I lost hope for a long time, because I was at the bottom. I was in poverty. I was forced to live in conditions that were not suitable. I have lived in fear for most of my life and I still do.
At the same time, I see the changes that are happening at National Defence and VAC. I think it takes voices like mine for them to understand there's a human perspective behind what we need to be changing, because it's not just affecting my life; there's a ripple effect.
I see changes that are happening, I'm just nervous that they're not being implemented soon enough. I feel like women continue to get hurt without supports in place. At the same time, there are men getting hurt as well, but I feel like the sexual misconduct.... To my knowledge, there are at least eyes on it. There are at least people asking the questions, asking for protocol policies and trying to help.
The problem is that I come from a family of serving members, and it breaks my heart that I haven't been able to serve my country as I intended to. However, I believe that my testimony today is helping me gain that back and will help other veterans as well. I have hope, and I guess that's all I can hope for.