Sexual misconduct in the British military

Sexual misconduct, including harassment and assault, is a pervasive problem in militaries worldwide. It affects women disproportionately,{{Cite web |last=British army |date=2015 |title=Sexual harassment report 2015 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446224/ADR005000-Sexual_Harassment_Report.pdf |access-date=2018-03-08 |website=gov.uk}}{{Cite web |last=Deschamps |first=Marie |date=2015 |title=External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces |url=http://www.forces.gc.ca/assets/FORCES_Internet/docs/en/caf-community-support-services-harassment/era-final-report-(april-20-2015)-eng.pdf |access-date=2018-03-08 |website=forces.gc.ca}}{{Cite book |last1=Leila |first1=Miñano |title=La guerre invisible: révélations sur les violences sexuelles dans l'armée française |last2=Pascual |first2=Julia |publisher=Les Arènes |year=2014 |isbn=978-2352043027 |location=Paris |language=fr |oclc=871236655}}{{Cite web |last=US, Department of Defense |date=2017 |title=Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military: Fiscal Year 2016 |url=http://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY16_Annual/FY16_SAPRO_Annual_Report.pdf |access-date=2018-03-09 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508115225/https://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY16_Annual/FY16_SAPRO_Annual_Report.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last1=Watkins |first1=Kimberley |last2=Bennett |first2=Rachel |last3=Richer |first3=Isabelle |last4=Zamorski |first4=Mark |title=Sexual Assault in the Canadian Armed Forces: Prevalence, Circumstances, Correlates, and Mental Health Associations |url=https://cimvhr.ca/conference/mh-symposium/documents/presentations/5-Watkins.pdf |access-date=2018-03-08}} particularly younger women and girls.{{Cite web |last=American Public Health Association |date=2013-10-30 |title=Cessation of Military Recruiting in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools |url=https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/23/11/19/cessation-of-military-recruiting-in-public-elementary-and-secondary-schools |access-date=2018-03-08 |website=www.apha.org}}{{Cite news |last=Lichfield |first=John |date=2014-04-20 |title=France battles sexual abuse in the military |language=en-GB |work=Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-battles-sexual-abuse-in-the-military-9271383.html |access-date=2018-03-08}}{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Charlotte |date=July 2022 |title=British army: Welfare concerns at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5afadb22e17ba3eddf90c02f/t/62d93391e2e9d369325b63f9/1658401682302/Military+recruitment_abuse+and+welfare+concerns_briefing_2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Child Rights International Network}}{{Cite news |last=Whyte |first=Lara |title=Tenfold rise in rapes and sexual assaults on girls in military |language=en |newspaper=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/tenfold-rise-in-rapes-and-sexual-assaults-on-girls-in-military-pkvck6nbg |access-date=2021-11-04 |issn=0140-0460}} Other groups at high risk include partners of personnel, child cadets, and military detainees.

While prevalence varies by country, military branch, and other factors, official statistics and peer-reviewed studies from Canada, France, the UK, and the US indicate that between a quarter and a third of military women in these countries are sexually harassed at work at least once each year.{{Cite journal |last1=Moreau |first1=Caroline |last2=Bedretdinova |first2=Dina |last3=Duron |first3=Sandrine |last4=Bohet |first4=Aline |last5=Panjo |first5=Henri |last6=Bajos |first6=Nathalie |last7=Meynard |first7=Jean Baptiste |date=2021-11-17 |title=From sexual harassment to sexual assault: Prevalence and correlates of sexual trauma in the French military |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=16 |issue=11 |pages=e0259182 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0259182 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=8598035 |pmid=34788297|bibcode=2021PLoSO..1659182M |doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2019-05-22 |title=Sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force, 2018 |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-603-x/85-603-x2019002-eng.htm |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=www150.statcan.gc.ca}}{{Cite journal |last1=Acosta |first1=Joie D. |last2=Chinman |first2=Matthew |last3=Shearer |first3=Amy L. |date=2021-07-19 |title=Countering Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: Lessons from RAND Research |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1318-1.html |journal= |language=en |page=4}}

