is sexual assault something that you need to be strongly worried about? many thanks

Good Morning and thanks for your question.

Whilst I'm not a female, i can give you my opinion since i can't see that anyone else has just yet. So i hope it helps at least a small amount whilst i can't speak for females themselves as a whole.

Unfortunately, sexual assault is something which has become far too common, in all aspects of life. In the Army, certainly from my experience, I would say it is less of a problem than in other areas.

I think this is largely down to the idea of working in a team which is embedded into you from training. The people to the left and right of you are people whom rely upon you, and you rely upon them, and so the relationships you share with them have to be of the highest standard and this cannot be broken. This is emphasised with the Armys stance on Sexual assault and sexual harassment which is now a strict zero tolerance policy, with anyone breaking those rules suffering the highest level of discipline in being removed from service. Thankfully though, this isn't usually the reason why people are less likely to commit such horrible crimes, it's more for the fact that they know that to do so is wrong and what it would do to someone to do that.

There are respected and well known routes for you to speak to someone and rectify a situation if you ever do experience any form of harassment or abuse, and this will not be detrimental to your career or any other opportunities. Because of this, it means that more people have been able to come forward and get help with any problems they face, or problems which other people are imposing on them.

I'm sorry i can't give you first hand experience from the perspective of a female, but i hope this helps anyway as I know most people in the army will share my views too. I will endeavour to find a female whom can explain further and give your their view too in the mean time, and if you have any other questions then feel free to ask.

Good morning,

Apologies, I must have missed this question. So I will add my perspective, from a female point of view, however the above pretty much covers what I was going to say!

Personally, I have never felt threatened or been subject to any form of abuse (sexual or not). Everybody I have worked with has a high level of respect, and I've never been in a position to even slightly warrant the worry of this. The army selects individuals who demonstrate excellent values and standards, and it's rare to see breaches of this.

When you're on camp, you will normally have your own room with a lockable door if you want a bit of privacy. Similarly when away on exercise, you typically share accommodation with other females and generally speaking, it's a very safe environment.

Throughout my entire career, I've only known of one incident involving a female peer where there was an attempted sexual assault, but fortunately it did not go any further. Whilst I won't go into details, the offending person in question was removed from service immediately and spent time in a military prison. There was a lot of support available for my peer too.

Whilst the chances of this are very small, and I don't want to deter you from the military, I want to be open and honest; I think it's better than pretending it never happens. I also wanted to note the repercussions, policies and support that are available. The army in general have a hot stance on this and as mentioned in the previous reply, have a zero tolerance policy.

I hope that helps cover things from a female perspective, but do not hesitate to ask if you want to know more.