Sexual assault and bullying in the armed forces

A parliamentary question reveals that during 2011 there were 228 allegations of bullying or harassment reported to the Service Complaints Commissioner. Another parliamentary question has identified that ‘Over the past two and a half years, there have been 53 reported rapes and 86 reported sexual assaults in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force (one per week). Labour MP Madeleine Moon said she was concerned there was a ‘culture of silence’, with hundreds of victims never reporting attacks.

Figures from the US estimate that only 13.5% of victims of sexual assault in the armed forces ever report the attack. If this figure is true for the UK, that would mean one attack a day.The articles states that of these cases, ‘only nine rape cases and 45 sexual assault complaints have ended in conviction.’

Sadly, an article from April this year (Why did she die? Sister of hanged military policewoman demands Armed Forces watchdog inquiry into her death) links these 2 issues – with the suicide of a military policewoman after being raped and then bullied for making a complaint.