SEXUAL ASSAULT in ARMED FORCES the
THERE WERE MORE THAN 100 ACCUSATIONS OF RAPE, EXPOSURE AND OFTEN CRIMES LAST YEAR
AMEMBER of the armed forces was investigated for sexual offences against a colleague every three days on average last year.
New data from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) shows 120 such investigations into sexual offences took place in 2017.
This figure only includes accusations of sexual assault against others in the armed forces, and not those against civilians.
These cases are investigated by the service police as opposed to civilian police, meaning victims may experience what experts describe as “second-rate justice”. Emma Norton, head of legal casework at human rights charity Liberty, said: “It is an established principle that civilian authorities should investigate crimes within the Armed Forces, except – astonishingly – when both the accused and the victim are serving. “In those cases, military police and military prosecutors investigate and bring charges, even though independence is more crucial than ever in this situation. “Sexual offences are extremely serious crimes – they should be investigated by trained, specialist, independent police officers.
“The Armed Forces has accepted that the investigation of sudden deaths on military property should always be investigated by civilian police.
“Until the same applies to sexual and other serious offences, service men and women will continue to receive secondrate justice.”
The number of investigations seen last year is significantly higher than the 104 seen in 2016, and is also up from 82 in 2015.
Of the 120 investigations, nearly half (56) were regarding non-penetrative sexual assaults.
There were 28 investigations of rape, 10 investigations for incidents of exposure, and eight penetrative sexual assaults also recorded.
There were a further six incidents of voyeurism under investigation, while 12 investigations were conducted that did not fall into any of these categories.
The majority of sexual investigations were into members of the Army (85), followed by 18 in the Navy and 17 in the Air Force.
Men were more often the subject of investigations, making up 105 cases- compared with just three females.
A further 12 people were under investigation whose sex was unknown. There were more alleged victims than there were perpetrators - with 123 people claiming to have experienced sexual offences. More than three quarters - or 94 were women. A further 20 were men and nine people whose sex was unknown were also alleged victims. An MOD spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate sexual assaults in any form. All allegations are taken very seriously and are thoroughly investigated. “Those who are found to have fallen short of our high standards can expect disciplinary action to be taken.”