Sexual harassment ‘widespread’ in armed forces
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced a new crack down on sexual harassment after research today revealed the problem was widespread in all the armed forces.
A survey of 9,384 servicewomen reveals that 99 per cent had witnessed sexual jokes, explicit material or unwanted touching in the past 12 months.
And although there was generally a “high tolerance” for this behaviour, the survey finds more than half found it offensive and 15 per cent had had a “particularly upsetting” experience.
The research also reveals that 67 per cent of servicewomen have had these ‘sexualised behaviours’, which include sexual assaults and unwelcome comments, directed at them personally.
Defence secretary Des Browne said the report highlighted “serious issues that we need to address”, and said the MoD has now signed a new agreement with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to take action.
It made clear to all leaders in the armed forces that they must take sexual harassment seriously, he said, and committed the department to certain improvements, in particular in the way it dealt with complaints about harassment.
The research finds nearly half of those who made a formal complaint were dissatisfied at how long their superiors took to resolve the issue, and half said they had suffered because of their complaint. A further 64 per cent said it had caused them to consider quitting.
“Over the last ten years our armed forces have been deployed across the world in support of our fundamental democratic values – equal respect, toleration, and human rights. They are role models and standard-bearers for the values they defend,” Mr Browne said.
“It is, therefore, absolutely vital that these values are clearly upheld within our armed forces themselves, and that all our service men and women feel respected and valued regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.”
Chief of defence staff air chief marshal Jock Stirrup added: “It is clear from the research we have conducted that we have a problem with which we must deal urgently.
“This is not about political correctness. It is about operational effectiveness. Our success as armed forces depends fundamentally on respect, trust and mutual interdependence. Anything that weakens those bonds of trust and respect weakens us as a fighting force.”
