Military recorded more than 500 sexual assault reports during five-year effort to stamp out misconduct

In what might turn out to be Operation Honour's epitaph, the Department of National Defence (DND)has tabled new figures in Parliament that show there were 581 reports of sexual assault in the Canadian military over the past five years.

Another 221 incidents of sexual harassment werelogged over the same periodby the tracking and analysis system set up as part of the military's effort to stamp out inappropriate behaviour in the ranks.

Operation Honour which has been running for five years and was intended to address sexual misconduct in the military is in the midst of being dismantled after recent allegations of misconduct against senior leaders left the effort discredited and in disarray.

The new figures, which capture reported assaults and harassment from April 2016 to March 2021, represent the most up-to-date data.They also presenta wide-ranging snapshot of the scale of the crisis within the Armed Forces.

The information was tabled in the House of Commons this week in response to a written question fromConservative MPs,who wanted to know boththe number ofcases andhow they were handled by the military law enforcement and justice system.

Some of the reported incidents of assaultand harassment took place before 2016 prior toOperation Honour's launchmaking them what defence officials call"historic" cases. The tracking system is set up to log reports when they are made, not the date on which theincident occurred.

The numbers don't tell the story, says rape victim

The numbers still left one survivor of sexual assault in the military who has been campaigning for accountability and change since 1990s upset and discouraged.

Dawn McIlmoylesaid she doesn't believe the tracking system tells the whole story, given that 4,600 people bothwomen and men have signed up for redress throughthe recent federal class-action lawsuit settlement for survivors of sexual assault in the military.

And there are also thosewho never came forward to report sexual misconduct in the military, she said.

"I had one lady tellme, 'Well, I was only assaulted once, so I'm just going to let it go because other people had it much worse,'" said McIlmoyle, whose 1993 rape by a military colleague made national headlines.

"And I'm like, 'Excuse me? That one assault should never have happened. You should have been in a safe work environment.'"

Since her assault and the military's attempt to downplay it, McIlmoylehas dedicated much of the last 25 yearsto helping other victimswhile still trying to processthe trauma of her own experience.

It has been surreal and disturbing to watch how sexual violence in the military has faded in and out of the national conversation over theyears, she said.

'It's been hell'

She said that one part of her was angry every time the issue resurfaced angry that the kind ofviolence sheexperienced was still happening to others,despite allthe promises and institutional action plans.

McIlmoyle said she lives with a lingering sense of guilt a suspicion thather actions in speaking up in the 1990s did little to protect others.

But she draws solace from thesurvivors themselves, she said the people she's personally guidedback from the edge.

"I am grateful for the whole process, even though it's been hell," she said, adding she still holds out hope formeaningful reforms to military justice andthe toxic culture in the ranks.

Conservative defence critic James Bezan said that while the overall number of reported assaults under Operation Honour is disturbing,more alarmingare the statistics on courts martial and the fact that216 of the cases of assault and harassment that were prosecuted resulted in simple administrative actions.

Many of the survivors of militarysexual assault who have appeared before the House of Commons Status of Women have remarked on how the military justice system is unique becauseit allows for cases of sexual misconduct to be "pleaded down" to lesser administrative offences.

Bezan said the Liberal governmentneeds to address that issue in itsyet-to-be released strategy to deal with inappropriate behaviour and sexual violence in the Armed Forces.

"When you are prepared to give a slap on the wrist rather than having true consequences for sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces, you're not going to change the culture," he said.