The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them, or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. —Colin Powell

The term, soldier; refers to any person who serves in the armed forces and engages in any form of military service for their country. They live by the values set by the military: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honour, integrity, and personal courage.

Yet, for many women undergoing basic training, their first encounter with a patriarchal power structure, can be traumatic and demeaning. The hierarchical ‘male dominated’ structure leaves many women feeling undervalued, unappreciated and having to work twice as hard as others just to prove themselves. It is not hard to see how basic training can create an environment in which sexual predators can thrive without fear of punishment, the power imbalance is extreme. The group of women veterans I work with often report that they never felt accepted into a male-centric world and were often made to feel unwelcome, outsiders or ‘under the microscope’ and micro-managed. This, not surprisingly led to many feeling undervalued, lonely, isolated, homesick and many chose to leave.

Its a sad fact that many women who serve in the armed forces experience some form of harassment and/or Military Sexual Trauma. (MST) Yet, in the main it generally goes unreported.

Lets explore the differences between MST and rape - historically rape has been legally defined as the unwanted penetration of a woman’s vagina by a penis or other item (Bourke, 2007). Military Sexual Trauma (MST) has been defined as sexual harassment that is threatening in character or physical assault of a sexual nature that occurred while the victim was in the military, regardless of geographic location of the trauma, gender of victim, or the relationship to the perpetrator. Its not hard to see how one can lead to the other.

For many women, reporting a sexual assault is harrowing, women report feeling isolated as other personnel in the unit turn their backs on the victim/ survivor, often siding with the perpetrator. The unit’s collective shunning, heightens the victim’s emotional pain and complicates recovery from the trauma. The act of MST by a comrade or high ranking Officer is often perceived as a double betrayal and destroys trust in individuals and the system. Many women who access the specialist support of Salute Her tell how reporting an assault during their career is effectively ‘ Off Limits’ - they worried that had they reported problems, they would be humiliated, not believed, ostracised and the problem located with them not the perpetrator.

‘I think the main problem with the Military is that men can do what they want, women are there to be used and abused , you couldn’t tell anyone, why would you, no one would believe you’

It is no secret to us, that sexual assault in the military is widespread, however the evidence is anecdotal and determining the number of victims depends on more research and whether the question is asked in the first place. Sadly during the course of running this project we have frequently been told that the reason for so little research into this area is due to the military and academics not liking to talk about sex, as its not British. Well, in my view neither is rape!

A large percentage of women Veterans who access Salute Her report that they were reluctant to complain about harassment, bullying and inappropriate behaviour during service as they were fearful that they would not be believed, blamed or feared the ramifications for their careers and friendships.

Those who do make a formal complaint are often left feeling dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation and follow-up action was for many non-existent. Similarly, many said they had experienced negative consequences for the rest of their careers and were left feeling humiliated.

Military Sexual Trauma isn’t a diagnosis or a condition, but rather a lived experience, there are no “common symptoms” of MST. The onset of these reactions may not be immediate; it’s not uncommon for problems to materialise weeks, months, or years after the traumatic event.

Military Sexual Trauma can often result in symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There are a number of reasons why MST and PTSD are so closely linked, many of which include having to live and work with the perpetrator after the event to the point of even possibly relying on them for safety or to provide essentials like health care or food.

Many women may have already left military before first experiencing the traumatic effects of MST. These devastating life experiences can have a prolonged effect on not just their physical and emotional wellbeing but impact on future employment opportunities, personal and professional relationships and many struggle to cope and function years after the assaults took place.

In my opinion, the sacrifices women service personnel and veterans have made for this country are equal to that of their male counterparts , and we owe them all a debt of gratitude, equal respect and adequate specialist support services that are able to meet their unique needs.

Paula Edwards

Mental Health Therapist and Salute Her Project Lead.

I wanted to share my experience of being one of the instigators of the UK MOD’s ‘military #MeToo moment’. and give you a sense of the build up to the Women in Defence Inquiry, currently led by Sarah Atherton MP, and how she worked with the Secretary of State for Defence, to ensure that she could hear the voices of serving personnel as well as veterans (lifting a long-term gagging order on service personnel speaking to parliament officially).

Over 4000 service women and some families submitted stories during December 2020. A steady stream then submitted throughout January, with the review extended until February 2021. Many veterans’ charities also submitted case-stories of the thousands who came to them. One of those charities was Forward Assist.

Over 8 months, I have listened to stories of serving women being raped, drugged, assaulted, abused in training, held back in careers, ignored as veterans, given ill-fitting equipment (and the cold shoulder if they were first into a previously male-only post). This has been a tough ‘ask’ - to summarise this level of suffering, as well as recommend solutions on how to address such low standards of care in the armed forces. It is not only women who suffer – this is a story of abuse of power and includes stories of toxic women in leadership positions – and men and ethnic minorities as victims as well as perpetrators.

What did this look like in numbers?

163 individuals contacted me. Most were uniformed, but some were non-uniformed staff and family members. At least 33 were still serving (some withheld details), with a further 63 having left in the last 5 years. 3 were parents of serving women, 5 were civil servants, working in defence. 130 were from the Army; 31 were RAF and 2 were RN – this was partly because my call out for stories mentioned army only. The range of ranks was difficult to assess - issues were the same for officers and other ranks with some nuances: sexual favours for promotion or for turning a blind eye to minor indiscretions were only reported by other ranks and class discrimination for promotion and postings were more prevalent in officers.

Over 75% did make complaints and all of those felt ‘fobbed off’, either through being told they misunderstood the incident or coercion to withdraw their complaint or change details. This is ‘gas-lighting’ at a corporate level. Nearly all had been affected by gender-negative incidents during their careers, but most handled it - usually without support from leadership. Only 1 individual contacted me to say she had never experienced adverse incidents and wanted her voice to be heard that she felt there were no issues. Several senior officers did contact me and attempt to influence my future media engagements, to paint a more positive military picture (but more serving officers contacted me to say it was about time this issue was addressed).

The comments on suffering were NOT about the crime or level of poor behaviours – most women in defence are robust and accept the military environment as emotionally and physically tough. The greatest suffering came from the inability to be heard when something went wrong – nearly every one of those 163 described how witnesses had turned a blind eye, or their leaders had coerced them to withdraw a complaint – and how they were punished rather than the perpetrators – through leaking of their allegations to the wider military unit or being shunned for speaking out.

The UK MOD is the only public body allowed to investigate and adjudicate on what is a wrong and who should be held accountable. And it is clear from the common themes of these stories that the MOD is abusing this power for its own ends. That is the real ‘wrong’ – that the UK MOD treats its people as disposable when they are at their most vulnerable.

The MOD leadership & policy makers should hang their head in shame, as I have on their behalf.

At the end of this inquiry, defence ministers will also be aware of the extent and tactics of the MOD. I hope that this time, some good will come from the bravery of these women in coming forward.

Diane Allen joined the Army when she was a teenager and was one of the first women to attend Sandhurst in the 1980s. She served in the regulars, in Northern Ireland and Germany, before a switch to the reserves, finally leaving in January 2020, as a Lieutenant-Colonel. She now lives in Gloucestershire, with her partner, when they are not away adventuring.

Guest Blog by Veteran & Author Diane Allen OBE

See: https://www.forewarned.uk/