Leaders from lance corporal to four-star general must play their part in expelling those guilty of sexual misconduct from the Service, the chief of the general staff has told MPs.
Addressing the House of Commons defence committee, Gen Sir Roly Walker said he was “ashamed” at reports of abuse emerging since the inquest into the death of 19-year-old Gnr Jaysley Beck.
As the MoD launched a new task force to tackle violence against women and girls, he later said in a message to staff that the way values and standards are taught will be reviewed, a gender action plan developed and mentoring for under-represented groups considered.
More widely, he has hinted the training system needs scrutiny to address attitudes in wider society.
The officer faced MPs, who have been conducting their own inquiry into the experience of women in the Armed Forces in the wake of Gnr Beck’s inquest.
A coroner recorded that the soldier, who had endured unwanted sexual advances, died by suicide at Larkhill in 2021 – with the verdict prompting personnel and veterans to go public with their experiences on the Fill Your Boots forum.
Stressing his anger at the revelations, Gen Walker told the two-and-a-half hour hearing in Westminster that Army leaders were critical in identifying and weeding out offenders.
"I am ashamed at these stories,” he said. “Combat is hard enough when everything is on the line – the greatest risks are borne by our most junior soldiers.
“It hurts me that young people – citizens volunteering to join the Army – are having to fight their own people before they can get through to the enemy.
“We have got to enforce and ensure that our chain of command does its job.”
Gen Walker said he had personally written to subordinates, reiterating his expectations.
“Everyone, from a newly promoted lance corporal to me, as a four-star general, are responsible for ensuring [troops] can come to work without fearing their own people,” he added.
Quizzed by the politicians, Gen Walker – who appeared with the other Service chiefs, First Sea Lord Adm Sir Ben Key and Chief of the Air Staff ACM Sir Richard Knighton plus Defence Minister Alistair Carns – said robust action was already being taken.
Those guilty of offences could expect no quarter and would be met with the full force of the law. Troops including generals, colonels and majors had been held to account and dismissed from service, the top officer added.
Of the 188 most recent matters involving unacceptable sexual behaviours, 23 had been discharged, 37 sanctioned in other ways and 128 dealt with informally at the request of the victim.
Nearly all of the 31 offenders convicted of sexual offences before the courts, however, were immediately discharged as part of their sentence.
Gen Walker went on to voice concerns that misogynistic attitudes were becoming more common on civvy street – and it was important that recruits accepted the higher Army standards over which they would be judged.
This could mean that a far wider rethink was needed, particularly with training, he said.
“In a sense, this gets harder because of some of the baked-in behaviours we are increasingly seeing as prevalent in wider society,” added Gen Walker.
“We have to recode how we view professional armed services in the 21st century.
“There is nothing I have seen about combat that means one gender is better than another – we need the best citizens in this country to join our Forces so we can play our role as one of Nato’s leading powers.”
