Female CAF veterans' unique medical, physical needs are being ignored: report

Female veterans' unique medical and physical needs are being ignored and neglected by the military and veterans programs, according to a House of Commons committee report released this week.

«Despite some progress, female veterans remain largely invisible and their specific needs are often neglected by [Canadian Armed Forces] and [Veterans Affairs Canada] programs,» it says.

The report,, is based on committee testimony from almost a hundred witnesses over more than a year.

The committee heard female veterans lacked access to proper equipment and physical training support while serving. Female veterans also said their health-care needs are being ignored and that many experienced or witnessed acts of sexual harassment or assault while active members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

One witness, retired captain Louise Siew, told the committee that on multiple occasions she observed «warrant officers sleeping with cadets … convincing a cadet that if they do this they'll pass basic training.»

Siew said that when she reported one such incident to senior leadership, the «recruit was sent home and the warrant officer was returned to work with me.»

«Sexual abuse was used as a way of almost controlling, in some cases, women,» Siew told the committee. «I spent a year at one time in my career as a commander hiding from senior officers. I mean that literally.»

Military sexual trauma

The committee said that over the last three years, Veterans' Affairs has received about 3,400 claims of military sexual trauma from female veterans.

«Attempts to reform military culture in order to eradicate this scourge have all come from without, under pressure from court rulings,» the report says. «The CAF has yet to demonstrate that it is willing and able