Poor recruiting, sexual harassment obstacles for women in military, say Sudbury veterans

The lack of women in the military was one of the targets of the latest report by Canada's auditor general, released yesterday, but it comes as little surprise to female veterans in Sudbury.

Auditor General Michael Ferguson pointed to generally poor recruiting by the military —  including a goal of having one quarter of the ranks women  — and noted there is no sign that any effort was ever made to achieve it.

There's another report out this week that one quarter of military women claim to have been sexually assaulted.

Again, it's not a shocking revelation for Sudbury's Anastasia Dufour, who spent 36 years in the Canadian army.

At first, she was forced to work as a secretary, before being transferred to a combat unit and serving as a peacekeeper in the middle east.

Dufour said she wasn't assaulted, but she did face regular harassment.

"I was a very voluptuous person so they would do things like turn the entire troop to watch me run," Dufour said.

But the 58-year-old retired master corporal doesn't regret her choice of career. 

"I don't feel I was given equal opportunity but what I did have was pretty damn good."

​Dufour says the best way to get more women into the Canadian Forces would be to hire female recruiters to talk about their own experiences in the military.

But she doesn't hold out much hope of changing the system.

"That's not realistic," Dufour said, "it is a male culture. It is more geared to men than women. That's a fact. But if you're a woman that accepts that challenge, you're not going to have a problem."

'It is a male culture. It is more geared to men than women.'

Jenny Bingham, born and raised in Sudbury, was in the army for 21 years, and served in Afghanistan.

"Some of [her male co-workers] made a bet 'Oh yeah, she'll probably quit within two months.' Another one said 'I don't think she'll last three weeks.' And then three years later he congratulated me," Bingham said.

Bingham said she was sexually assaulted, having once been "caught in a corner" during her time in military and there were many inappropriate comments

"I was not sure how to approach it," she said, "I was not sure how to put an end to it."

Like Dufour, Bingham said that attracting females to the Canadian military will be an uphill battle.

She said the military needs to show there are consequences to sexual assault and harassment to attract more female recruits