Army sexism ‘unacceptable’

THE army’s top officer has admitted the degree of sexual harassment faced by women soldiers is “tot ally unacceptable”.

General Sir Nick Carter spoke as an army-commissioned survey of 7,000 soldiers showed nearly 40 per cent of servicewomen reported receiving unwanted remarks of a sexual nature in the past year.

Some 13 per cent of women had had “a particularly upsetting experience” while around three per cent of those who were upset made a written complaint.

The figures emerged two months after the conviction of Sergeant Edwin Mee from Glasgow for 16 sex attacks on nine female recruits in 2010 and 2011.

Research conducted last year by the charity Business in the Community found that 23 per cent of women in the armed forces had experienced sexual harassment in the last three years.

Sir Nick said he was “disappointed” by the figures, adding: “They do provide me with a baseline from which I can move forward and change the army’s culture.”