Meet Our Team...
Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group (SPCG) was founded by a group of Canadian Armed Forces Veterans united by the common thread of all being survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST).
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Starting as a small peer support group to help us be accountable to each other in our healing journeys, Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group evolved as a way to help affect change in high-trust/high-stress environments.
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There is no silver bullet, but we have a powerful and proven tool, and our training has now developed into a global reach, and is moving to address this issue in other, culturally unique environments. This is not sensitivity training - this is team-building, this is creating a strength that includes professionalism and respect.
We feel we have the experience, the dedication, and the ability to help find the right solutions. We are the unfortunate experts in sexual trauma. We are the ones that lived and breathed the toxic sexualized workplace.
We are the Survivors.
We are the Allies.
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And we have a voice.
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Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group will help enact much needed positive change.
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Donna Van Leusden (Riguidel), CD Major (Ret)
Donna Riguidel joined the Communications Reserve in 1993, leaving in 1997 as a result of being sexually assaulted.
After her daughter was born, she decided to rejoin out of a sense of responsibility to those still in uniform to try and work on the issue. She worked as a Public Affairs Officer with the RCAF and the CA as a full time reservist, supporting Regular and Reserve Forces both domestically and abroad since 2006, being awarded a Canada Command Commendation, and a Division Commander Commendation. Since 2015, she has worked closely with the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services to build a strong survivor support effort in uniform, and is a qualified facilitator for their First Responder to Sexual Assault Disclosures program. Donna is also qualified as a facilitator in Leading Change, Foundational for Bystander Empowerment, and completed “Counselling Adult Survivors of Gender Violence” a 14 week long program. While still serving, she also proudly represented Team Canada at the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney Australia in cycling, swimming, archery, and wheelchair basketball.
In her last year in uniform, Donna had the privilege of training approximately 1500 members of the DND and team in supporting survivors and eliminating the culture of gender violence in uniform. This work earned her a CDS Commendation, presented on her last day in uniform.
Medically released in March 2022 due to CPTSD from Sexual Misconduct, Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group as a veteran owned and operated organization was born, with its first contract being a command team deployed to various locations in the Middle East. Since release, SPCG has trained over 3000 people, in Canada, the United States, and Ukraine. In November 2023 we presented our first fully French serial in Montreal.
Our company continues to build momentum and hope, all from a small group of female veterans that asked the question “What if being raped did not have to cost you your career?”
Carly Arkell, Major (Ret)
Carly Arkell joined the Naval Reserve at age 16. At 19 she transferred to the Regular Force through the Regular Officer Training Program (ROTP) to become an Aerospace Engineering Officer (AERE). Throughout her career she supported domestic and deployed operations for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), the Canadian Army (CA), as well as the Canadian Special Operations Force Command (CANSOFCOM) Highlights include technical assistance visit to Afghanistan in 2006 and posting to 431 Squadron (Snowbirds) as the Squadron Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Officer. Carly has extensive experience in working in NDHQ and after career altering medical issues, which were aggravated by the MST, she shifted focus from supporting CAF operations to being an internal activist working for change from within the institution. She briefly worked with the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre (SMRC) until she had to stop working completely due to health complications. Carly was medically released in January 2021 with over 22 years of service.
Carly testified as a witness at the 2019 Senate Committee Hearing on Bill C77 (An Act to amend the National Defence Act) and how it intersects with the Canadian Victims' Bill of Rights. Prior to joining the Survivor Perspectives Consulting Group, Carly was the Vice President of the Women Warriors' Healing Garden Board of Directors.
"Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is not unique to any particular group of CAF members, it is not based on the colour of your uniform, nor the rank on your epaulette; it happens to all kinds of people. It also impacts more than just the victim, the perpetrator, and the CAF; it permeates through us and touches everyone in our lives, especially our families and close friends. I am keenly interested in exactly how far that impact reaches and how in turn in comes back to impact the CAF itself, as an organization."
Cassandra Elliott, Cpl (Ret), M.Ed.
Cassandra Elliott joined the CAF in 2009 as a reserve medic midway through a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Health Sciences. In 2010 she transferred to the reg force and joined the RCEME (Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) Corps as a Vehicle Technician. She served at CFB Edmonton until she was medically released in 2019 as a result of a severe back injury sustained in a work accident. Cassandra has been working with various military and civilian professionals since 2016 to help members who have experienced MST navigate the convoluted investigatory processes in the CAF.
Currently, Cassandra is a Registered Provisional Psychologist in the province of Alberta. She has researched Veteran transition issues and Soldier experiences. Her goal is to become a science translator and help unite the military and academic community to better address mental health, training, and research practices.
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MJ Batek, Ocdt (Ret)
MJ Batek was training to be one of the first female Artillery Officers in Canada and was injured during a training exercise in the 1990s. Her physical injury was career ending however, it was the sexual assaults and harassment she experienced during her military service combined with military domestic violence that have brought about her complex PTSD. She also served in the Communications Reserve as a Private where she also experienced MST at the hands of an Instructor. These assaults led to her decision to leave the Canadian Armed Forces after having successfully graduated from the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.
MJ was honoured to be selected for Team Canada for the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia and competed alongside other MST Survivors and injured CAF Veterans and Active Serving Members.
“It is difficult for people to understand PTSD from “friendly fire.” The first question I always get asked is if I served overseas. The concept that your injuries were inflicted by your team mates, leadership or military spouse is difficult to comprehend or talk about.” According to Vets Canada, MST and domestic violence are the top issues facing female veterans in Canada.
MJ hopes to help bring about MST awareness and also help support those escaping violence in her own community. She also advocates for civilian survivors of MST as this has touched various members of her own family. Her skill set is Graphic Design, Web and Marketing.