Sex crimes are now a major problem for the armed forces

While sexual assault cases were up from 40 to 48. Exposure and voyeurism were also on the rise.

The vast majority of sex offences occurred in the Army. Employing around 80,000 men and women, it is about twice the size of both the RAF and Navy.

The latest figures follow a damning internalnal probe into sexual assault, bullying and rac- ism within one of the Army’s largest organisations, 3rd ( United Kingdom) Division, based in n Bulford, Wiltshire.

During the investigagation, conducted by then Major General John Lorimer in 2012, every femalel soldierldi questioned as part of the survey said they had received unwanted sexual attention.

Mr Lorimer, who at the time commanded 25,000 soldiers, sent his find- ings to the Adjutant General, the senior Army officer responsible for military discipline. He added in a memo: “Every female officer or other rank that my Command Sergeant Major has spoken to claims to have been the subject of unw unwanted sexual atte attention. “This is an unaccept table situation and one you might consider to be a future area of pan-Army f focus.” He also warned that th the chain of command wa was not taking complain plaints about sexual assault seriousl seriously. Mr Lorimer stated: “There is an over-riding sense that soldiers who believe they have been treated unfairly are not inclined to report the fact, because they lack trust that the chain of command will deal appropriately with the complaint.” Defence chiefs have faced growing criticism from MPs, judges and civil rights charities over how they investigate sex crimes.

Last year a senior judge criticised a culture of sexualised behaviour and heavy drinking within a Royal Military Police unit, and also those responsible for investigating sex crimes.

Judge Jeff Blackett censured two former soldiers for their treatment of their colleague Anne-Marie Ellement, who went on to kill herself after her claims she had been raped by them were not properly investigated. Former military policemen Jeremy Jones and Thomas Fulton, both 28, were last year cleared of raping her.

During an eight-day court martial, the pair said they had taken part in what was described as a drunken “threesome” with Anne-Marie before heading to a nightclub. Fulton con-