Sailor ‘raped on warship told to have an abortion’
A FORMER Royal Navy sailor said yesterday that she became pregnant after being raped aboard a warship – and was advised to abort the baby by a senior officer.
In a shocking interview, she said the rape was so violent she suffered cuts and bruises to her genital area.
She even pleaded with midwives for a caesarean birth because she could not bear the thought of medical staff seeing the ‘damage’ to her body.
Remarkably, the woman said, her commanders accused her of bringing shame on the Navy for getting pregnant and suggested ‘an appointment could be made’ to terminate the unborn child. However, she decided to keep the baby and went on to have a daughter.
The woman, known as Catherine, was speaking after the Daily Mail revealed the horrific treatment of women serving on Britain’s nuclear submarines.
‘I never reported the attack because I did not want to be seen as a troublemaker,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. ‘It had been rammed down me that you put up and shut up if you wanted to hold on to your career.
‘One senior officer said he would be very ashamed of me if I was his daughter, for getting pregnant at sea. He gave me a few days off to go home and “contemplate my future”. He told me in no uncertain terms an “appointment” could be arranged for me and afterwards I could go back to my ship with no questions asked.
‘Not once did anyone say to me, “Are you OK?” Instead it was a question of, “Oh my gosh, look what you’ve done, this is the shame you’re bringing on”.’ Catherine, who joined the Navy soon after women were permitted to serve on warships for the first time in 1993, was later diagnosed with complex posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of her mistreatment, which also included a separate incident of sexual assault. The Mail’s report into a toxic culture of bullying, misogyny and sexual harassment in the Navy has triggered an urgent investigation by top brass.
The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key said the allegations were ‘abhorrent’ and that anyone found culpable would be disciplined. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he was very serious about tackling these issues and insisted the culture aboard ships and submarines was changing.
Commenting on Catherine’s interview, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘While we cannot respond to such historic allegations directly, we take any complaint of this magnitude extremely seriously and are ready to take forward all evidence the individual involved may wish to share.’
‘Bringing shame on the Navy’