Military training settings are characterised by a particularly high level of sexual harassment and assault relative to both the civilian population and other military settings.{{Cite web |last=Defence |first=National |date=2022-06-10 |title=Part I – Sexual Misconduct |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/report-of-the-independent-external-comprehensive-review/part-i.html |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=www.canada.ca}}{{Cite web |last=Ministry of Defence |date=14 April 2022 |title=Armed Forces: Offences against Children |url=https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-04-14/154397 |access-date=16 August 2022 |website=parliament.uk}}{{Cite web |last=Ministry of Defence |date=16 May 2022 |title=Armed Forces: Offences against Children |url=https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-05-16/2317 |access-date=16 August 2022 |website=parliament.uk}}{{Cite web |date=2012-08-10 |title=Air Force relieves commander over sex scandal |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/air-force-relieves-commander-over-sex-scandal/ |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}} Research further shows an increase in perpetration during and after deployment on military operations.{{Cite web |last1=Watkins |first1=Kimberley |last2=Bennett |first2=Rachel |last3=Richer |first3=Isabelle |last4=Zamorski |first4=Mark |title=Sexual Assault in the Canadian Armed Forces: Prevalence, Circumstances, Correlates, and Mental Health Associations |url=https://cimvhr.ca/conference/mh-symposium/documents/presentations/5-Watkins.pdf |access-date=2018-03-08}}{{cite web |author=Department of Defense Task Force on Sexual Violence. |date=2004 |title=Sexual Harassment Survey of Reserve Component Members. |url=http://www.ncdsv.org/images/DOD_SexualHarassmentSurveyReserveComponentMembers_2004.pdf |access-date=24 August 2022 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822175843/http://www.ncdsv.org/images/DOD_SexualHarassmentSurveyReserveComponentMembers_2004.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Following the Equality Act 2010, sexual harassment is defined by the British armed forces as 'unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating someone's dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them'.

Such misconduct includes generalised, untargeted behaviours, such as jokes about rape, as well as behaviours focused on individuals, such as unwanted touching, sexual coercion, assault, and rape.

‘A friend was out on an exercise when a group of men ducked her head in a bucket of water and each time she came up for breath she had to repeat “I am useless and I am a female”. She told the story and said it was a joke but I could see she was upset.’{{Cite web |last1=Rutherford |first1=Sarah |last2=Schneider |first2=Robin |last3=Walmsley |first3=Alexis |date=2006 |title=Quantitative & qualitative research into sexual harassment in the armed forces |url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018171845/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-18 |access-date=2018-03-08}} Female soldier, 2006.

'The lads just get drunk and go down the corridors trying to open any doors that are unlocked. The Chain of Command blame it on the individual saying they should just lock their door.' Female soldier, 2020.

'I have experienced an overwhelming culture of covering up/denying incidents of harassment... Many of the women I have served with have opted to leave/become medically downgraded as a consequence of their treatment.' Female submariner, 2021

'K reported a rape... Her assailant was charged. She described being ostracised and bullied within her unit following her formal report. Her chain of command made her the subject of an individual order restricting her ability to socialise with males (as far as she knows, no similar orders were made against males in her unit). She was in due course severely punished for a brief breach of the order.' Case description, 2021.{{Cite web |last=Centre for Military Justice |date=2021 |title=Submission to the Defence Committee inquiry into women in the armed forces: From recruitment to civilian life |url=https://centreformilitaryjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/FINAL-Defence-Committee-Women-Submission-from-CMJ.pdf |website=parliament.uk}}

