Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Two-thirds of women in the British army reported experiencing sexualised behaviour in the past year, according to a survey released on November 13, reported Reuters. Britain’s first ever military-wide survey found that 67 per cent of female personnel had encountered generalised sexualised behaviours, such as inappropriate jokes or comments, while 21 per cent reported targeted behaviours including unwanted touching or sexual advances.
Among men, 32 per cent reported generalised behaviours, and 6 per cent targeted ones.
“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,” Veterans Minister Louise Sandher-Jones said in a statement. “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,” she added.
The Ministry of Defence said it would deploy specialist prevention teams to training bases in northern and southwest England, with plans to expand to Cyprus and a Royal Air Force base by 2026 before a wider roll out.
The programme will focus on educating recruits about consent, misogyny and harmful online influences. Reuters quoting the latest data said the British military has about 137,000 regular personnel, of whom approximately 16,300 were women, making up just under 12 per cent of the total force
