Assaults and Sad Realities

Captain Nichola Goddard left a treasure-trove of memories for her husband, and now a book is being published that relates some of her experiences. Some of which are truly horrendous. None of them quite as catastrophic as the firefight with the Taliban, in Afghanistan close to the Canadian base in Kandahar province, where she suffered the distinction of becoming the first female combat victim of that war.

Nichola Goddard chose a truly tough and rough profession. One she was doubtless proud of, as a firm-minded, determined woman who felt that she was capable of performing on a level commensurate with any man, as a member of Canada's Armed Forces. She did her duty as called upon, to present with her unit in Afghanistan, doing her part with NATO's presence in that country whom good fortune had always bypassed.

Now it has been revealed through letters written to her husband that she had concerns for her safety and that of other female members of the Armed Forces relating to sexual violence. She wrote to her husband that "There were six rapes in the camp last week, so we have to work out an escort at night", and of her dismay not to have been informed, when newly arrived at the camp, of the situation.

So that she was vulnerable, without that knowledge, which meant that she hadn't arranged for an escort on her first night there, when she had used the showers, and walked back by herself, to her accommodations. Realizing after the fact that she might, under the circumstances, have been another statistic. Number seven in the recent rapes on base.

She had been subject to gossip that had no substance, that she was engaged in intimate affairs with other Canadian soldiers on the base. Intrigues and slanders, for which there is little-to-no opportunity to respond. There are mostly honourable male members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and a handful - as are representative in any segment of society - who resent the presumption of women who believe they are as equal to the task as men.

And who feel that the presence of female soldiers grants them the opportunity to pursue them with unwanted attentions, to become predators in a theatre of war, where normal social interaction is vastly complicated by the situation at hand, being posted to a far-off foreign country where death stalks the unwary and unprepared. And clearly, where these unusual circumstances provide an opportunity to indulge in antisocially harmful acts.

She wrote of the fearful intimidation she felt, and of shock, occasioned by the male attention that she had no wish to indulge in. She wrote of how unsettling it felt to be aware that she and other female soldiers were leered at by Afghan soldiers and civilians on the Canadian base.

Now, Calgary Herald columnist Valerie Fortney is set to release a new book, The Death and Life of Captain Nichola Goddard, in which these troubling details appear.

Ms. Fortney writes of the difficulty she experienced in attempting to interview military personnel about the incidence of sexual harassment and criminal behaviour targeting female soldiers. Another unfortunate by-product of war, of interaction between males and females in a situation and setting completely out of the ordinary, despite their training and preparation to face these conditions.

Afghanistan is a horribly malfunctioning country, with a backward society responding to a religion that insists women are subservient to men. This is rough country, and being a part of the military is a tough assignment. What results is a tragedy-in-the-making.