Women aren’t new to the military anymore – so why does the old boys’ culture survive?
ITV News’ recent documentary Her Fight: Are Women Serving in the Military Safe? raises some deeply uncomfortable questions about the culture women continue to experience within the Armed Forces.
Some of the accounts are shocking. Women described sexual assault, harassment, bullying and a culture in which unacceptable behaviour was sometimes minimised, excused or simply ignored.
One former soldier told ITV she had felt part of a “boys’ club” in which women “didn’t have a voice”, while another described changing herself simply to fit in.
Those of us, like me, who have watched the Armed Forces evolve since women began serving routinely alongside men more than 30 years ago, are wondering:
How are we still talking about women fitting into a male military culture?
I joined the Royal Navy in 1994, during a period of significant change. It was clear that some people did not accept women as equals. Even into the early 2000s, I worked for a male Chief who told me directly that he did not believe any Leading Hand in his team should be female. That was more than two decades ago.
So when does the period of adjustment end?
Women are no longer guests
There was undoubtedly a period when the integration of women represented enormous change for the Armed Forces.
Accommodation had to change. Career structures changed, and men were being asked to adapt from an almost exclusively male environment.
Cultural change was never going to happen overnight. But that cannot remain the explanation indefinitely.
A young woman joining the Armed Forces today is not participating in some new experiment in integration. Many of the young men joining alongside them have never known a military without women.
Yet, ITV’s report shows the idea that women must “fit in” persists. Sophia, one of the women featured in Her Fight, described feeling embarrassed when she looked back at the person she had become simply to fit into the culture. She spoke about saying and doing things she did not really want to do because that was how she felt she had to survive.
That is not integration.
How does an ‘old boys’ culture’ survive?
Most men serving in the Armed Forces behave professionally, treat their female colleagues with respect, and many actively challenge unacceptable behaviour.
Culture is not created only by those committing the worst behaviour. It is also shaped by what others are prepared to tolerate.
Sophia described a man aggressively banging on her accommodation door and demanding sex. Nobody came out and nobody intervened. Turning a blind eye is not the same as committing an offence. But silence can help create the environment in which unacceptable behaviour survives.
How does an ‘old boys’ culture’ continue to be reproduced by men who are themselves too young ever to have served in the old boys’ military?
Perhaps the answer is relatively simple: culture is taught.
What are we teaching the next generation?
New recruits quickly learn what behaviour earns approval. They learn who gets challenged and who gets protected.
A respected instructor who challenges sexism, calls out inappropriate behaviour and makes clear that women and men are expected to treat one another professionally can set a standard that young personnel carry throughout their careers. But the opposite is also true.
Mandatory training on unacceptable behaviour, sexual harassment or equality can only achieve so much if somebody delivering or introducing it tells the room:
“I don’t know why we must do this. It’s just a tick-box exercise.”
Policies do not change culture by themselves. People do.
Policy has changed – but has behaviour?
Defence has undoubtedly acted. The MOD introduced its Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviours policy in 2022 and says almost 300 service personnel have been removed from the Armed Forces over recent years for unacceptable behaviour.
Those changes matter. But they sit alongside some extremely uncomfortable figures.
The MOD’s latest sexual behaviour survey found that 67% of serving women had experienced sexualised behaviour during the previous 12 months, while one in 10 reported non-consensual sexual activity.
After decades of integration, Defence needs to seriously look at whether its policies are changing what happens in accommodation blocks, classrooms, messes, ships, units and workplaces.
The majority can change the culture
The fact that most men are not perpetrators means the majority can also be part of the solution.
That responsibility sits particularly heavily with those in leadership and training roles because young personnel watch them – picking up on what they say when the PowerPoint presentation finishes, whether the person who makes the sexist joke is challenged, and whether women who raise concerns are taken seriously or acquire a reputation for being difficult.
From being present to belonging
Women have achieved extraordinary things across the Armed Forces and are present throughout the organisation. But presence and belonging are not necessarily the same thing.
Belonging means not having to change who you are simply to survive the culture around you. A recruit entering basic training today should not be joining a man’s world. Nor should a male recruit feel that women have been allowed into his. They should both be joining the Armed Forces.
Her Fight demonstrates why the conversation cannot end with how many women are serving. If attitudes from decades ago are still being passed from one generation of service personnel to another, perhaps the problem is no longer integration. Perhaps it is inheritance.
If Her Fight, or the issues discussed in this blog, resonate with you and you’d like to speak to a solicitor about your experiences in the Armed Forces, please do get in touch: natashamason@bbkllp.co.uk
