A high-profile member of the RCMP in British Columbia is alleging that years of sexual harassment from senior officers has left her suffering from post-traumatic stress.
For years Cpl. Catherine Galliford worked as a spokeswoman for the RCMP, announcing charges in the Air India bombing and addressing the media about police searches of Robert Pickton's now infamous farm.
However, after 16 years on the force Galliford took a leave of absence in 2007. She alleges that recurring sexual harassment from male colleagues has left her traumatized.
She has accused a supervisor of exposing himself to her, and says she suffered other unwanted sexual advances.
"I went to every boss I had at the time and I kept on saying, ‘Please don't make me work with these people.' And they didn't do anything," Galliford told CTV News.
She claims that several senior officers were responsible for the harassment.
On one occasion during the Pickton investigation, she says that a supervisor told her: "I have a fantasy about Willy Pickton escaping from jail and tracking you down and ripping your clothes off and stringing you from a meat hook and gutting you like a pig.'"
"My supervisors were laughing," she said.
The Mounties released a statement Tuesday saying that it could not comment on Galliford's allegations but that harassment "is not tolerated."
"The RCMP is committed to providing all its employees a work environment free of harassment, discrimination and conflict, where all employees are treated with respect and dignity," Supt. Kevin DeBruyckere said.
According to police psychologist Mike Webster, however, complaints like Galliford's aren't that uncommon in the world of policing.
"This remains a man's world. It's very difficult for females to get by in that man's world," he said.
"In the RCMP there are no functional, effective processes to get people to address people's complaints like this, nor are there processes to get people back to work," Webster said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington
