Nearly 1,000 Canadian military members report being sexually assaulted last year

Statistics Canada has found 960 members of the Canadian Armed Forces were victims of sexual assault over the last year.

Female personnel were found to be four times more likely to report being sexually assaulted than their male counterparts and were considerably more likely to experience sexual attention or pressure from the same person for dates or sexual relationships.

The survey found half of the female victims identified their supervisor or someone of a higher rank as the perpetrator whereas for male victims, it was most commonly a peer.

About 1 in 5 Regular Force members reported they were the target of inappropriate sexualized or discriminatory behaviour in the military workplace or in situations involving military members.

Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance called the numbers “sobering”.