I was part of Women's College Hospital, where we set up the first sexual assault care centres 30 years ago with rape kits for everybody. Eventually we put in freezers, because women didn't necessarily want to report it right away, but if the evidence went in the freezer, then they could report it when they felt they had sufficient psychological support to be able to do that.
I think there are systems out there that don't seem to have infiltrated DND or Veterans Affairs. What we keep hearing is that DND doesn't seem to have a system for women's health and doesn't seem to link sexual trauma with a poor pregnancy labour outcome or with postpartum or perinatal mental health issues. It doesn't seem to have gotten the memo. What we're also hearing is that, as Rachel said, the data isn't there even while people are serving, so VAC doesn't seem to know that this should be compensable. We're hearing a lot that there should be a presumptive approach in terms of compensation.
First, we're really grateful for the recommendations you've put forward there. Certainly, Ms. Wong, we've heard that that story about the instructor just being moved somewhere else. Whether it's priests, doctors or whatever, everybody just gets moved. There are no real consequences and there's no geographic cure for this.
There need to be consequences, because it adds to the trauma when it appears that this person got away with it. I guess I am asking what more we can do in terms of a systems approach.
For Ms. Hayward, I was very impressed with the idea that there should be some approach to children in terms of intergenerational trauma from what their parents, male and female, went through, but how do we look after those children who've been exposed to intergenerational trauma?
Say whatever you want and then send us whatever.