A three-week program took place in Chilliwack, B.C., in the fall of 2016, and was designed to train 26 Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) officers as emergency response team members; people highly trained for combat, employing weapons and tactics in dangerous situations.
Nubia Vanegas felt unwelcome in the class, and had to be pulled because they could not ensure her safety. She claims that instructors made her feel useless and stated that her gender made her the weakest link. She was forced to drink alcohol, finding her undergarments thrown around her room, and being woken up in the middle of the night, forced to stand in front of her male colleges in shorts and a tank top. The men in that course were notified that the drill would happen during the night and dressed in proper workout gear.
In one exercise they had to lay on their backs in a dark room and fight off a college straddling them. While instructors yelled to the men not to give up, they yelled to Vanegas "do you want to get raped?". Vanegas stated "That shouldn't be the reason you say the scenario is bad. You should say the scenario is bad because of what was said." The CSC sent an apology letter, but Vanegas wants the people who humiliated her disciplined. "We get disciplined for wearing the wrong colour socks, but you're not disciplining people who sexually harass people? Haze people? Discriminate? That's wrong." Says Vanegas.
Many women experience sexual harassment in the workplace, and many do not speak out about it. Vanegas is taking a stand and trying to find a better solution to the problem, rather than signing off a gag order. If we cannot guarantee everyone's safety in a course then we should fix the problem from the source.
Nubia Vanegas felt unwelcome in the class, and had to be pulled because they could not ensure her safety. She claims that instructors made her feel useless and stated that her gender made her the weakest link. She was forced to drink alcohol, finding her undergarments thrown around her room, and being woken up in the middle of the night, forced to stand in front of her male colleges in shorts and a tank top. The men in that course were notified that the drill would happen during the night and dressed in proper workout gear.
In one exercise they had to lay on their backs in a dark room and fight off a college straddling them. While instructors yelled to the men not to give up, they yelled to Vanegas "do you want to get raped?". Vanegas stated "That shouldn't be the reason you say the scenario is bad. You should say the scenario is bad because of what was said." The CSC sent an apology letter, but Vanegas wants the people who humiliated her disciplined. "We get disciplined for wearing the wrong colour socks, but you're not disciplining people who sexually harass people? Haze people? Discriminate? That's wrong." Says Vanegas.
Many women experience sexual harassment in the workplace, and many do not speak out about it. Vanegas is taking a stand and trying to find a better solution to the problem, rather than signing off a gag order. If we cannot guarantee everyone's safety in a course then we should fix the problem from the source.