Canadian Armed Forces perpetuates sexualised military culture that is hostile to women and gay members

 

Canadian soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Photo / Getty Images

The Canadian Armed Forces perpetuates a sexualised military culture that is hostile to women and gay members, and harassment and assault are often tolerated by senior officers, according to a report released Thursday (local time).
The external review, led by former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps, says soldiers are exposed to sexual innuendo, degrading language, rape jokes and discriminatory comments about women and LGTBQ members from the moment they join the military.
The report found that "a large percentage" of cases of sexual assault and harassment are not reported amid fears that complaints will hurt one's career or not be treated confidentially.
The military launched the review last year after media reports into what appeared to be a major discrepancy in official records of sexual harassment and assault cases and what was actually happening inside the Forces.

Deschamps' review, based on more than 700 interviews, found that the attitude of misogyny and sexual misconduct is so pervasive that members become desensitised to it as they move up the ranks, with officers tending to excuse incidents on the grounds that the military reflects civilian society.
"At the most serious extreme, these reports of sexual violence highlighted the use of sex to enforce power relationships and to punish and ostracise a member of a unit," the report says.
"Dismissive responses such as, 'This is just the way of the military' are no longer appropriate," the report says.
The report contains 10 recommendations, including that the military acknowledge that inappropriate sexual conduct is a problem and put a strategy in place to change the military's culture.
One key recommendation is to take the existing complaint and support process outside the military bureaucracy and create an independent agency.
The Canadian military called the report an "action plan on inappropriate sexual behavior," and it said it must do a better job of understanding the issue of sexual misconduct, responding to reports of it, supporting victims and preventing the behavior.
"Inappropriate sexual behavior is a complex problem, and quick Band-Aid fixes are unlikely to solve the many dimensions of the problem," said Major-General Chris Whitecross, Commander, Canadian Armed Forces Strategic Response Team on Sexual Misconduct.
Whitecross recalled that when she joined the military, she also encountered such attitudes. Things have improved over time, but there is a long way to go, she said.

Not all recommendations accepted outright

The military has already set up a response team, led by Maj.-Gen. Chris Whitecross, Canada's highest-ranking woman. The team will also study how other nations have dealt with similar problems.
Deschamps made 10 recommendations in the report. Lawson accepted two outright and eight in principle.
One of the recommendations accepted in principle is that the Canadian Armed Forces create an independent centre where victims can seek support and advice.
"It is critical that such a centre be truly independent of the Armed Forces," Deschamps said at the press conference.
But she and Lawson disagreed on whether the military should move immediately to create such a centre.
"I think what we need to do is look at what provides the proper outcome for our members. We need to look at what's legal within our system, what's expected of us from the government, what the chief of defence staff expects from his chain of command," Lawson said.

Marie Deschamps, shown at her swearing-in ceremony in 2002. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Deschamps said Australia, the U.S. and the French all have an independent centre, and that with Whitecross's team assessing what other countries are doing, they may reach the same conclusion.
"The members at present do not have the sufficient confidence to report the incidents. And that one of the reasons why they came to me is that they were confident that they were speaking in total anonymity," she said.
"When I looked outside at other organizations, who appear to have made improvements, they all were independent. That's the basis of my recommendation. Whatever might be found in the future, I cannot say."
In her report, Deschamps called on the military leadership to crack down and prove that they mean it, and condemned the frequent "use of sex to enforce power relationships and to punish and ostracize a member of a unit."
She found "a strong perception that senior NCOs [non-commissioned officers] are responsible for imposing a culture where no one speaks up and which functions to deter victims from reporting sexual misconduct."

'Turn a blind eye' to inappropriate sexual conduct

This, Deschamps found, grew from "a broadly held perception in the lower ranks that those in the chain of command either condone inappropriate sexual conduct, or are willing to turn a blind eye."
In response to the report, Lawson issued an action plan that broadly accepts the recommendations for cultural change.
He said the military will "study and understand" the scope of the problem, and set out to respond to reports of sexual harassment promptly and fairly.
Lawson said the military will seek to prevent incidents of inappropriate sexual behaviour "to the greatest extent possible," and that a response team will meet members of the Canadian Armed Forces across Canada and abroad to discuss the report.