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Average of 178 sexual assaults in Cda’s military reported every year: report

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – There are some startling statistics when it comes to sexual assaults in Canada’s military.

An investigative report published in Maclean’s magazine says an average of 178 sexual assaults are reported to military police every year.

According to FOI documents, five members of Canada’s military become sexual assault victims every day.

Reporter Noémi Mercier with Maclean’s says between 134 and 201 complaints of sexual violence have been reported every year since 2000.

“I haven’t heard anything either from the minister of defence, the chief of defence staff, [or] Prime Minister Harper, really taking a stand about that issue,” she tells us.

Mercier researched the topic for eight months. “There are studies that show that being sexually assaulted within the military can have worse psychological consequences than being sexually assaulted in a civilian context.”

Borden military base in Ontario had the highest sexual assault complaints.

In the United States, 26,000 active-duty members reported unwanted sexual contact in 2012; that’s a 35 per cent increase from 2010.

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