Tri-Service
Commanding Officers' Say On Sex Attacks To Be Reviewed
The issue of sexual assault in the Armed Forces is to be reviewed.
At the moment, it is up to the discretion of commanding officers over whether to investigate allegations of sexual assault.
But that policy could be scrapped, under pressure for new reforms.
It comes as the 2015-16 Armed Forces Bill, which will set out the legislation governing the entire Armed Forces for the next five years, is debated in the House of Lords.
It also comes after a second inquest into the death of Private Cheryl James finished hearing from witnesses, with the coroner to deliver his conclusions next month.
Cheryl James was found dead from a gunshot wound at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey in 1995
Lawyers from the family of the 18-year-old Army recruit have claimed she may have been sexually abused.
Coroner Brian Barker QC said he would explore "the impact of any sexual abuse against Cheryl on her state of mind".
But he refused a request to look at allegations of a culture of abuse at the base and the sexually inappropriate treatment of young females within the chain of command.
Earlier this month meanwhile, a military tribunal investigated the alleged rape of Army Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement.
Two former Corporals, Jeremy Jones and Thomas Fulton, denied raping her, insisting the sex was consensual, and were cleared.
But the Judge, Jeff Blackett, took the unusual step of telling the defendants their conduct towards her after the encounter had been “disgraceful.”
She was found half-naked and crying outside her barracks accommodation. Two years later, she committed suicide.
Last summer, the Chief of General Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, said the level of sexual harassment suffered by women soldiers in the Army is "totally unacceptable". The House of Lords debate has called for that to change
Recently, the Army and Royal Navy have been named in the top 50 employers of women.
Improvements have been made - including a confidential support line, a 'female focus' officer attached to each unit to provide advice, and better awareness of how to make complaints.
But the Lords debate underlines how much more needs to be done. Their review will take until the end of 2016 to complete.
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