The armed forces are failing to help women achieve their full potential, and when things go wrong they go “dramatically wrong”, MPs have found.
The Defence Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces received an almost unprecedented level of engagement during its inquiry, with the traumatising “horror stories” it heard painting “a difficult picture for women in the military”.
While most servicewomen and female veterans consulted (almost 90% of respondents to a survey) would recommend the armed forces as a career, more than 3,000 (around 84%) reported that female service personnel face additional challenges relative to their male counterparts.
The committee’s survey found that 64% of female veterans and 58% of serving women reported experiencing bullying, harassment, discrimination (BHD) during their careers.
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Women serving in the armed forces have experienced “shocking” levels of rape, sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination, while having such little faith in the complaints system that more than half of them did not report what they had suffered, an MPs’ committee inquiry has revealed.
In what it calls one of the most important reports in its history, the Commons Defence Sub-Committee accuses the Ministry of Defence of “failing to protect female personnel” and the military chain of command of “letting them down”. The report also states that women are being blocked from “achieving their full potential” by not having an adequate system in place to counter the abuse.
Female military staff denied justice by inadequate system - MPs
By Jonathan Beale
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Women in the armed forces who are victims of bullying, harassment, discrimination and serious sexual assault are being denied justice by a woefully inadequate military complaints process, MPs have said.
The defence committee heard evidence from more than 4,000 women - including veterans and those still serving.
MPs said they were truly shocked by accounts of sexual assault and rape.
The Ministry of Defence said changes had been made to help women.
In a landmark report, MPs on the defence select committee say cases of serious sexual assault and rape should be taken out of the military justice system and tried in civilian courts instead.
The armed forces are failing to help women achieve their full potential, and when things go wrong they go “dramatically wrong”, MPs have found.
The Defence Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces received an almost unprecedented level of engagement during its inquiry, with the traumatising “horror stories” it heard painting “a difficult picture for women in the military”.
While most servicewomen and female veterans consulted (almost 90% of respondents to a survey) would recommend the armed forces as a career, more than 3,000 (around 84%) reported that female service personnel face additional challenges relative to their male counterparts.
The committee’s survey found that 64% of female veterans and 58% of serving women reported experiencing bullying, harassment, discrimination (BHD) during their careers.
The armed forces are failing to help women achieve their full potential, and when things go wrong they go “dramatically wrong”, MPs have found.
The Defence Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces received an almost unprecedented level of engagement during its inquiry, with the traumatising “horror stories” it heard painting “a difficult picture for women in the military”.
While most servicewomen and female veterans consulted (almost 90% of respondents to a survey) would recommend the armed forces as a career, more than 3,000 (around 84%) reported that female service personnel face additional challenges relative to their male counterparts.
The committee’s survey found that 64% of female veterans and 58% of serving women reported experiencing bullying, harassment, discrimination (BHD) during their careers.