in the Canadian Armed Forces has been a pervasive issue affecting women, youth, and men in the Canadian Forces and Canadian Cadet Organizations. Canadian Forces sexual assault cases have been extensively reported in national Canadian news media. The scope and depth of the sexual assault problem first came to light in 1998, when Maclean's magazine broke the story. Individual cases continued to be reported. The issue became a national focus again when MacLean's magazine published another exposé exploring the extent of rape culture in Canada's military.
Through Canada’s Access to Information Act, it was revealed that Canadian Military Police have received between 134 and 201 sexual assault complaints every year since the year 2000, averaging to 178 per year. Given that the Canadian Armed Forces has 119,000 personnel, this represents a reported rate of 1.5 incidents per 1000.. In 2014, the rate of self-reported sexual assault in the whole of Canada was 22 incidents per 1000. A 2012 survey showed that women, minorities, and First Nations suffered disproportionate levels of sexual and personal harassment in the Canadian Forces. The Canadian Forces claims that it takes sexual assault and abuse seriously. It has been further reported that one-in-thirteen women in the Canadian Forces has been sexually assaulted in connection with their military employment. High-profile sexual assaults by Canadian Forces offenders, like the case of Colonel Russell Williams have brought further attention to the issue in Canada. In some cases, members charged with sexual assault have been retained on active service by the Canadian Forces, and placed on administrative duties. This issue was brought about in May 1998 by a dozen women in MacLeans magazine, however it was quickly swept under the rug and forgotten until the issue resurfaced in 2014, when it was realized the issue wasn't going away.
Sexual Assault and Abuse in Canadian Cadet Organizations
There have been numerous documented instances where cadets in the care of the Canadian Cadet Organizations have been sexually abused or assaulted. According to MacLean's magazine, one-in-ten reported sexual assaults in the military is against a member of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets. Some of these incidents have come to light years after the abuse occurred. Cadets Canada has a program called Positive Social Relations for Youth intended to stop future offences. According to Vice Magazine, the Royal Canadian Army Cadets is "plagued with sexual abuse allegations".
2014 External Sexual Assault Review and later
In 2014, the Government of Canada announced an external review of the sexual assault crisis within Canada's military. The Government named former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps to conduct the review. The review has received international coverage. In 2015, the military launched Operation Honour to combat sexual assault and misconduct in its ranks. The military launched reviews in response to an extensive 2017 Globe and Mail investigation on problems with Canadian sexual assault cases deemed unfounded. In September 2018, after a review of 179 cases closed as unfounded, 23 cases were re-opened. Another 43 were re-classified to better reflect the actual findings of the investigations.
