Why the armed forces are overdue their Me Too movement

Recent medical research has revealed worrying trends of long-lasting physical and mental health problems among women in the armed forces. The research, which surveyed 750 servicewomen, was published in the BMJ Military Health journal and found “widespread” emotional bullying, sexual harassment and physical assaults. In fact, of those surveyed:

• 22.5% had been sexually harassed
• 5.1% had been sexually assaulted
• 22.7% had been emotionally bullied
• 3.3% had been sexually assaulted

The researchers also found that subjects had suffered with an array of medical issues, from anxiety, depression and loneliness to post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism. Some had even developed physical pain as a result of the emotional harm that they had suffered (called somatisation). The researchers added that:

“Many women do not report adverse service experiences due to fear of the consequences of doing so and may continue to suffer from increased mental health distress during and after military service. It is essential to consider whether current reporting procedures may not provide sufficient confidentiality to encourage women to report adverse experiences and more appropriate disclosing procedures should be considered.”

Unfortunately, this evidence and the recommendations do not come as a surprise to me, or many other lawyers, charity and welfare workers and/or clinicians in this field. I expect that most servicewomen would not be surprised either. That is because the harassment of servicewomen has been a huge problem in our armed forces for some considerable time. In fact, we are only now seeing the tip of the iceberg.

The defence sub-committee report

Earlier this year the defence sub-committee on women in the armed forces undertook an inquiry into the lives of servicewomen. It heard evidence from over 4,000 servicewomen, including veterans, with the aim of exploring all the challenges that they have faced in joining, serving and leaving the armed forces. The sub-committee published its report earlier this year: “Protecting those who protect us: women in the armed forces from recruitment to civilian life”, and made a number of findings:

• 64% of female veterans and 58% of currently-serving women reported experiencing bullying, harassment and/or discrimination during their military careers.
• There is a lack of faith in the Ssrvice complaints system, which is “woeful”.
• Servicewomen are ten times more likely than servicemen to make complaints of bullying, harassment and/or discrimination.
• Most servicewomen surveyed do not believe that the military does enough to address issues of bullying, harassment and/or discrimination.
• 60% of those women giving evidence say that they did not complain because they were afraid of reprisals.
• The sub-committee saw evidence of repeated failures by the chain of command to protect victims and in some cases they took part in this behaviour.
• Three-quarters of female veteran respondents said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was not helpful in their transition; over half said that their needs were not being met by current veteran services.

As part of the evidence considered by the committee, several of my clients submitted their own stories and we found some very worrying trends in their experiences. Here are a few:

1. A fear of coming forward – overwhelmingly servicewomen were afraid of complaining and the impact that this would have on their careers.
2. A lack of support – managers (the ‘chain of command’) appeared either uninterested in the complaint, or more interested in protecting the reputation of their organisation.
3. A lack of understanding and empathy – particularly for those who had suffered sexual harassment or assaults. Managers either belittled the complainant’s experiences or simply did not understand how they felt.
4. Social stigma – many were treated differently and less favourably for complaining, no matter what the outcome or nature of their complaint.
5. Delays – the service complaints system is riddled with delays and in some cases it has taken years for complaints involving sexual harassment to conclude. These delays only worsened the mental health of complainants.
6. Excuses – unreasonable behaviour was framed in patronising and misogynistic terms, like the use of the word “banter”.
7. Lack of transparency – decisions were being made in investigations with little explanation which could impact on the evidence and outcome of a complaint.
8. Dissatisfaction and loss of talent – ultimately these experiences led to the loss of military careers for skilled and dedicated servicewomen.

What can be done?

Time and again the conclusions of reports, research and the recent Inquiry point to failings in two spheres.

The first failing is the service complaints system. This is the military’s equivalent of a civilian grievance system and was described for several years by the previous Service Complaints Ombudsman for the armed forces (who had oversight of the system) as “not efficient, effective and fair”. Servicewomen will not step forward to complain if there is no faith in the fairness of that system, if the system does not provide adequate remedy and/or creates unnecessary delays. In fact, the former SCOAF set out at least 35 recommendations to improve the system over the course of her tenure. These have largely been ignored by the MoD.

The second failing is the culture within the armed forces; one where discriminatory and sexist behaviour towards women still flourishes. Unfortunately, the MoD’s response to the committee report and recent medical research has been lacklustre. It has emphasised that some positive changes have been made for the lives of servicewomen, but saying that discriminatory behaviour will not be tolerated is not the same as rooting it out and ensuring that it does not resurface. This cultural change will take time, but also clarity, communication and commitment. In the meantime, I think it will be up to ‘middle management’ within the armed forces and particularly those deciding service complaints to take on board as much of these lessons as possible, to appreciate the challenges faced by servicewomen and ensure that those who have the courage to complain are fully supported.