Brigitte Laverdure, Veteran
Photo Credit: Facebook
Esprit de Corps Magazine January 2024 // Volume 30 Issue 12
Let's Talk About Women in the Military – Column 58
By Military Woman
Question:
What else has happened on the “Experience of Women Veterans” Parliamentary study?
Answer:
Three women Veterans testified October 26th, 2023, for the fifteenth study meeting of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs (ACVA).
Nicole Langlois served from 1990-1997 in the combat arms. Her career highlights included being a frontline peacekeeper and achieving her M113 tracked vehicle operator certification. She shared with the committee, several service-related physical and mental challenges she faced as both a woman and a single parent.
After retiring, she felt like she “disappeared.” She found it hard to translate her army skills into meaningful civilian jobs. She tried a number of diverse jobs including as school bus operator, sports coach, security guard, custodian, and teacher.
After struggling to find her post-military life’s purpose for almost two decades, she admitted needing help. When she first shared the ongoing impact of her military experiences with her civilian health care providers, unfamiliar with Veterans, they misdiagnosed her. It was only after, as a last resort, she turned to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) that she finally received a correct medical diagnosis and treatment plan.
She recommended the committee read the 2022 British study entitled, “Exploring Barriers to Mental Health Treatment in the Female Veteran Population: A Qualitative Study.” She also recommended for women Veterans to get more education about mental health stereotypes, including reluctance to seek medical help and any women-specific VAC services, including support groups.
Alice Aiken served first in the Naval Reserves as a MARS officer and then in the Regular Force as a Physiotherapist. She is also the founder of the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR). She focused her testimony on her experience to date with the Restorative Engagement component of the 2019 CAF-DND Sexual Misconduct Class Action Lawsuit. “I became part of the suit because I wanted to tell my story, and I keep getting notes saying, ’Well, we have to talk to 20,000 of you, and they’re on number 438.’”
“I’m not sure why the military would have started this process if it wasn’t ready with, I don’t know, thousands of counsellors on hand to take people’s stories. It just seems to me to be bad planning… There seemed to be lots of money but very little support.”
She concluded with a plea for committee members to not “underestimate the seriousness of the suffering of some of my sisters in arms. This is important work you're doing; it's not political. Please take it seriously.”
Brigitte Laverdure testified that although her sexual assault occurred over 40 years ago during basic training, she still relives it today. She remained silent after the event initially to ensure her military career continued. She experienced several other traumatic events in the military but was never offered psychological supports. After almost 20 years of service, she was medically released in a manner that left her feeling miserable and alone.
Today she volunteers with the Veterans Ombud Advisory Council and enjoys helping Veterans with their VAC claims. She is shocked at how often Veterans still do not know what they are entitled to. She also notes, that in her lived experience, some federally funded support groups, like Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS) still do not fully “support the LGBTQ people.”
She recommended government offer psychological support to all, especially after traumatic workplace events, more proactively. She also recommended higher experience levels for those working in military-Veteran transition areas and for more Veterans, especially women, to be hired to work at VAC.
The sixteenth ACVA study meeting, held October 31, 2023, saw three non-Veterans testifying. They represented the Veterans Emergency Transition Services (VETS) Canada, the Canadian War Museum, and a researcher calling for more female sex-specific combat-related equipment design and procurement.
To everyone that has participated in the ACVA study to date – we share with you Member of Parliament Rachel Blaney’s words “…thank you for being here to help us try to make the path safer for other veterans who are women and for other serving women members in the future.”
At the end of the day, is that not what we are all here to do – make it better for the next generation?