File:Barker_Barracks,_Sennelager,_Paderborn,_Germany_MOD_45156616.jpg

After army Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement reported that she had been raped by two colleagues at her base in Germany in 2009, the coroner found that the bullying she received afterwards materially contributed to her decision to end her life two years later.{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Steven |date=2016-04-20 |title=Anne-Marie Ellement case puts spotlight on sexualised army culture |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/20/anne-marie-ellement-army-sexualised-culture |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=2014-03-03 |title=Anne-Marie Ellement: MoD urged to review care of vulnerable soldiers |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/03/anne-marie-ellement-inquest-mod-care-vulnerable |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} As reported in The Guardian, the coroner concluded that the rape and the army's subsequent inaction had 'deeply and permanently affected' Ellement, and that the bullying she experienced afterwards was a factor in her decision to end her life.

The experience of being targeted by sexual misconduct is typically traumatic. Canadian and US research has found that it increases the risk of stress-related mental illness, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Research in the US found that when sexual abuse of female military personnel was psychiatrically traumatic, the odds of suffering from PTSD after deployment on operations increased by a factor of nine.{{Cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=E H |title=Military psychologists' desk reference |last2=Suris |first2=A |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-992826-2 |editor-last=Moore |editor-first=Brett A |location=Oxford |pages=264–269 |chapter=Military sexual trauma |oclc=828143812 |editor-last2=Barnett |editor-first2=Jeffrey E}}

US research also found that personnel affected by sexual harassment were somewhat less likely to develop depression or PTSD if a formal report led to effective action to address the issue.{{Cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Margret E. |last2=Street |first2=Amy E. |last3=Stafford |first3=Jane |date=2014 |title=Victims' psychosocial well-being after reporting sexual harassment in the military |journal=Journal of Trauma & Dissociation |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=133–152 |doi=10.1080/15299732.2014.867563 |issn=1529-9740 |pmid=24410254 |s2cid=36336443}}

Risk factors typical of military settings include the young average age of personnel, isolated workplaces, the minority status of women, hierarchical power relationships, a culture of conformity, the predominance of traditionally masculine values and behaviours, and a heavy drinking culture.

Sexual misconduct is typically accompanied by a wider culture that demeans women and other marginalised social groups in the military, such as LGBTQ+ people and people of colour, as inferior to white heterosexual men. The first systematic survey of sexual harassment in the British armed forces, in 2006, found that a male-dominated culture both sexualised women and undervalued their military competence.{{Cite web |last1=Rutherford |first1=Sarah |last2=Schneider |first2=Robin |last3=Walmsley |first3=Alexis |date=2006 |title=Quantitative & qualitative research into sexual harassment in the armed forces |url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018171845/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-18 |access-date=2018-03-08}} Among the comments made to researchers by male personnel about their female counterparts were: ‘Ok there are a few exceptions but on the whole they [women] shouldn’t be here.’; 'They're all lesbians or sluts.'; and 'They are emotionally unstable.'

Since 2006, periodic, anonymised surveys have been published by each military branch. In 2021, the survey found that the following proportions of personnel, irrespective of age and gender, had had a 'particularly upsetting' experience of sexual harassment in the previous 12 months:

• Army: 15%.
• Royal Navy/Royal Marines: 25%.
• Royal Air Force: 'A quarter' (no percentage given).

While men are victimised by sexual misconduct, women are much more frequently targeted. Since 2009, official surveys have found the proportion of women affected has been rising, as indicated in the following table.

The official surveys reveal that women of low rank, who also tend to be younger than other personnel and more recently recruited, are disproportionately targeted for harassment, particularly in the army. In 2018, for example, 5% of low-ranking women in the army said they had been treated badly for refusing to have sex with someone, versus 1% of senior female officers. In 2021, half of recorded rape offences (22 of 44) were in the army and just under two-thirds (27) concerned personnel at the lowest rank of Private or equivalent.

