Ministers commissioned the first-of-its-kind survey earlier this
year to fully understand the experience of personnel and
perceptions of sexual harassment in the military.
The results are designed to provide vital data to design and
drive prevention programmes, support schemes and contribute to
the central Government mission to halve violence against women
and girls within a decade.
Please see below statements on today's statistics from the
Minister for Veterans and People and the Chief of the Defence
Staff.
You can find the statistics here: Armed
Forces Sexualised Behaviours and Sexual Harassment Survey -
GOV.UK
Minister for Veterans and People MP said:
“All those who choose to serve our country must be able to do so
with dignity and respect, which is why today's survey results are
wholly unacceptable.
“We commissioned the UK's first ever comprehensive military
sexual harassment survey, which provides a no holds barred
baseline to fully confront and address the root causes of this
issue. New standards in transparency and accountability are being
set across our Armed Forces.
“As a veteran myself, this mission is deeply personal to me and I
want our military to be the best in class on this issue.
Ministers and Chiefs are working closely together to play our
part in the Government's central mission to halve violence
against women and girls in a decade.
Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard
Knighton KCB ADC FREng, said:
“Our job in the Armed Forces is to be ready to deter, fight and
win. To do that our people must feel safe – this is critical to
our operational effectiveness. The results of the survey show
just how much more I, and leaders at every level, need to do to
stamp out behaviour which has no place in the UK Armed
Forces. The data from the survey will help us do this and
track our progress. We are committed to driving the cultural
change needed.
“Over the last few years, we have established independent
mechanisms for reporting the most serious incidents outside of
the chain of command and launched a new Service complaints app,
making it faster and simpler to report concerns. As a result, we
are seeing more young women and men coming forward to raise
issues.
” Our Armed Forces are rightly respected the world over but to
retain this reputation we must enforce the highest standards and
actively root out unacceptable behaviours. Training, education
and upholding the standards we set will all play a key role in
driving the change we need. This starts with the newest recruits
and the work we do to instil in them the highest standards. But
it is also about the education and training we provide to help
our people learn and develop through their careers.
“As the world becomes more dangerous, and we enter a new era of
threat, creating an environment where our people feel safe and
confident enough to reach their full potential is critical to the
effectiveness of our Armed Forces.”
Notes to editor
