First I would like to thank the committee for letting me present here today.
My name is Marie-Claude Gagnon. I am a former naval reservist, a military sexual trauma survivor, and founder of the group It's Just 700.
Created in 2015, our group allows men and women suffering from military sexual trauma to connect with peers. We are the only network dedicated to MST survivors in Canada.
We offer meetings; inform people about VAC and other services, such as legal and financial aid; connect victims to the Canadian Armed Forces sexual misconduct response team; provide in-person support for depositions, medicals, and meetings; provide collaboration with therapists to develop services for MST survivors; and carry out consultation and awareness projects.
I would like to start with the definition of MST. Since there is no information about military sexual trauma on the VAC website, I had to borrow the definition from the American VA website. Military sexual trauma is defined as:
psychological trauma resulting from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the Veteran was serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training.
Now I would like to address this topic by borrowing quotes from the 2014 “Caring for Canada's Ill and Injured Military Personnel: Report of the Standing Committee on National Defence”.
It is necessary to address prevention and treatment not only of combat-based PTSD in the CAF, but to address other causes of service-related PTSD such as sexual assault.
The link between sexual assault, either in theatre or at home, and PTSD is well established, particularly for female service members. We know practically nothing about other aspects of female veterans' experiences in Canada.
Colonel Gerry Blais assured the committee that all the programs offered by the CF joint personnel support unit are for everyone; however, Colonel Blais' statement that we treat all our injured and sick members in the same way does not reflect the specific psychological and social aspects of women service members experiencing PTSD and other mental health issues, particularly those who have suffered military sexual trauma.
Regardless of these recommendations, the 2014 Surgeon General's report on suicide mortality in the Canadian Armed Forces persisted in looking only at men. This report, approved by our newly appointed Surgeon General, did not include female suicide due to the very low number of females killing themselves while in service.
Since the majority of my group was forced to medically release after reporting their sexual assault, it is fair to advance that the 2015 research on mental health did not reflect MST survivors' reality.
The 2015 “External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the CAF” stated:
a common response to allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault seems to be to remove victims from their unit.
Doing so can potentially lead to an unanticipated and involuntary release.
Please allow me to quote members of my group who are currently going through this experience. One said, “My military doctor started pushing for a medical release at my first appointment with her, following the assault, before I had even seen a psychiatrist, started meds, started seeing a psychologist, or even wrapped my head around the fact that I had been raped.”
Another one stated, “How can I start to heal when on the one hand I am being pushed out the door, and on the other hand I am still seeking justice?”
I have another quote: “I had to take sick leave for four days this week. It is hard to cope with the demands of work and deal with the aftermath of the investigation. At times I feel that the organization is trying to break me.”
Research published in 2014 by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, however, did look into military sexual trauma and suicide mortality and found a high risk of suicide associated with military sexual trauma. It was recommended to continue assessing and considering MST in a suicide prevention strategy.
According to the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, learning from the Deschamps report, female veterans tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated. Consequently, they may face challenges accessing appropriate health services and may experience victim blaming and secondary victimization when seeking help for MST.
I have another quote: “The medical personnel told me that rape victims were not sent to see psychologists and that the priority was given to soldiers with combat-related trauma.”
Regarding the consequences of lack of care, I have other quotes from people who have had experiences. This is from a mother: “My youngest son found me unconscious in my room after a suicide attempt. In 2012, I was forced to do some terrible things to provide for my two children.”
Approximately 85% of married female soldiers are married to military men. This is another set of specific stressors that are unique to female soldiers. When was the last time we heard a male spouse advocating on behalf of his female soldier wife?
Operational stress injury social support staff do not receive MST training and are not responsible for conducting assessments on MST survivors and their caregivers, as is done for combat-related OSIs. We all heard that OSISS includes MST, but here is what members have to say about that: “I have PTSD but was denied going to OSISS. I was told I would not fit in the program. It seems we get lumped in with all the Afghan vets when the PTSD diagnosis comes down. Not all trauma should be treated the same way. When you're constantly fighting for people to believe what happened to you, it is not beneficial.”
OSI clinic support groups are also based on goals, such as improving sleep, which does not allow people the ability to create groups for MST survivors.
My recommendations to this committee are to implement GBA+ throughout VAC policies, programs, priorities, and research; implement mandated female veterans gender representation at 15% as a minimum to all the DVA advisory committees, since right now female veterans represent only 3.5% of all the advisory groups for VAC; implement science and data collection to determine the sex-specific needs of female veterans, including on MST issues; train front-line and educator staff in gender-specific needs and treatments, including MST, ensuring that taxpayer-funded research is addressing both sexes; conduct a formal evaluation of the response process and support services available to MST survivors; post the services for veterans dealing with MST online; post online the number of medically released personnel who reported a sexual misconduct; and track how many MST claims are granted or denied every year, as acknowledged by retired General Natynczyk during the 2015 stakeholder meeting.
As an example, today I have somebody who is contemplating suicide. I'm dealing with this at the same time, so I may be looking at my phone once in a while just to make sure he's okay.
Thank you.