The risk faced by girls aged under 18 is particularly high. In 2021, girls were ten times as likely as adult female personnel to be the victim of a sexual offence.{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Charlotte |date=July 2022 |title=British army: Welfare concerns at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5afadb22e17ba3eddf90c02f/t/62d93391e2e9d369325b63f9/1658401682302/Military+recruitment_abuse+and+welfare+concerns_briefing_2022.pdf |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Child Rights International Network}} In the same year, 37 girls across the British armed forces (from a total population at the time of 290) were victims of a sexual offence; in four cases the offence was rape. 22 new recruits at the training centre for the youngest soldier trainees, the Army Foundation College were victims of sexual offences that year; three of the accused were members of staff.{{Cite web |last=Ministry of Defence |date=16 May 2022 |title=Armed Forces: Offences against Children |url=https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-05-16/2317 |access-date=16 August 2022 |website=parliament.uk}}

File:Wiltshire_Army_Cadet_Force_Annual_Camp_2005._MOD_45144907.jpg

Cadet forces are military youth organisations for younger teens in communities and schools. In 2017, a BBC Panorama documentary found multiple cases of the sexual abuse of cadets from age 11 during the 1980s. It reported that the victims and their parents were discouraged from making a formal complaint or contacting the police. In 2012 and 2013, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) paid £2 million to settle the allegations out of court. Between 2012 and 2017, the MOD recorded a further 363 allegations, of which 282 were referred to the police.{{Cite web |last=Rawlinson |first=Kevin |date=2017-07-04 |title=MoD admits over 350 sexual abuse complaints have been made by cadets |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/04/mod-admits-over-350-sexual-abuse-complaints-have-been-made-by-cadets |access-date=2018-03-09 |website=Guardian |language=en}}

In 2022, research by King's College London found that experience of intimate partner violence (IPV), a category that includes sexual abuse, was three times more prevalent among partners of military personnel than among partners of civilians. 10% of male and 7% of female personnel told the researchers they had abused their partner in the previous 12 months. The study found that physical and sexual abuse of partners was particularly common where personnel had traumatic experiences of war.

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, two Iraqi sailors working on a merchant ship were arrested and taken on board a Coalition warship and made to strip naked, after which they were sexually humiliated. In a subsequent court case brought by Leigh Day against the Ministry of Defence, a judge noted that the nationality of the warship in question (i.e., whether it was British or American) was unable to be determined.

Perpetrators of sexual misconduct are overwhelmingly male colleagues, typically those of the same or higher rank than the women they victimise.

Of the suspects in nine sexual offence cases affecting 22 junior recruits at the Army Foundation College in 2021, three of the accused were members of staff.

Following concerns expressed in 2004 by the Equal Opportunities Commission (now the Equality and Human Rights Commission) about persistent sexual harassment in the British armed forces,{{Cite web |last1=Rutherford |first1=Sarah |last2=Schneider |first2=Robin |last3=Walmsley |first3=Alexis |date=2006 |title=Quantitative & qualitative research into sexual harassment in the armed forces |url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018171845/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-18 |access-date=2018-03-08}} the armed forces began to conduct surveys of their personnel's experience of sexual harassment.

In 2016, the head of the army noted that soldier culture remained ‘overly sexualised’ and committed to reducing the extent of sexual misconduct.{{Cite news |last=Farmer |first=Ben |date=2016-06-14 |title=Army has 'overly-sexualised' heavy drinking culture, Chief of General Staff admits |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/14/army-has-overly-sexualised-heavy-drinking-culture-head-of-armed/ |access-date=2018-03-08 |issn=0307-1235}}

In 2017, the Lyons Review into the service justice system recommended referring all serious offences in the armed forces, including those of a sexual nature, to the civilian police,{{Cite web |last=Lyons |first=Shaun |date=27 February 2020 |title=Service Justice System review |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/service-justice-system-review |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}} a proposal the government rejected.

In 2019, the Wigston Review into inappropriate behaviours in the armed forces acknowledged that such behaviours were at an 'unacceptable level'. It recommended that responsibility for 'serious behavioural complaints' be transferred from the chain of command to a new 'Defence Authority', separate from the three military branches (i.e. army, air force, navy).

