Honourable committee members, I am pleased to have the opportunity to share my personal and professional experiences with the VAC ministry pertaining to obstacles women face because of their military service.
I have a master's degree in social work, with significant professional experience working with adults in the medical social work area and providing counselling and therapy at a clinical level. I am a strong advocate for victims of military sexual trauma, because I became one in 2015. I turned to the legal system with the hopes of addressing the epidemic of sexual assault in the CAF by assisting my fellow service members with the class action lawsuit when I provided valuable evidence that displayed the corruption within the military legal system that prevented victims from accessing care and legal remedies.
Veterans Affairs Canada facilitates the care and legal remedies military members receive for things caused by their military service. I have witnessed survivors benefiting from the outcomes of the class action lawsuit, because it has granted them access to care. However, I am concerned that the perpetrators of this violence are not being held accountable for their criminal behaviour and violations of the code of service discipline.
I fear for the safety of members who are still serving. I am still pursuing a human rights complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding how I was specifically harmed during my military service, as remedies obtained through the class action lawsuit did not address the damages I sustained from the chain of command.
I served in the Canadian Armed Forces between October 2014 and January 2016, first as a medical technician and then as a direct entry social work officer. As soon as I became subject to the National Defence Act, the CAF leadership behaved in a sexually harassing manner towards me that escalated into three separate sexual assaults by different men enlisted or employed by the national defence ministry.
I availed myself of the internal military judicial system, only to experience corruption and lawlessness within the chain of command, with the goal of protecting senior leaders who violated various acts of Parliament and their professional codes of conduct and who were at higher ranks within the chain of command than I was. Many individuals have known that they engaged in human rights violations towards me, because they voluntarily released from service to avoid accountability under the National Defence Act.
Rape was used by military members as a punishment for breaking their code of silence and telling outside authorities of escalating sexual harassment. Sexual favours and sexual exploitation by commanding officers were used to communicate to other men in positions of power control and dominance over me because I dared to report the violations I was being subjected to by military leaders.
When I directly called superiors out on their human rights violations, the superiors conspired with other superiors to suppress my allegations and abused internal legal proceedings to benefit themselves with the goal of avoiding consequences for their conduct.
Doctors, nurses, harassment advisers, human resource management personnel, the grievance authority, military police and supervisors in the chain of command worked together to suppress my rights as a Canadian citizen to have security of bodily autonomy. I have sent the committee email correspondence and other evidence of the chain of command obstructing justice for your review.
Military leaders continued to harass me for trying to file a sexual assault complaint after my release. One such incident occurred in September 2018, when a military police officer called me to scream and yell at me to stop trying to make a report. Military police stationed at the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre refused to accept my allegations from 2016 to 2019.
In 2021, I convinced the RCMP to forward my allegations to the military police. The military police took a general statement from me and did not investigate the actual incidents I reported as rape and sexual assault. They verbally informed my lawyer and me that they were sending my allegations directly to the chain of command to address. However, there is no written record indicating the military police followed through with this action.
The mandate of VAC is to help former members to re-establish their lives post service and address service-related disabilities. I was met with multiple hurdles that stem from how the bureaucracy is set up, and a lack of organizational knowledge as to how to address the significant physical, mental and emotional, and social impacts of sexualized violence in the chain of command.
I was forced to stop working with the Government of Canada in November 2017 because I couldn't access appropriate health and social services to address the injuries I sustained because of my military service. I feel if I had been provided with the appropriate care, I could have continued working for the Government of Canada.
I did not receive access to legal avenues to address sexualized violence when the perpetrators controlled the military legal system and had unlimited access to government support. The victims are responsible for the initial financial legal costs and legal work of proving the wrongdoing engaged in by superiors in the chain of command, who are strongly protected and supported by the system of our government.
Veterans Affairs refused to grant me access to attendant care when I went through an in-depth civilian police interview regarding the first sexual assault I experienced, even though I'm pensioned for PTSD caused by this assault.
The sexual misconduct response centre also failed to provide me with services. I have received threats on social media from retired military members because I advocated for sexualized violence to stop. I feel that services need to be set up to address threats, as they significantly decrease the quality of life of the survivor.
I welcome your questions regarding gender-based analysis as they pertain to disability awards for female reproductive organs and female musculoskeletal injuries and to treatment of MST victims. I also welcome your questions regarding ineffective legal remedies to address military sexual assaults and VAC personnel's interpretation of the Government of Canada's legal responsibility to victims of this abuse. Please allow me to help you create effective mechanisms to stop the institutionalized sexualized violence that harms servicewomen.
I am not alone in my experience with the national defence ministry. I have not given up, because I agreed to serve my country. Seven young men committed suicide during the time I was in basic training, and countless other women experienced sexualized violence during basic training and voluntarily released. The level of abuse impacts everyone.
The Government of Canada needs to help survivors rebuild their lives and ensure the abuse stops by holding perpetrators accountable. Effective health care services and social programming are required to create the defence community Canada deserves.