Crimes crisis facing armed forces

Sick welcome’ to RAF

A WOMAN recruit is hurled around by naked servicemen in a shocking “initiation ceremony”.

One man – with just rubber gloves on his head and genitals – presses Rebecca Crookshank against him as a mate assists.

In a second picture she is held in a crude sexual position.

Rebecca, then just 21, was the only female among 28 RAF recruits and says sexual harassment became simply a matter of routine.

The bullying happened at RAF Mount Alice in the Falklands, where she was posted for four weeks in 2001. When she was flown in by helicopter she was greeted by a row of men, buttocks exposed.

Rebecca, now 36, said: “It was the beginning of a dark time.

“That evening the initiation ceremony took place. They were naked and wearing rubber gloves and pressing me against them.

“Another time the guys thought it would be funny to cable tie me to somebody else’s bed. I was fully clothed but there was a darkness, a fear. It so easily could have gone into a realm of something unthinkable.”

Rebecca recalls corporals having sex with female trainees. She said: “For a 16 or 17-year-old, it’s scary.”

When she made a formal complaint, an interview was conducted in her bedroom. She said: “I felt violated, it was inappropriate. I was told that if I kept quiet, I could have a ride on a Tornado F3 plane. I was young, and I accepted it.”

Rebecca, from North London, left the RAF shortly after that incident.

She remained committed to exposing sexual harassment within the forces and in 2015 used mobile phone footage as part of a onewoman play about her ordeal, called Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Trolls

Rebecca began to receive messages from women who had also suffered in the armed forces. She added: “Sadly, I heard about one woman who was raped by three male colleagues. It’s so sad and still a major issue” Social media trolls attacked Rebecca and tried to defend her ordeal as “banter”. One message said: “What did she expect going into a man’s world?” Rebecca hit back: “The trolling I get online even now is testament to the fact this still exists. “There is a culture of ritualistic behaviour and mob mentality within the military. Something has to change.” She hopes to use the shocking footage in training workshops to educate military recruits on harassment.