In 2021, a major report by the House of Commons Defence Committee, the Atherton Report, declared the committee 'alarmed and appalled' at the extent of sexual harassment and assault in the military. The Committee recommended the MOD 'remove the chain of command entirely from complaints of a sexual nature', which the government again rejected.

The 2019 Wigston Review reported that several essential characteristics of military organisations contributed to an ongoing elevated rates of misconduct: 'tight-knit units that perceive themselves as "elite"; masculine cultures with low gender diversity; rank gradients; age gradients; weak or absent controls, especially after extensive operational periods; and alcohol.'{{Cite web |last=Wigston |first=M |date=2019 |title=Report on inappropriate behaviours |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817838/20190607_Defence_Report_Inappropriate_Behaviours_Final_ZKL.pdf |access-date=4 November 2021 |website=Ministry of Defence}}

In 2021, the Commons Defence Committee added that while the military chain of command had determined to tackle the problem, senior officers were often part of it, noting evidence of

'...senior individuals engaging in unacceptable behaviour themselves (including criminal sexual offences), failing to challenge these behaviours (for example, watching without commenting or breaching the confidentiality of those seeking advice) or interfering negatively in how a complaint is handled [...] The stories that we heard are truly shocking and they gravely concern us... In particular, we are disturbed by repeated examples of senior ranks failing those they command...'

According to the army's 2021 sexual harassment survey, four-fifths of women who had had a particularly upsetting experience of sexual harassment did not report it to the chain of command or the service police. Similarly low rates of complaint were found in the navy and air force. The most common reasons included low confidence in the chain of command and concerns that complaint could bring repercussions for the person concerned; many women said they preferred to deal with the problem themselves.

The number of investigations by the military justice system for serious sexual offences is low and convictions are rare. In 2021, 0.9% of soldiers said they had been raped, equivalent to 740 individuals in the army.{{Cite web |title=UK armed forces biannual diversity statistics: April 2021 (Table 1) |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2021 |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=GOV.UK |date=16 December 2021 |language=en}} In the same year, 28 rape cases were investigated by the Royal Military Police, of which five went to trial and two led to conviction.

The table below includes data from other recent years.

• Sexual harassment in the military
• Sexual assault in the Canadian forces
• Sexual assault in the United States military
• Women in the military
• Children in the military
• Wartime sexual violence
• Military sexual trauma
• Suicide in the military

• [http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121018171845/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/538E55EE-9CA4-4177-9A0B-6853A431B283/0/20060522SRReport.pdf Rutherford Report, 2006]
• Army sexual harassment reports:
• [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-army-sexual-harassment-report-2015 2015]
• [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/army-sexual-harassment-report-and-action-plan-2018 2018]
• [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/army-sexual-harassment-survey-2021 2021]

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GO3xq-64vo Rachel Thompson (British army), 2017] [video].
• The Times: [https://www.thetimes.com/article/i-was-sexually-assaulted-in-uniform-armed-forces-5bdjbs8p2 ‘I was sexually assaulted in uniform. I can’t get over it’], 2021.
• The Times: [https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/tenfold-rise-in-rapes-and-sexual-assaults-on-girls-in-military-pkvck6nbg 'Tenfold rise in rapes and sexual assaults on girls in military'], 2021.
• The Economist: [https://www.economist.com/interactive/1843/2022/04/28/the-family-secret-british-army-abuse 'The family secret”: how rape is hushed up in Britain’s armed forces'], 2022.
• Vice World News: [https://www.vice.com/en/article/british-army-sexual-assault/ 'Teenage girls serving in British army report record levels of assault'], 2022.

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Category:Sexual harassment in the United Kingdom

Category:Military life

Category:British Armed Forces

Category:Military of the United Kingdom

Category:Crimes against women

Category:British military scandals

Category:Violence against women

Category:Violence against women in the United Kingdom

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