Former Afghan interpreter suing Global Affairs employee, Canadian government for alleged sexual assaults

A female former Afghan interpreter who worked for the Canadian government in Kandahar, Afghanistan is suing a Global Affairs employee and the Canadian government for millions of dollars, alleging she was the victim of sexual assaults between 2011 and 2013.

The woman's civil suit seeks $1.75 million from the defendant for punitive damages, mental suffering and loss of future or past economic gain. She is also seeking more than $1 million in damages from the federal government.

The federal government hired the interpreter in 2009 to help with the International Security Assistance Force, the multinational military mission that included Canada. She was 15 years old at the time.

The woman's identity was previously subject to a publication ban, but the former interpreter successfully sought to have that ban lifted.

«I have determined that the way to reclaim my voice will be by telling my story and empowering other women who are facing, have faced, similar injustices to do the same,» she said in court documents.

Lawyers for the unidentified Global Affairs employee being accused of sexual assault have filed a statement of defence denying the allegations. CBC News is not naming him because he has not been charged criminally and the allegations have not been tested in court.

The woman has asked CBC News not to use her name because of the nature of the allegations. She is not named in the court documents.

«I became the only female interpreter at Camp Nathan Smith. While working on the case, and without realizing what was happening, I was groomed by a senior Government of Canada official,» the woman said in a statement issued to CBC News.

«As a result of my work with Canada, my life was under threat by the Taliban,» the statement continues.