Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps has provided an 88-page report on the state of the Canadian Military and its treatment of enlisted women ending with 10 recommendations. It is a damning report. She calls the work environment toxic and names an “underlying sexualized culture” that is “hostile” to women as well as lesbian, gay, transgendered, bi-sexual and queer members. Worse still, she says that the vulgar name-calling, sexual innuendoes, jokes, harassment and sexual assaults are condoned or ignored by the brass. Shame on them, shame on all of them.
We live in a sexualized culture. Between the media and the entertainment industry there is a presentation of girls and women as sexual objects, as playthings, and in some cases as disposable. This on the one hand disgusts me but even more distresses me as I see the girls and teens I know growing up to think less of themselves and their bodies. I know girls who have been teased, harassed and abused. I know women who have lived much of their adulthood ashamed of their body and embarrassed about their sexuality. The church has not always been helpful in this regard. The church bears a deep history of misogyny and ill-treatment of women. For the church to castigate the military is, in some ways, living in a glass house while throwing stones. No matter the institution it is all so wrong.
The report gives an opportunity. It is critical for good people to stand up and say “Enough”. The church must support our young people and encourage them to be grateful for the body they are given and to be strong in not succumbing to the negative messages that surround them. The Canadian Military should answer for its crimes and misdemeanours and I am grateful to Marie Deschamps for bravely naming the situation and making it face up to its sins.
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