‘Fellow officers are just as bad’

SPECIAL FORCES: The woman officer

ONE high-ranking female officer who served for 17 years told how she was sexually harassed and verbally abused during many postings.

The former lieutenant-colonel said the worst abuse came from other officers as she served with the special forces and fighting units in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. She stayed in the Army in the hope that the situation might improve but quit two years ago when she realised abuse “moves up with rank”.

She said: “Cadets at Sandhurst are taught the importance of moral courage, but I mostly experienced moral cowardice. The male officers who stand by and stay silent are as guilty as the perpetrators. This is still happening today.

“I spent a large proportion of my career deployed in specialist roles away from my home unit. Verbal abuse and harassment were common.

“Even at Sandhurst, male cadets would state, ‘All women in the Army are sluts’.

“I grew to loathe pompous dinner nights. I’ve been groped, pinned against walls and had men coercing me into sex. One locked me in his room and forced himself on me. When I hit him, he replied, ‘I thought you would do that if I tried to kiss you’.

“I once complained, and was told I couldn’t take banter. Another officer would creep up and put his foot on my desk, then call out my name I would turn round to find my face in his groin. An RAF Regiment officer would talk about ‘intellectual masturbation’ during briefing. When I challenged him, he threatened me with removal from my post.”