Investigations into claims of sexual harassment in the army are to be removed from the chain of command in order to “tackle unacceptable behaviours in the military”, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.
A specialist task force has been created to take over the investigation of bullying, harassment and discrimination-related service complaints.
It will operate outside the commands of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
The MoD said this will “provide individuals with greater confidence and help ensure that the most serious complaints are dealt with quickly, fairly and in a standardised way across the armed forces”.
Defence minister Lord Coaker said last week that he was “deeply concerned” that women continue to be the target of unacceptable and criminal sexual behaviour after the suicide of a teenage soldier.
In February, a coroner ruled that “systemic” failures had contributed to the death of 19-year-old Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck.
An inquest found the Army’s failure to take action after she reported being sexually assaulted by a senior colleague and harassed by her line manager contributed to her death at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire in 2021.
The Army apologised and said it “should have done so much more to support and protect” Gunner Beck.
‘We still have work to do’
Last week, Sky News revealed claims of widespread sexual abuse. One former soldier described how after she reported being raped, she discovered the officers dealing with her case had called her a whore.
Former defence minister Johnny Mercer told Sky News there had been a “colossal failure” by ministers and the army to deal with the issue.
On Tuesday, the head of the army, chief of the general staff General Sir Roland Walker, faced questions about the report at Parliament’s defence select committee.
He was challenged by committee chair Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, who told him that from “horrendous examples uncovered by some excellent investigative reporting, including from Sky News…it seems that the measures that you’ve talked about don’t seem to have had the effect that’s required. It hasn’t increased the confidence of servicewomen”.
Sir Roland responded that he had a “great deal of sympathy and acceptance”.
But he added: “When we look at the raw numbers, which is to perhaps over rationalise the fact that there are real victims who fear perpetrators and predatory behaviour, most people in the army are able to come to work every day and go about their business without being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.
“So from our records, [out of] all of the offences of misconduct are only carried out by 4% of our personnel, so by definition, 96% of our staff are able to come to work and do their job without fear or favour.
“Now, 4% is still a large number of people when you consider the size of the British Army, so I absolutely recognise that we still have work to do.”
Former soldiers who have spoken to Sky News have revealed a culture where sexual abuse and harassment go unreported because women fear being targeted or blamed by the chain of command if they were to come forward.
Sir Roland acknowledged that “the other angle to this that I think we need to confront head-on a lack of confidence in the complaints process”, adding: “Inevitably, we have to recognise there are some cultural and social barriers still. There is an association of masculinity with soldiering.”
‘Not just a matter of basic justice’
According to the MoD, the ministry’s new initiatives will be “introduced at pace”.
A Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Taskforce, led by Veterans Minister Alistair Cairns will also be set up to change the culture in the army.
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Mr Cairns said: “I am personally committed to ensuring that we do everything within our power to root out unacceptable behaviour and ensure that the armed forces is a place where everyone can thrive.
“Women in the armed forces play a vital role in keeping our nation safe. This is not just a matter of basic justice and equality, it is essential to military effectiveness.
“We are moving at pace to create a new tri-service complaints team to take the most serious complaints out of the chain of single service command for the first time and to launch a central taskforce to give this issue the attention and focus it deserves.”
‘Something seems to have shifted’
Emma Norton, a lawyer from the Centre for Military Justice, who represents the family of Ms Beck told Sky News: “On the face of it, this appears to be a very significant achievement for the Beck family.
“As recently as 17 February, at Jaysley’s inquest, the Army’s stubborn position was that there would be no substantial changes at all made to the system for handling serious complaints of sexual harassment and other nasty forms of discrimination.
“Something seems to have shifted.
“After the inquest, the family spoke publicly, repeatedly and very powerfully about the vital difference they think a more independent scheme might have made to their daughter.
“Today, the government appears to have heard them.”
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However, she expressed concern about the independence of the new taskforce.
“How far removed from the single services will the new complaints processes really be? Will the same complaints staff just be reassigned to handle them? What new training will they have? Will they be willing to use genuinely independent expert advisers when they need to?
“Would it not just be more sensible for the new Armed Forces Commissioner to perform this function?
“That would lend even greater independence to the scheme. The fact that this option has not been taken up is a considerable concern and one wonders what internal pressures have been brought to bear on ministers that such an obvious solution has not been taken up.”
