Surge in sexual allegations by female soldiers against male colleagues

One of the 16 allegations has been referred to gardaí and one relates to an incident that occurred overseas. File picture

Female soldiers have made almost as many sexual allegations against male colleagues in the last 12 months as they did in the past decade.

The Defence Forces has told the Irish Examiner there have been 16 allegations of a sexual nature made since January 2020. That was after Defence Minister Simon Coveney was told in June 2021 there had been “just one” such allegation up to that point in the 2020s.

Defence chiefs also told him in a detailed report into allegations against male soldiers that there had been a significant decline in allegations since the 1980s.

They said this was “a reflection of more robust and proactive processes” and “more awareness” within the Defence Forces.

The report at that point said there had been 17 allegations made during the 2010s, down from 54 in the 1980s.

Mr Coveney has established an Independent Review Group (IRG) to examine issues related to sexual misconduct in the Defence Forces.

Allegations of sexism, bullying, sexual assault and rape were raised by members of the Women of Honour group of serving and ex-serving women featured in an RTÉ documentary last year. A spokesperson for the group said: “It is by no means because of the Defence Forces’ robust and pro-active processes that there was a decline in the number of allegations.

“It is likely more to do with the greater lengths to cover up, belittle, circumvent and in essence ignore issues."

They said they believe the report given to Mr Coveney is incomplete. "This report is categorical proof the only way forward is a statutory inquiry," they said.

“It is essential any such inquiry conducts a broad survey of sample cases which are thoroughly investigated. We have no doubt many new allegations will come to light.

We also know a large proportion of these are already known to individuals in the Defence Forces. However, many will not come forward.

The 16 allegations in the 2020s so far range from sexual assault to inappropriate behaviour. Five are categorised as “indecent or sexual assault” and nine as “inappropriate behaviour”. One of the 16 allegations has been referred to gardai and one relates to an incident that occurred overseas.

A Defence Forces spokesperson said: “It should be noted that as investigations proceed, findings may reveal the alleged offence is more serious, less serious or result in no complaint being submitted to Military Police.

“This means an investigation which may not have been under the description of the range of ‘sexual abuse to inappropriate behaviour’ would become one or vice versa.

“A bullying and harassment prevention campaign, It stops now, has been established and is ongoing. There remain a number of further measures being developed.”

PDFORRA President Mark Keane said: “It's our sincerest hope that both serving and retired members of Oglaigh na hEireann contributed to the IRG, in order to shine a light on any pervasive culture that exists within the organisation.”

He added: “It's important to remember the majority of the members of the Defence Forces are good honest hard-working individuals who have no time for the perpetrators of any kind of abuse.”