Christina Dodds,
PhD researcher and Graduate Tutor at Northumbria, discusses the recent MoD report
on inappropriate behaviours.
There’s been a 35% rise in Ministry of Defence sexual offence investigations over the past two years – with 60% of those in the British Army. These
figures, published earlier this year by the UK government, show that 153
investigations were conducted in 2018. Of these, 18 were for historical
offences – and the most common form of investigation was for sexual assault,
followed by rape.
A recent review also found a “significant
number” of military personnel have experienced “bullying, discrimination and
harassment” – with women and ethnic minorities more likely to be involved in
disputes.
The Wigston review by Air Chief Marshal Wigston, which was published in July 2019, investigated inappropriate behaviour
in the UK’s armed forces. The review also highlighted a woeful lack of data on
sexual offences within the military. And that the data that is available
indicates there is a significant problem. According to the human rights group Liberty,
the Ministry of Defence is not recording allegations “properly or accurately”.
Indeed, after the #MeToo campaign, the 2018 Army Sexual Harassment report found that 73% of women questioned reported inappropriate and unwelcome
comments and that 20% had experienced inappropriate sexual touching. It also
found that 8% of women had been involved in a serious sexual assault and 3%
reported being raped. Only 10% of these women made a formal complaint – and of
those complaining 70% said they were dissatisfied with the outcome.
The Wigston review makes it clear that the few who persist in
orchestrating inappropriate behaviour have no place in the armed forces. And to
meet this challenge the report makes 36 recommendations. These are focused towards
prevention, improved training and better support for those affected by
incidents of inappropriate behaviour.
As someone who has served in the army, looking at the 36 recommendations
gives me some optimism. But while I applaud a zero tolerance approach to this,
it must be questioned why previous policies and training have failed to erase
this blight on the British armed forces.
Not properly recorded
The Wigston review came about because of a series of allegations of
inappropriate behaviour by members of the British armed forces. One allegation
involved a 17-year-old female soldier and a group of six male soldiers.
When the Wigston inquiry was commissioned in April 2019 by the then
secretary of state for defence Gavin Williamson, the primary focus of the
review was clear, sexual misconduct in any form was not to be tolerated in the
armed forces. Williamson said that more needed to be done to prevent
inappropriate behaviour – with better support for those affected.
The 2018 House of Commons Fifth report into sexual harassment in the
workplace mirrored some of the findings from the Wigston report. It also
highlighted that there is no clear understanding of the extent of the problem,
due to no single way of collecting data. The report also said that employers
must do more to protect their workers and provide better training for their
staff.
Scale of the problem
High profile campaigns such as #MeToo and Time’s Up, have placed a spotlight on sexual abuse in the
workplace. So it’s not surprising that the second largest employer in the UK –
the British armed forces – is also under scrutiny.
Sexual misconduct is not a new problem within the military. The Ministry
of Defence has collected data since 2006, as part of their agreement with the
Equality and Human Rights Commission. While data collection alone does not
alter behaviour, all members of the armed forces also undertake service level
equality and diversity training, which covers sexual harassment and abuse.
Yet after 20 years of education, hard-hitting campaigns and an anti-rape focus inappropriate behaviour
continues.
Tackling the issue
But of course, the military ultimately reflects wider society: that’s
where the armed forces recruits from and once military service ends, ex-service
personnel then rejoin that same society. So while it’s clear the UK armed
forces has its own specific problems surrounding rape and sexual harassment,
this is of course a much wider issue.
Indeed, a BBC survey found half of women in the UK workplace had been
sexually harassed. The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates that 20% of women and 4% of men have experienced some type of
sexual assault since the age of 16. This is equivalent to 3.4m female and 631,000 male victims.
Perhaps then the fact that there has been a rise in sexual assault and
rape investigations from the Ministry of Defence – including historic cases –
is a good sign, as it shows more people feel able to speak out on this
difficult issue.
This is important because for things to change, everyone in the armed
forces must play their part in prevention and helping to change the culture.
Perhaps this is where one of the Wigston report recommendations – that being a passive
bystander is not acceptable – will really help to make a difference.
