Description
Sexual offending in the UK armed forces has been characterised as an ‘epidemic,’ with female personnel particularly at risk. Servicewomen are more than ten times as likely as servicemen to experience sexual harassment during service, and twice as likely to be sexually assaulted. Despite this, formal reporting of sexual offending remains low, with international research identifying unique features of the military institution, such as the hyper-masculine environment, hierarchical structures and close-knit military community, creating a context which is potentially permissive of sexual violence perpetration and presenting numerous obstacles to reporting.
Though the MOD have recently introduced a raft of reforms aimed at tackling sexual offending in defence, there has been a paucity of independent research examining servicewomen’s experiences of sexual victimisation in the UK context. This study aimed to fill this gap in knowledge, conducting 8 in-depth, qualitative interviews with female veterans who all experienced at least one form of sexual victimisation, during their service in the UK military.
Findings exemplified a concerning scale and widespread acceptance of sexual violence during military service, alongside numerous and varied barriers to reporting, a perceived culture of silence and lack of support for victim-survivors. Drawing on these findings, the presentation will highlight challenges surrounding military sexual violence and present key recommendations for improvements.
