Invisible no more. The experiences of Canadian women Veterans

Abstract: Despite some recent progress, women Veterans largely feel that Veterans Affairs Canada’s (VAC) programs have not taken sufficient account of their particular needs and concerns. They feel that they have been left invisible. There are many complex and interconnected reasons for this. It is the result of centuries of depictions of military life as essentially masculine. It was believed that women do not fight wars, as though the very identity of women was incompatible with the violence that the armed forces could engage in as part of their operations. Not until the late 1980s were all military professions, including combat units, open to women. Since then, despite many recruitment campaigns, the number of women in the military has stagnated. Over the last decade, women have made up between 16% and 19% of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), far from the government target of 25%. For the land forces, this figure drops to less than 14%, confirming the perception that women resist joining those units most likely to be engaged in combat operations. The stagnation in recruitment has had an impact on the proportion of women in the total Veteran population, which, according to 2021 census data, is steady at 16%. Only 13% of VAC clients are women. This low figure explains in large part how difficult it is to change traditional representations, but at the same time, the slowness to incorporate women’s concerns into VAC and CAF programs is hampering recruitment efforts. The situation among Canada’s allies is not much different. In the U.S., women made up 17% of the total force in 2021. In 2000, women accounted for 4% of the total Veteran population in the U.S. It is hoped that this figure will increase to 18% by 2040. In the UK, women accounted for 11% of the regular force and 15% of the reserve force in 2021. In Australia, women made up 20% of the regular force and 18% of the reserve force in 2021, compared with 19% for both forces in New Zealand. In France, the figure is 16.5%, but only 11% in the army. The other issue that undermines the possibility of presenting a military career as an attractive option for women is, of course, military sexual trauma (MST). Attempts to reform military culture in order to eradicate this scourge have all come from without, under pressure from court rulings. The CAF has yet to demonstrate that it is willing and able to take the lead in these transformations without having them imposed. The rhetoric is promising, but lasting change remains to be seen. VAC’s treatment of MST survivors continues to be a key indicator of the importance it places on women Veterans. The number of MST claims has exploded in recent years, and the policies behind decisions continue to place a significant burden of proof on claimants. Roughly 3,400 sexual trauma claims have been filed with VAC in the past three years, and a special unit is dedicated to processing them. Most are related to the Heyder-Beattie and Merlo-Davidson class actions which will be discussed later in this report. It is unclear how many of these applications were accepted by VAC. The committee acknowledges the courage of the women who chose to be heard by filing such claims. Women Veterans’ concerns have also been neglected in the work of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA) in the past. This study is the first to be devoted entirely to them. This report therefore addresses a major failing. It is divided into six parts: • The first part provides an overview of key demographic data concerning Canadian women Veterans, as well as the findings of scientific studies on comparative health indicators between women and men Veterans. • The second part discusses the research needs most likely to advance care and policy for women Veterans. • The third part concerns the effects of military service on the physiological, mental and occupational well-being of servicewomen and women Veterans. • The fourth part discusses the lived experience of women in the CAF. • The fifth part looks at VAC policies and how they apply to the unique experience of women Veterans. • The sixth part addresses military sexual trauma and its treatment within the CAF, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and VAC. To highlight the presence of this issue in all dimensions of women Veterans' experiences, excerpts from testimonies where some have courageously told their stories have been inserted between the sections.