I can't believe we don't already have a thread on RCMP Cpl. Catherine Galliford, but if we do, I can't find it. [Severe sexual assault trigger warning]
Galliford first spoke out against sustained and widespread sexual harrassment by her superior officers in November of last year and launched a lawsuit in May 2012. Galliford's claims were as shocking as they were comprehensive, alleging that during the investigation into Vancouver's missing and murdered women which eventually convicted Robert Pickton, investigators watched porn instead of working and one male colleague told Galliford he fantasized about seeing Pickton truss her up like a pig. Galliford now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and has been on medical leave from the force since 2007.
Galliford's allegations incited several other female RCMP officers to come forward and give their own experiences of sexual harrassment. At least four more lawsuits have been lodged aginst the RCMP, suggesting that Galliford's claims that the RCMP suffers from a "pervasive" culture of sexual harrassment are likely true.
However, the mounting evidence against Canada's national police force didn't stop the governments of British Columbia and Canada, on behalf of the RCMP, from issuing complete and comprehensive denials of Galliford's claims. They highlighted Galliford's alleged alcoholism and disputed the diagnosis that she had contracted PTSD. They argued that if any sexual contact occured (which they deny), it was consensual. The governments claim that any accusations of sexual harrassment were investigated immediately and deny that any culture of harrassment exists in the force.
Shame.