Sexual misconduct persists in military despite efforts to curb assault, StatsCan reports

There's been little change in the number of members of the Canadian military reporting sexual assault and misconduct, despite an ongoing series of criminal cases and otherefforts tostamp out the problem.

A new report by Statistics Canada painted a troubling portrait of what appears to be an intractable social and legal issue within the ranks of the Armed Forces.

In 2018, 900 members of the regular Canadian Armed Forces, or 1.6 per cent, reported being victims of sexual assault, compared to 1.7 per cent two years earlier, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The report defines sexual assault as sexual attacks, unwanted sexual touchingor sexual activity where the victim wasn't able to consent.

Women soldiers, sailors and air crew members were four times more likely to be victims of sexual assault, and4.3 per cent of women in the regular forces were victims, compared to 1.1 per cent of men.

The CAFlaunched Operation Honourin 2015 to respond to sexual misconduct in the workplace, bringing in programs to combat inappropriate behavioiur, help victims and encourage reporting.

The report found 45 per centof regular force members felt the operation has been very or extremely effective so far, and49 per cent think it will be very or extremely effective going forward.

Overall,sexual assault was more prevalent among the primary reserves, where about 2.2 per cent, or 600 people, reported sexual abuse. In 2016, 2.6 per cent of the part-time military members reported being victims of sexual assault.

The prevalence of sexual assault was nearly six times higher for women in the reserves, at sevenper cent, compared to 1.2 per cent of men.

During a news conference announcing the results, the military's second-in-command described the number of Forces members who continue to be affected by sexual misconduct as "completely unacceptable."

"We've always known that this would be a long and bumpy road, and the survey results released today confirm this," vice-chief of the defence staff Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk said.

"Sexual misconduct continues to be a destructive problem within the Canadian Armed Forces, and we have made rather limited progress in eliminating it over the past two-and-a-half years."

Unwanted sexual touching was the most common form of sexual assault experienced by regular and primary forces in 2018, which is consistent with reporting in thegeneral population.

Younger women targeted

Reservists arecomparatively younger than regular forces, with34 per centof reservists 24 years or younger, compared to eightper cent of regular force members.

More than half of all sexual assaults in the military, in both regular and reserve forces,involved a peer. But there is an exception among female reservists, who reported a higher number ofincidents involving a supervisor or someone of a higher rank (51 per cent, up from 38 per centin 2016).

Earlier this year, CBC News reported that seven 10 recommendations to stamp out sexual misconduct in the military were "not yet fully achieved,"four years after a formerjudge's landmark report on rampant abuse in the ranks.

Commanders have grappled with the issue of sexual misconduct in the ranks since media reports in April 2014 that a large number of military sexual assaults were being ignored or played down.

An independent investigation by retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps in April 2015 found an "underlying sexual culture" in the military that was hostile to women and left victims to fend for themselves.

RetiredMaster Cpl. Stephanie Raymond, whose sexual assault casesparked the review by Deschamps and the eventual crackdown on inappropriate behaviour, said much of what has been done by the militarydoes not address the underlying issue.

"What [the statistics]tellme is that maybe Operation Honour doesn't work [well] enough or target the real force of the problem," Raymond told CBC News on Wednesday.

She,and other alleged victims,saidthe root of theproblem is the military's macho culture and training which perpetuates it.

"Some members of the Canadian Armed Forces have gone awry in terms of trying to teach soldiers how to be tough ... disrespectful behaviour is what they're trying to pass off as being able to show that you that you can handle adversity," said Paula MacDonald, who spent over two years in the military before leaving in 2016 because of harassment. "The reality of the matter is that[the behaviour] is destructive and it's harmful to everyone involved."

"I think the shift now has to be in the House of Commons."

Retired Col.Michel Drapeau, whopractises military law, saidthe defence department has been given enough time to deal withthe issue and it should be handedover to Parliament to legislate.

"I think the shift now has to be in the House of Commons. I really do," said Drapeau, whopointedto a recent senate committee report which suggested thateven lawmakers are losing patience."They've concluded that Op Honour is not the solution that everybody expected."

The solution, saidDrapeau, is to legislate the removal ofsexual assault and misconduct prosecutions from the military
and put it in civilians hands.