Rape, assault and abuse in army college

[WrongKindOfFeminist]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3w07p7wqv1o

Content warning. Horrifying report.

'Several adult instructors at AFC have been convicted by courts martial of physical and sexual violence in the past five years - including Cpl Daniel Conway and Cpl Simon Bartram.'

Calls for the college to be shut down and an independent inquiry launched.

'The allegations at AFC form part of wider, long-running concerns around the safety of women within the armed forces.

A 2021 review by MPs reported cases of rape, sexual exploitation of under 18s, and women being drugged before being assaulted. The review - colloquially known as the Atherton report after the lead, former MP Sarah Atherton - concluded that women were being "denied justice" by a "woefully inadequate" military complaints process.

Five years on, there are "still very, very serious concerns, as the experiences of these girls [at AFC] indicate", says Emma Norton, a solicitor at the Centre for Military Justice, which provides legal support to former armed forces personnel.

"These are tough women - they expect to be treated robustly, so this isn't about people complaining about things you and I might have difficulty with.

"We are talking about sustained sexual harassment and extremely serious sexual violence - some of which is being perpetrated against children - so the stakes couldn't actually be higher for the Army".'

This is horrendous, those poor girls. All the worse because it's not just a few rogue male recruits - it's ignored and even encouraged by the instructors. And in many cases a lack of action by the police, of course. At least there have been some sent to jail, but it seems to be endemic.

Yes
Of course the recruits are responsible for their actions as individuals but in that sort of a set up the whole culture depends on the people in charge. If the instructors are signalling that that sort of behaviour is OK it's going to continue and get worse. The instructors ignoring or even encouraging bad behaviour should be held responsible. Likewise anyone involved in covering up or not properly investigating rapes and sexual assaults.
I feel so sorry for the girls affected.

Needs shutting down and people need jailing, what an awful, awful place.

It’s why I find the idea of conscription of young women horrifying.

If they did, they should have all female divisions. But men and women aren't likely to be conscripted in the near future anyway. What annoys me is the "men die in wars for their country" MRAs type. Women civilians die in wars too. And women will sign up to serve their country and then get assaulted, raped and shamed by their comrades at arms...

This isn't new though is it? I can remember hearing about this type of behaviour over thirty years ago. It seems ingrained in the culture and there's a lack of willingness to do anything about it. I had a friend whose then husband was an instructor at the AFC, this was early 2000s, and the misogyny was quite evident. It appears little has changed.

I assume court martials are the reason police are not generally involved.

I heard an interview with one of the women and it was really upsetting.

But as others have said this is not new.

Year after year these assaults and worse on young women are reported. And the suicides.

But it doesn't change.

And whilst I think the Army itself is totally at fault what it does show is that generation after generation of young men are growing up thinking that they are entitled to behave like this.

Everyone knows that any "work place" or grouping that is primarily men soon has a culture of humiliating and abusing women. And those men who think it is wrong never report their "mates" to the authorities. Too many of them still seem to think men will be men.

If that is what they think they certainly if women are being encourage to join the army, then sadly it implies that they should not mix with the men.

I find it hard to believe that women are signing up, when they must have heard about the rape culture in the military.

This is a thread from 2019
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/3553245-Female-soldier-attacked-in-barracks-trigger-alert-sexual-assault

That would make sense, yes. Though the BBC article does say of one attack, "The BBC understands Tilly reported the alleged rape to police but no charges were brought, partly because of what the Crown Prosecution Service later described as an "entirely inadequate" police investigation."

I think I hadn't realised until seeing this article that this is a "teen" college.

As such you would have thought those in charge would have done more to ensure that the teenage men were better supervised.

Not that I think older men wouldn't also attack and rape women, but surely if they are all what, school leaving age, there would be better supervision.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2g8pe13x5o

My understanding is that some of the problems involved staff and older men. It looks like the culture is rotten through and through.

'Several adult instructors at AFC have been convicted by courts martial of physical and sexual violence'

That is just so gross. So these older men just set there year after year waiting for new female recruits for them to exploit and abuse.

Utterly grim.

The leaked review warned that the DSCC risked failing victims in a number of areas, including ineffective investigations with delays and inconsistencies, gaps in victim support and insufficient resources and workforce instability.

It added that current investigative processes were "hindered by excessive reporting requirements, unclear guidance and inconsistencies".

Without reform there would be an "erosion of trust" in the military justice system, it said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy4w62p6gvo

Military training sites to be investigated following rape and abuse claims at Army college

An independent investigation is being carried out into 10 military training sites in England, following claims of rape and sexual assault at an Army college for under-18s.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9e8ld3j6k53o

How many times have they done an investigation, and then nothing changes.

Awful.

My son’s friend has been at a camp for a month and said female recruits were raped already.

No suitable reaction to this, but that is just totally disgusting.

The army at all levels should be sued.

I cant bear to think about those young women (not that it is something I ever wanted to do) signing up for what they must have thought was a positive opportunity and to be treated like this.

It is so obviously part of the culture.

The senior officers should be court martialed and discharged with out any pension.

I dont know who is the Minister responsible but they should investigate as well.

It’s not new and it’s not uniquely British. I had a quick look on google and it brings up cases going back to the eighties.

However, some women are becoming brave and putting their head above the parapet. https://lsj.com.au/articles/adf-faces-class-action-over-systemic-harassment-and-violence-against-women/

Sadly, it is a cycle that keeps repeating itself. I have had several close friends who had experience of this in Australian military in the 80s and 90s. I know sex offences were still happening 10-15 years ago at one particular college and involved live-streaming as well.

Horrendous and there should be major consequences. Unlikely I know.