The MoD must confront its dark legacy on sexual abuse of servicewomen
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4 min read
The military has a duty of care to the hundreds of women who have reported that they were subject to unnecessary intimate medical examinations
Another military scandal – yet again, it’s women who bear the scars. The latest revelations, now the subject of a major Wiltshire police investigation, suggest that for decades women entering the army may have been subjected to inappropriate or unnecessary intimate medical examinations during enlistment.
Hundreds are now reported to have come forward alleging sexual abuse by doctors entrusted with assessing their fitness to serve. These were young women at the threshold of military life – keen, proud and utterly unaware that what was happening to them might not have been standard medical procedure.
Some may argue that incidents dating back to the 1970s were “of their time”. That argument collapses when allegations extend well into the 2000s – even up to 2016.
I understand the Ministry of Defence changed its policy in 2018, removing the requirement for internal examinations during medicals. That decision alone, many will conclude, suggests an implicit recognition that earlier practices were inappropriate.
It is reported that these medicals were conducted by civilian doctors, not serving personnel. But that does not absolve the MoD of responsibility. The MoD commissioned, approved and relied upon those medical assessments. It set the standards, paid the doctors and accepted the results. It therefore owned the process – and the duty of care.
From conversations within my own network of former servicewomen, there appears to be a striking commonality in their experiences. Several tell me they were told to strip, were examined intimately without chaperones and were assured this was “routine”. As they wanted to pass and serve their country, they complied. Few were told what would happen, what was appropriate, or that they could refuse.
These were civilians, without access to military redress or welfare support
This power imbalance – between a young recruit desperate to succeed and a medical professional wielding authority – echoes many of the accounts I heard during the Women in the Armed Forces Defence Select Committee inquiry. Then, as now, women described a culture of implicit trust, lack of information, and silence born from fear of reprisal or rejection. Once again, institutional deference and a reluctance to challenge authority seem to have allowed questionable practices to continue unchecked.
I understand that during the Etherton review process, some of these historic experiences began to surface – but it is social media and survivor solidarity that have truly revealed the scale of the problem. From what I am told, this does not appear to have been the work of a few rogue doctors but rather a process that may have been embedded across the recruitment system for decades.
We now need urgent answers. How much did the MoD know during those 46 years? Who authorised these procedures? And what safeguards exist to ensure that such practices cannot happen again?
It is particularly distressing that these examinations were reportedly carried out before women were even enlisted. These were civilians, without access to military redress or welfare support. They were failed before they even wore the uniform.
The MoD will rightly co-operate with the investigation, but public confidence will only be restored through transparency and accountability. The women who endured this deserve truth, recognition and reassurance that lessons have finally been learnt.
The military cannot continue to rely on procedural reviews, new initiatives and fine words to patch over deep cultural failings. Despite operational reforms and new oversight mechanisms, there are still no signs of meaningful improvement where sexual abuse is concerned.
Until that changes – until the power structures that protect abusers and silence victims are dismantled – scandals like this will keep emerging from the shadows.
Sarah Atherton is former MP for Wrexham and chair of the Women in the Armed Forces inquiry
