Ex-Wren calls for action on harassment in Army

A FORMER Royal Navy engineer has described her experience protecting herself from sexual harassment in the service, as she urged the British Army to take action after a report concluded “active sexual predation is a problem” in the force.

- ELLIE NG

Gunner Jaysley Beck took her own life after being sexually assaulted by a senior colleague

(Family Handout/PA)

A “cultural audit” of the Army, written in 2022 and made public this summer after a Freedom of Information request by researcher Joseph Lloyd, found “modes of predation” by male service personnel not only breached military discipline but are crimes, such as sexual assault.

The report's author, Professor Anthony King, highlighted several examples of behaviour which appeared to be commonly experienced by women.

They include the “door-knock” phenomenon in which male soldiers, typically at night and after drinking, knock on a woman’s door soliciting her for sex, and the practice of men sending unsolicited images of their genitals to female colleagues.

Ruth Sparkes, co-founder of the SaferSpace platform, which helps users report incidents of harassment and misconduct, said the culture described in the report was “disturbingly familiar”.

She joined the Navy at 17 after school and was a trainee air engineering mechanic for just over a year before she left the service.