Discrimination in the Armed Forces: Women in the UK Military Reveal a Culture of Disrespect and Sexual Misconduct

A report recently published by the U.K. Parliament has revealed a culture of hostility, alienation, and fear for women serving in the U.K. military. As of 2018, women in the country have been able to apply for all roles within the military, a change that sparked a sub-committee inquiry into the needs of women in the Armed Forces, the first of its kind. This article will be an exploration into the inquiry’s findings, as read in the official Parliamentary report.

The inquiry followed several different stages and was heard from around 9 percent of all female personnel serving as regulars. Although this sounds minimal, usually people currently serving in the military are not allowed to give evidence of this kind, so this is groundbreaking research for these issues. 4,106 female personnel and veterans responded to an anonymous survey, 11 took part in a private focus group, 75 submitted written evidence, and 11 witnesses, including veterans, charities, families’ federations, and the Ministry of Defence, gave oral evidence.

One of the things that can make women in the U.K. military feel isolated is the lack of representation. As of 1 April 2021, women made up 11 percent of the Regular Forces and 15.1 percent of the Reserves. Being this outnumbered so extremely means that women can feel like an “other” that cannot relate to or fit in with the majority. As well as the disproportionate representation between genders, respondents in the study reported having to tone down more feminine aspects of their personality and behave like an ‘honorary bloke’ just to fit in.

Of the 4,106 women that responded to the survey, around 53 percent said that they had been treated differently to other Armed Forces personnel. Of these, 91 percent said this was because of their gender. Nearly 62 percent of respondents said they had experienced some form of bullying, harassment, and/or discrimination while serving, and 84 percent reported that female personnel faces additional challenges. A lot of servicewomen can cope with these realities, and accept them as part of ‘the way things are’, but they should not have to. The sad reality, though, is that they are expected to be tough enough to deal with harassment, including sexual harassment, and even sometimes severe sexual abuse, by their senior officers, and even by female officers who have suffered some of the same issues during their military career.

The main entrance to the Ministry of Defence Headquarters in Whitehall, London. Photo by Buildington

Despite women making up a lot less of the military recruits in the country, they report being victims of crimes of a sexual nature a lot more often. In 2020, 20 percent of female regulars reported experiencing bullying, harassment, or discrimination, as opposed to 11 percent of males, and 11 percent of females reported experiencing sexual harassment, as opposed to less than 1 percent of males.

The sexual crimes that women have been victims of in the military, whether they have formally complained about them or disclosed them anonymously through this inquiry, are varied, and a lot more numerous than they should be. They range from unwanted comments about an individual’s appearance to gang rape and rape whilst drugged. These events can be very traumatic for the victims, and so getting the right support afterward is important.

In the case of the U.K. military, however, the right support is most often not available. In a 2018 sexual harassment report published by the Ministry of Defence, 70 percent of those who had made a formal complaint about the behavior of a sexual nature reported being dissatisfied with how the outcome was communicated, the follow-up action against those responsible, and the time taken to resolve it. 75 percent of these had suffered negative consequences after complaining. As a result of these things, 89 percent of personnel in 2021 who had been subject to bullying, harassment, or discrimination did not go on to make a complaint; 55 percent because they believed nothing would be done about it, and 49 percent because they thought it might adversely affect their career.

The U.K. military’s image still has not moved far from the archetypal straight white male. Photo from the British Army

People in senior positions should be looking out for women and recognizing when people are more vulnerable to attacks, but when officers are not the ones involved in sexual crimes themselves, they are being encouraged to cover up allegations of a sexual nature, or not investigate further when somebody in their care raises concerns about these issues. This is often an order issued by their seniors, to stop the reputation of government organizations from being destroyed, or implemented themselves, so as not to damage their chances of promotion.

Currently, allegations of rape within the military can be handled by either the criminal justice system (civilian court) or the service justice system (the system used exclusively for the armed forces). There are calls for this to be changed, however, as the service justice system has a much lower conviction rate for rape; it is 16 percent, as opposed to 34 percent for the criminal justice system.

The Ministry of Defence, in response to this research, has said that they will do what they can to improve the experience of women in the U.K. military, and hopefully, they stick to those promises. As it stands, the military is a very unwelcome place for women, and the evidence in this report only serves to back up the reputation that has been created for it by the media for many years.