Many of you will have seen BBC drama Vigil last year. Whilst this article is not a high-octane, suspense thriller, it is none the less shocking.

Recent Navy whistle-blowers in the Submarine Service have reported that sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny are rife listing several disturbing examples. Including:

  1. A Death Rape List which ranked women in order of attractiveness to be raped during a catastrophic event.
  2. Repeatedly being called c***s or splits.
  3. Repeatedly being subjected to lewd and sexual comments.
  4. Having money inserted into their room in a bid to buy sexual favours.
  5. Being assaulted whilst sleeping.
  6. Having their laundry sniffed.
  7. Being told they cannot report the matter as it will attract unwanted negative press.

Whilst not employees, serving men and women can bring some discrimination claims before the employment tribunal. However others relating to age/disability for example may not be possible such as an adjustments claim for a role with overseas combat deployment.

A bigger barrier for serving armed forces personnel is that before bringing a claim they must normally raise a service complaint first. As per the above this is not always possible due to the culture of the organisations they work for and leads to many feeling unable to speak out until after they have left the service.