A proposed class-action lawsuit against the Canadian Armed Forces says that sexual discrimination, misconduct, and harassment are rampant in the service.
Through her lawyer, Glynis Rogers, a former CAF member from Nova Scotia, filed a statement of claim against Ottawa on Monday before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. She claims she was subjected to sexual orientation-based discrimination, bullying and harassment during training and during her time as a regular member of the armed forces.
Rogers, who joined the service in 2006, said that female CAF members were often called names and treated as inferior members of the military.
If the case proceeds, it could include other women who claim to have suffered similar treatment in the military.
“The accounts of rampant, routine sexual discrimination, bullying and unwanted sexual advances against female members are astonishing,” Rogers’ lawyer, Ray Wagner was quoted by the Canadian Press as saying. “This frequent misconduct is part of a troubling and deeply embedded culture that female members have been forced to endure. It’s time to step back, acknowledge how wrong it is, and take a stand against it.”
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He said it will likely be next year that they will know if the case will proceed.
In recent months, the military has come under intense scrutiny for alleged sexual misconduct within the ranks.
In September this year, the military launched an 18-member Sexual Offence Response Team to boost the ability of the CAF’s National Investigation Service to protect and support victims of sexual-based offences.
The creation of the team is in line the Department of National Defence’s Operation Honour.
Op Honour is a campaign to deal with sexual misconduct in the military. It was launched in launched in 2015 following the report of Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps.
Retired Justice Deschamp was asked by military commanders in 2014 to conduct lead an investigation into sexual misconduct in the military. In her report, Deschamp said she found a “sexualized culture” where female members of the Armed Forces were subjected to abuse ranging from harassment and sexual jokes to outright rape. She said the “endemic” sexual misconduct was condoned by the military leadership. Since then, the military has been regularly releasing reports of military members facing sexual misconduct charges.
The claim filed this week by Rogers alleges that the Attorney General of Canada is vicariously liable for the alleged misconduct, according to the report.
