Written by VOW intern Nicole Kotnjek, Social Worker Student at Humber College
Being military/ex-military can come with many mental health problems and just some of these include PTSD, depression, anxiety, insomnia, anger, mood disorders and more, but what is being done to help them treat these disorders?
It has been proven that mental health is extremely underfunded, with only about 7% of health care dollars going towards health care. As it has been found, about four thousand Canadians die by suicide each year and about 20% of the population do not have access to proper treatment. Receiving treatment such as counselling can take months. These are problems that need to be addressed.
In addition to all the mental health consequences that can come from being in the military and serving your country, it was also proven that women are far more likely to be sexually harassed. Women are about 10 times more likely compared to men to experience sexual harassment within 12 months. 40% of the women who did file complaints said the complaints system was “extremely poor”.
The conviction rates for rape cases taken to military courts are very low at only 9%. Servicewomen are scared to come forward to report the sexual assault for fear of it affecting their job prospects, the complaint being mishandled or as one woman had even experienced where the incident was denied and covered up.
That being said, a class action lawsuit for Canadian military sexual misconduct cases has been in open since 2019 and has just recently closed as of November 24th, 2021, when over 19,000 survivors and victims came forward. The sexual misconduct class action lawsuit is for survivors and victims who wish to participate in a $900 million settlement. A statement that was promised two years ago has finally been posted, an apology which was said by Defence Minister Anita Anand in a livestream that is posted on the Canadian Armed Forces Facebook page.
In conclusion, people in the military are not only left with mental health issues but women who go into the military to fight for our country are discriminated against and harassed. In order to aid in military mental health and to help in getting rid of harassment and sexual misconduct within the military, we need to make this a larger more well-known topic so that it cannot be simply ignored or covered up.
References
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. (n.d.). According equitable funding for mental health care. CAMH. https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/according-equitable-funding-for-mental-healthcare
Peacock, S. (2021, December 10). Ministers are failing to protect women in the military from bullying and assault. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/09/women-military-bullying-assault-sexual-armed-forces-courts
Connolly, A. (2021, November 24). Military sexual misconduct apology coming before end of year, Anand’s office confirms. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/8398081/canadian-forces-sexual-misconduct-class-action-deadline-date/
Gallant, J. (2021, November 25). Almost 19,000 claims submitted in Canadian military sexual misconduct lawsuits. Thestar.Com. https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2021/11/25/almost-19000-claims-submitted-in-canadian-military-sexual-misconduct-lawsuits.html