Ex-Wren issues call to action after report highlights sexual harassment in Army

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A former Royal Navy engineer has described her experience protecting herself from sexual harassment in the service, as she urged the British Army to take action after a report concluded “active sexual predation is a problem” in the force.

A “cultural audit” of the Army, written in 2022 and made public this summer after a Freedom of Information request by researcher Joseph Lloyd, found “modes of predation” by male service personnel not only breached military discipline but are crimes, such as sexual assault.

The report’s author, Professor Anthony King, highlighted several examples of behaviour which appeared to be commonly experienced by women.

They include the “door-knock” phenomenon in which male soldiers, typically at night and after drinking, knock on a woman’s door soliciting her for sex, and the practice of men sending unsolicited images of their genitals to female colleagues.

Ruth Sparkes, co-founder of the SaferSpace platform, which helps users report incidents of harassment and misconduct, said the culture described in the report was “disturbingly familiar”.

She joined the navy at 17 after school and was a trainee air engineering mechanic for just over a year before she left the service.

Ms Sparkes, 56, told the PA news agency: “When I was in the Navy, which is obviously a long time ago, all of those sorts of things were happening then, but this was the late 1980s and as a 17-year-old I was overwhelmed by the male attention, because I was an air engineer and there weren’t many females on the base.”

She referenced a recent survey from Girlguiding which found 68% of girls and young women aged 11-21 change their everyday behaviour to avoid being sexually harassed.

“It’s an old story,” she said.

“I was doing it then. If you were going to an event you would make sure that you didn’t leave on your own, or you didn’t stay until the last dances when the slow music came on.

“It was a massive learning curve because I’d left school and then all of a sudden I’m away from home, and there is a lot of male attention and nobody trains you how to deal with that.

“You just protect yourself, really. You move around in groups, you share information with others that he’s a bit creepy or stay away from him, or maybe make sure that you’re back in Wren’s (Women’s Royal Naval Service) quarters by 10 o’clock, those sorts of things.”

She told of a colleague who was also 17 at the time and became pregnant.

“It was one of our instructors who was the father and I just think nothing’s changed,” Ms Sparkes said.

“And yes she was 17 but he was in a position of power. The misalignment of when you’re young, naive and vulnerable, people do take advantage.”

The mother of a teenage soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted by a senior colleague said the culture described in the 2022 review still exists, the Telegraph reported.

According to the outlet, Leighann McCready, mother of Jaysley Beck, said: “I continue to regularly receive messages from serving women who describe assault and harassment in the workplace, and the hundreds of people that posted online during my daughter’s inquest show that the Army still has a long way to go.”

The 19-year-old soldier, from Cumbria, was found hanged at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on December 15 2021, five months after the incident.

Warrant Officer Michael Webber pleaded guilty at the Court Martial Centre in Bulford, Wiltshire, to assaulting Royal Artillery Gunner Beck in September.

Ms Sparkes said it was “heartbreaking” what Gunner Beck had to endure, adding: “But nobody really took it seriously did they? The people that she did tell, nothing happened.”

She said she first came across the story around the time she came up with the idea for SaferSpace, a platform or kind of platform she believes could help the Army improve reporting routes and the way the organisation deals with allegations.

“Do something now,” she said. “Do something that young people will use.

“If you’ve got an app on your phone and you can report straightaway what’s happened to you, then somebody’s got to do something about it because there’s a paper trail then.”

She has met up with Ministry of Defence officials about the app previously.

In his audit, Prof King concluded: “Females also have to negotiate the problem of excessive and intrusive male interest. Active sexual predation is a problem.”

Asked if she believes the report will lead to change, Ms Sparkes told PA: “Part of me is hopeful that the more that we lift these rocks and we see the rubbish that’s underneath there, and the more that we can cast light on this kind of thing, that we’ll be able to change, but they’ve got to want to change.

“They’ve got to accept there’s an issue, and then actually want to do something about it transparently. I don’t know is the answer, but I hope so.”

An Army spokesperson said: “Unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place within the military and since this report was carried out in 2022 we have seen significant changes in the Army, including the introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours.

“These changes are being embedded throughout our culture, policies, and enduring practices across every part of the Army.

“The 2022 cultural audit of the British Army, along with several other data sources, events and initiatives, such as The Army’s Teamwork Campaign and the establishment of the Defence Raising Our Standards Team, has played a significant part in ongoing efforts at every level to improve the experience of servicewomen in the Army.”