British armed forces exhibit ‘culture of institutional misogyny’ despite promises of reform, says parliamentary committee chair
A junior servicewoman said she was a victim of rape and forced to leave the armed forces while her abuser was protected, according to whistleblower testimony collected and published by a parliamentary committee on Thursday.
Her story is one of eight cases revealing ongoing rape and sexual abuse in the military, collected by forces medical teams and sent to a Commons defence select committee, inquiring into women’s experience of serving in the armed forces.
Taken together, the personal accounts demonstrate the British military exhibits “a wider culture of institutional misogyny” despite repeated promises of reform, according to the committee’s chair, Sarah Atherton MP.
The junior service woman, “performing far above her junior level”, was raped on base by someone with whom she had been in a casual relationship and was at first hesitant to report what had happened “for fear of recriminations”.
Nevertheless, after a while, she approached a military GP who advised her to “choose her partners more carefully in future”. It took a second doctor to persuade her to report the incident to her chain of command.
That, however, led to no action being taken. Senior officers decided, in consultation with the second doctor, it was necessary “for the career of the rapist and the elite unit he served in” to keep him in place.
As a result, the woman was “moved...
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