Sexism widespread in Britain's forces

BRITAIN - Almost every woman serving in Britain's Navy, Army and Air Force has experienced or witnessed sexual harassment or sexist behaviour, according to a Ministry of Defence survey that again raises questions about the culture of the country's armed forces.

The most disturbing cases include 266 allegations of sexual assault and 303 examples of women being offered promotion or better treatment in return for sex.

Nearly all of the 9384 service women who took part in the survey said the sexist behaviour, harassment or assault happened in the last year.

More than half of the service women described the experience they reported as being "offensive" while one in seven said it was "particularly upsetting".

The findings follow allegations of bullying and intimidation at an Army barracks in Surrey where four young recruits died in mysterious circumstances.

An investigation looking into those deaths found "clear evidence of foul abuse" at the barracks.

The research into sexual harassment in the armed forces revealed that jokes, stories, language and material offensive to women were widespread across the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence, admitted that there were "serious issues" that needed to be addressed and said he would confront the problem head-on by calling for a culture change led from the top.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of the defence staff, said: "It is clear from the research we have conducted that we have a problem which we must deal urgently with.

"This is not about political correctness, it is about operational effectiveness."

But a high proportion, 14.5 per cent of the reports of sexist behaviour or harassment, were made against senior male officers while a similar proportion of the victims were senior female officers.

- INDEPENDENT