The British Army: a 'toxic', sexist culture

Leighann McCready didn't have a chance to see her 19-year-old daughter's bedroom, at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire, when she was alive, said Katie Tarrant in The Sunday Times. But following Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck's death by suicide in December 2021, McCready asked the Army if she could visit it.

Having initially refused, officials relented when she explained that she just wanted to spend time in the space where her child had lived. But once in, McCready found the piece of evidence that would help her secure a measure of justice for her daughter: a superior's letter of apology.

Battery Sgt Maj Michael Webber – who was 20 years older than Beck, five ranks above her and married – had allegedly pinned the teenager down at a drink-fuelled event during a training course, and tried to kiss her. The letter, in which he admitted to "absolutely unacceptable" behaviour, provided a vital piece of evidence, which was shared at Beck's inquest, to back up her family's belief that she had been sexually assaulted, and that the Army had covered it up.

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Beck had been so scared by the incident, she had slept in her locked car, said Steven Morris in The Guardian. Yet when she reported Webber's actions, they were deemed merely "inappropriate contact" and he was let off with a minor sanction. So when Beck's line manager, Bombardier Ryan Mason, became fixated on her a few months later, sending her more than 4,600 messages in two months, Beck did not raise it, for fear of being branded a trouble-maker. At her inquest last week, the coroner found that, though there were other factors (including the breakup of a relationship), the mishandling of her complaint and Mason's harassment had contributed to her death.

The MoD claims that the Army has already changed, said Isabel Hardman in The i Paper. But during the inquest, more than 1,000 women wrote online about their experience of being sexually harassed and assaulted in the Army – many referencing recent incidents. If the MoD is serious about ending a toxic culture, it should start by insisting that allegations of harassment and assault are investigated by an independent body – not military officials whose instinct may be to play down incidents and give their accused comrades the benefit of the doubt.

The Army wants women to serve, said The Times, and at this "time of peril", it badly needs to boost its recruitment and retention rates. Women who join up must accept the possibility of coming under attack from the enemy. But they really shouldn't have to worry about being attacked by the man in the room next door.