Canada’s House of Representatives Committee on the Status of Women began hearings on rape and sexual misconduct in the Canadian military on April 20, local time. Several serving and former service members who attended the hearing revealed shocking inside information about the Canadian army.
Emily Tullock is a pilot with the Canadian Air Force. “I joined the army in July 2018, and since then I’ve experienced sexual assault and harassment that I’ve never erased in my life,” she said. “I’m here today to tell you that I’m in St. Jean,” the soldier told lawmakers. Jean) was raped just one month after taking part in basic training. I was also sexually assaulted while training in Bolton, Ontario. I was groped and kissed while attending group parties and some activities. This kind of despeakable behavior is much more common than you think.”
What the female soldier didn’t expect was that when she reported her encounter to the military law department, the investigators questioned her like an interrogation, with no sympathy for her, as if she were the prisoner.
Another retired female soldier who testified was Dawn McIlroy, who was also a female soldier in the 1990s when she was raped in the military. She says the system within the military has left her feeling helpless, disappointed and frustrated, with no self-esteem and no self-worth.
Retired Lt. Colonel Bernie Boland, who worked for Canada’s Department of Defense in Ottawa, testified that one of his young female colleagues was harassed by a senior executive when he reported the incident to his superiors and was ostracized, while the man who harassed the woman was promoted. “The problems of the Department of Defense are long-term, and there is a mechanism for not being willing to solve deep-seated problems, just walking through the field,” he said. ”
The Canadian army has recently come under investigation for a spate of scandals involving sexual misconduct by two defense chiefs of staff and other senior generals.
