Again….the Military must do more!
This is the second time in as many weeks that I have written about the culture within the armed forces around the subject of sexual assault and harassment.
This article, Army women reveal abuse as former minister admits 'colossal failure' | UK News | Sky News, (Sky news), published today, details the harrowing stories of three female veterans who have suffered abuse during service. All had the courage to bring their cases to the attention of their service. None were dealt with properly and all were failed by the process.
I have written before about military life being a unique environment, not wholly understood by its civilian counterparts and the fact that understanding the culture is key to making necessary changes within it. That in no way absolves responsibility or the high standards that must be upheld in order to provide a safe environment for all involved to live and work in.
I am a proud veteran, as I keep mentioning, and I find writing about this subject very frustrating because it is wholly inexcusable that the military keep failing to get it right. Whilst laudable that Johnny Mercer has admitted he got it wrong in his role as Minister of State for Veterans, this in itself shows that at the time it wasn't deemed necessary to properly address it, and he has now called for the current government to fully address the matter. Yes, they must change things, but the fact that he didn't during his tenure shows that at best it is more challenging than it looks or worse, there isn't really a desire to improve things. Neither argument is acceptable.
This article highlights the fact that victims are advocating for the hearing of such matters to be taken away from the Military Court Martial process in favour of being dealt with by the civilian police and I can see the merit of both arguments. However, my thoughts on the process are this.
In order for the military to survive, they largely require young men and women to leave home, often for the first time in their young lives, and pursue a career where they are under the impression that their emotional and physical welfare will be a priority. They will leave home, be taught the basics of military life and training. They will then move on to their specialist training and then their first unit. They are told that they will be supported, encouraged and their needs will be monitored and listened to as they progress through service life. In order for this to be achieved, they must put their complete faith in the institution and their reporting staff.
Basic training is tough. Of course, you can prepare for it. Physically, you can get yourself fit, but during that process you will encounter things that you never expected and this is the aspect that helps develop you into the soldier that you and they are hoping you become. I clearly remember the core values being repeatedly instilled during my basic training. RESPECT and INTEGRITY were mentioned all the time. Let's just sit for a minute with that, RESPECT and INTEGRITY! Treating yourself and others with respect and doing the right thing are two very simple concepts if we are honest. So why, if this is expected, is it so clearly lacking in the moral fibre of those who are expected to enforce it?
Changing a culture is never an easy thing to do. However, I do adopt the stance that everyone I served with, whether in the UK or on operations, was proud of their cap badge, were proud to wear their uniform and have achieved their rank, so the notion of such poor treatment of colleagues is a concept I have no real way of understanding. We are taught, from day one, that we are a team, a family, we look after each other and bring each other home! We stand together and we support each other. So what is going so terribly wrong? Why are we in a position where we are so far removed from these basic practices? The noise from the top of the hierarchy is that there is a willingness to improve the culture and irradiate these incidents. That is a good start. Change in any organization must come from the top, but this has been said for many, many years and we are still where we are. So what is missing?
I don't have the answer in a nutshell. I wish I did, but for me, getting this right is not a challenge. Actually, it should be easier to achieve within the military than anywhere else because this is an institution that thrives on discipline and clear reporting channels, with arguably incredibly easy access to your reporting chain. The onus must be on education. The military teaches you to be reliable, turn up for each other. Surely they can instil the need to be honourable and decent when it comes to this issue. Don't get me wrong, this issue isn't unique to the British military. The US has struggled hugely, so much so that post basic training they ran a separate course for recruits around the issue of ‘consent’. This step has led to a significant decrease in reported assaults and, as such, shows that improvements, with effort, can be made.
I understand the desire to move the hearing of these matters away from the Court Martial process, into the responsibility of the civilian police. However, I do think that the responsibility should stay with the military. The rationale for this are the reasons I have mentioned above: having faith and respect in the institution is essential for the military to function effectively. They must be in a position where, ideally, this type of assault never occurs, but if it does, they must show there is zero tolerance for it, dealing with it firmly, fairly and honestly, ensuring perpetrators have nowhere to hide. Only by doing this will the military rebuild its reputation and protect its workforce to the best of its ability.
The military prides itself on its history, steeped in honour, pride and tradition. They must do the right thing now. There is no excuse when there are specialists of every guise who can help them achieve it. They must take ownership, be transparent, admit they have a significant problem and do whatever is necessary to improve, to be the very best that they can be and repay the faith and trust that their personnel put in them.
