The well-deserved attention that the #MeToo movement has focused on the issues of sexual assault and harassment, and the momentum of that campaign, actually seem to be making a difference.
Our society is signalling it will not tolerate sexually predatory behaviour, not on the job or anywhere else.
We tend to hear less about men being victimized, but they, too, can be vulnerable and feel intimidation and power imbalances at work.
Some men are socialized as boys to be macho and tough, but it’s not a sign of weakness for anyone to publicly call out someone who has exploited and harmed them; I’d suggest it takes great strength and resilience.
Thankfully, just as with women, men are coming forward to report sexual violence and intimidation.
On Monday, a military judge in Halifax found Master Seaman Daniel Cooper guilty of sexually assaulting a male subordinate. Cooper was dismissed from the Navy and given a 22-month jail sentence, as reported by Keith Doucette for The Canadian Press on Monday.
Some men are socialized as boys to be macho and tough, but it’s not a sign of weakness for anyone to publicly call out someone who has exploited and harmed them; I’d suggest it takes great strength and resilience.
Cooper and his victim were aboard the HMCS Athabaskan, docked near Rota, Spain, for a NATO training exercise in 2015.
The man testified that he woke in his bunk to find Cooper performing oral sex on him, was frightened and tried to wake a crew member in the bunk below.
Cooper claimed he’d gotten the man’s consent twice before anything happened.
Military Judge Cmdr. Sandra Sukstorf said Cooper’s testimony contained inconsistencies and she didn’t find it plausible.
“I do not believe his version of events,” Sukstorf said bluntly. “I do not find the accused credible on the issue of consent.”
That the victim came forward and that the military brass took his allegation seriously is exactly the sort of “cultural change” recommended by an external review into sexual misconduct and harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), conducted by Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps in 2015.
Deschamps found an “underlying sexualized culture in the CAF that is hostile to women and LGTBQ members, and conducive to more serious incidents of sexual harassment and assault.”
Clearly that culture can be hostile to men, as well. It makes you wonder how many instances of sexual harassment and violence went unreported in the Forces over the years during a time when these crimes were taken less seriously and seen by some as just another facet of military life.
“There is a broadly held perception in the lower ranks that those in the chain of command either condone inappropriate sexual conduct, or are willing to turn a blind eye to such incidents…,” Deschamps wrote.
“Interviewees stated that fear of negative repercussions for career progression, including being removed from the unit, is one of the most important reasons why members do not report such incidents. Victims expressed concern about not being believed, being stigmatized as weak, labelled as a trouble-maker, subjected to retaliation by peers and supervisors, or diagnosed as unfit for work. … Underlying all of these concerns is a deep mistrust that the chain of command will take such complaints seriously.”
As CP reported, since Dechamps’ tabled her findings, there have been more frequent reports of sexual assault in the Forces, and more charges laid.
That’s not to say that more sexual assault complaints and charges laid are good things, of course, but it does suggest that members of the military are less willing to stay silent about sexual offences, and perhaps even that they have more faith in their superiors and the military justice system.
Through the actions of courageous people like the man who came forward in the Daniel Cooper case, sexual predators are being sent a message that there is no room for them in the military.
In finding Cooper guilty, Judge Cmdr. Sukstorf told him, “When you committed (the offences) you tarnished all of us.”
In coming forward with the support of superior officers, Cooper’s victim has played an important role in contributing to exactly the sort of “cultural change” Deschamps called for, and perhaps in helping restore some lustre to the Forces, as well.
Pam Frampton is The Telegram’s associate managing editor. Email [email protected]. Twitter: pam_frampton
