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After half a year of work, the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance, released the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) first progress report on addressing inappropriate sexual behaviour in the organization.
The report, known as Operation HONOUR, was released on Monday morning online
The report outlines the progress achieved by the CAF in implementing the Operation HONOUR directives, as well as the 10 recommendations of the External Review Authority, former Supreme Court Justice Mme Marie Deschamps.
According to the CAF, this report is just the first step in bringing a cultural change within, in hopes of eliminating harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour.
The Sexual Misconduct Response Centre was established September 1st, 2015, and since then, 156 CAF members have called in, apparently having experienced or been affected by harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour.
The commanders of the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, Canadian Joint Operations Command, Military Personnel Command, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, and all other commanders subordinate to the CDS have completed awareness sessions across their organizations, as have other major CAF organizations. The intent of these sessions was to raise awareness and reaffirm the CAF’s expectations of its members on this issue.
They’ve also done a review on training, assessing the effectiveness on harmful and inappropriate sexual behaviour. This will spur changes to curriculum and methods.
“We’ve started to implement what our members told us they needed to feel safe and supported in the Canadian Armed Forces,” said Vance, in a statement. “This report shows where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we are going. Change takes time, but we are committed to seeing this mission through successfully.”
Statistics Canada has been contracted out to complete a volunteer member survey in April 2016 on inappropriate sexual behaviour. The results will influence a wide range of Operation HONOUR-driven activities, including a policy review and modernized training.
In September 2015, General Vance issued direction to create gender advisor positions at Canadian Joint Operations Command and the Strategic Joint Staff. He also directed relevant changes to joint doctrine, education, and training.
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