Nearly 1 in 10 women in the military have faced sexual assault in last year

Nearly a tenth of women in the military have been victims of an assault or other non-consensual sexual activity in the previous year, according to the first official survey of sexual harassment across Britain's armed forces.

- Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor

A third said they had been groped or touched in a way that made them feel uncomfortable, according to the Ministry of Defence, proportions much higher than their male counterparts in the army, navy and air force.

Louise Sandher-Jones, the minister for people at the Ministry of Defence, said the results were "wholly unacceptable" and would act as a "baseline to fully confront and address the root causes of this issue".

Specialist teams will be deployed at the army training garrison in Catterick, North Yorkshire, and the Plymouth naval base to tackle the behaviour, with similar schemes planned for sites including Akrotiri base in Cyprus from next year.

Britain's military has been hit by a string of rape, assault and sexual harassment scandals in recent years, including at the Royal Navy's submarine service, the RAF's Red Arrows display team and in army units.