Thank you, Chair.
Good evening, Chair. Thank you for inviting me to tell you about my experience. I feel incredibly privileged to be here.
After 12 years of service, I was medically released in 2013 with a diagnosis of adjustment disorder, with depressed mood and anxiety. I wasn't coping well with the death of Corporal Marie France Comeau. We worked together as flight attendants at 437 Squadron in Trenton. After years of sexual harassment and assaults while serving in the navy, I'd finally come to a career-ending realization: If you can't trust the wing commander, whom can you trust? I no longer felt safe in uniform and I could no longer function in the uniform.
Back in 2013, there were no supports for MST. The term “military sexual trauma” didn't exist yet within VAC. When I approached my local OSI for support, I was told that they would have to ask the men if they were okay with my joining them because it might be uncomfortable for them since my experience was so different. I found support online and through peer support I learned how to support myself as best I could from home.
MST comes with invisible pain. It doesn't show up on scans or the tests that VAC used to determine eligibility for benefits, so for years I was being denied benefits because my doctors didn't believe that I was as bad as I was saying I was. I was told that my pain was not real because I was not begging for narcotics and that my mental health wasn't that bad because I showered before my doctor appointments. I didn't fit into their box. I desperately needed help inside my home, but I couldn't get VIP for mental health only. I applied anyway and was told, for example, that outdoors was my husband's area, so I could only be supported for housekeeping.
My husband has an autoimmune disorder and is often bedridden for weeks....
I'm sorry.