgrace.
  24. Web site: Mandate of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. February 19, 2013.
  25. Web site: Self-reported sexual assault in Canada, 2014. July 11, 2017.
  26. Web site: SaltWire | Halifax.
  27. Web site: Archived copy . July 17, 2022 . August 22, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170822195509/http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/news/article.page?doc=canadian-forces-military-police-and-the-investigation-process-into-alleged-sexual-assault-offences%2Fhrbto8jk . dead .
  28. http://metronews.ca/news/canada/1126872/one-in-13-women-sexually-assaulted-in-canadian-military-statscan-survey-says/ One in 13 women sexually assaulted in Canadian Milatry Statscan survey says
  29. Web site: Canadian Forces reserves officer charged with sex assault | Ottawa Citizen. December 2, 2023.
  30. Web site: Daniel Moriarity Court Martial: B.C. Captain Guilty Of Sex Offences Involving Teen Cadets. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121025042225/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/23/daniel-moriarity-court-martial_n_2004880.html. 2012-10-25.
  31. http://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlsctd/doc/2012/2012nltd52/2012nltd52.html R. v. T.K., 2012 CanLII 15708 (NL SC)
  32. http://canlii.ca/en/nl/nlpc/doc/2003/2003canlii48100/2003canlii48100.html R. v. M.(J.L.), 2003 CanLII 48100 (NL PC)
  33. http://canlii.ca/en/ca/cm/doc/2010/2010cm2003/2010cm2003.html Mahaney D. (Lieutenant), R. v., 2010 CM 2003 (CanLII)
  34. http://canlii.ca/en/ca/cm/doc/2010/2010cm3025/2010cm3025.html Paradis M.J.M. (Lieutenant), R. v., 2010 CM 3025 (CanLII)
  35. News: Sea cadets get long-awaited abuse redress. The Globe and Mail. January 4, 2007. Fong. Petti.
  36. News: Aug 2013: Ex-air cadet volunteer sentenced to six years for sex assaults on boys. Winnipeg Free Press. August 16, 2013. Hitchen. Ian.
  37. Web site: Documents Show the Canadian Army Cadets Program is Plagued with Sexual Abuse Allegations. November 26, 2014 .
  38. Web site: External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces. April 30, 2015.
  39. News: Canada military orders sexual misconduct review. BBC News. April 25, 2014.
  40. News: Military to reopen 23 'unfounded' sexual assault cases. Harris. Kathleen. September 20, 2018. CBC News. September 20, 2018. en-CA.
  41. Web site: 2010-10-18. The secret life of Col. Russell Williams exposed. 2021-09-01. thestar.com. en.

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