Number of sexual assaults reported in military spiked last year, StatsCan survey says
A new report from Statistics Canada says the percentage of military members who reported being sexually assaulted by another member of the military more than doubled between 2018 and 2022.
The report says 3.5 per cent of Canadian Armed Forces personnel said they were sexually assaulted by another military member in 2022.
That is a significant increase over the 1.6 per cent rate reported by the same survey in 2018, and the 1.7 per cent reported in 2016.
Statistics Canada defines sexual assault as sexual attacks, unwanted touching and sexual activity when the victim was unable to consent.
Victims of these assaults were more likely to be women, the survey found, and they were disproportionately younger, Indigenous, members of the LGBTQ+ community or people with disabilities.
When she was defence minister, Anita Anand says she accepted the recommendation to move all cases of sexual misconduct from the military to the civilian justice system, but adds there’s much more to be done.
Most Armed Forces members who said they experienced these assaults also said they did not report them to authorities — in many cases because they did not think it would make a difference.
More than half of those who told Statistics Canada they witnessed inappropriate sexual behaviour also said they did intervene.
Statistics Canada says one-third of regular members of the Armed Forces completed the survey and the results were weighted to represent the entire population of regular forces.
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