Ministers commissioned the first-of-its-kind survey earlier this year to fully understand the experience of personnel and perceptions of sexual harassment in the military.
The results are designed to provide vital data to design and drive prevention programmes, support schemes and contribute to the central Government mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Please see below statements on today’s statistics from the Minister for Veterans and People and the Chief of the Defence Staff.
You can find the statistics here Armed Forces Sexualised Behaviours and Sexual Harassment Survey – GOV.UK
Minister for Veterans and People Louise Sandher-Jones MP said
“All those who choose to serve our country must be able to do so with dignity and respect, which is why today’s survey results are wholly unacceptable.
“We commissioned the UK’s first ever comprehensive military sexual harassment survey, which provides a no holds barred baseline to fully confront and address the root causes of this issue. New standards in transparency and accountability are being set across our Armed Forces.
“As a veteran myself, this mission is deeply personal to me and I want our military to be the best in class on this issue. Ministers and Chiefs are working closely together to play our part in the Government’s central mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton KCB ADC FREng, said
“Our job in the Armed Forces is to be ready to deter, fight and win. To do that our people must feel safe – this is critical to our operational effectiveness. The results of the survey show just how much more I, and leaders at every level, need to do to stamp out behaviour which has no place in the UK Armed Forces. The data from the survey will help us do this and track our progress. We are committed to driving the cultural change needed.
“Over the last few years, we have established independent mechanisms for reporting the most serious incidents outside of the chain of command and launched a new Service complaints app, making it faster and simpler to report concerns. As a result, we are seeing more young women and men coming forward to raise issues.
” Our Armed Forces are rightly respected the world over but to retain this reputation we must enforce the highest standards and actively root out unacceptable behaviours. Training, education and upholding the standards we set will all play a key role in driving the change we need. This starts with the newest recruits and the work we do to instil in them the highest standards. But it is also about the education and training we provide to help our people learn and develop through their careers.
“As the world becomes more dangerous, and we enter a new era of threat, creating an environment where our people feel safe and confident enough to reach their full potential is critical to the effectiveness of our Armed Forces.”
Notes to editor