Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the changes to policy from the Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour policy, Zero Tolerance approach to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse policy and Strategy for Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence, whether (a) specialist support services and (b) sexual violence experts will be put in place to support (i) victims coming forward and (ii) defence agencies in managing cases of sexual violence.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Commanding Officers have a legal obligation to report alleged sexual violence to the Service Police who are trained to investigate cases of sexual violence to the same standards as the civilian police. All three Services' Police have a sexual violence lead who advise on policing policy and practices. The Service Police will use Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC) where at all possible to aid their investigation and support the victim/survivor (SARC use may not be possible if an investigation is taking place abroad or on a ship at sea).
Agencies such as the Service Police and single Service Welfare agencies also routinely refer victims to Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) services during investigations or through access to Welfare services, to ensure that all victims receive the appropriate independent support from sexual violence experts. ISVA services operate across the UK, and as such, appropriate services can be identified on a case-by-case basis. The anonymous whole force Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination Helpline, Army 'Speak out' Confidential helpline, Service Police Confidential Crime Line and Service Charities' support lines can also signpost personnel to publicly available support services.
The Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence strategy sets out a number of measures to support victims in coming forward and support and enhance the work of the Defence agencies in managing cases of sexual violence. These include ensuring Sexual Assault Pathways with specialist services are followed for all survivors who have faced sexual assault; raising awareness with survivors of external sources of support available; developing ways to gather feedback for those encountering sexual violence and tackling issues of 'victim shaming' through education and awareness raising.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which specialist sexual violence organisations his Department consulted as part of the development of its (a) Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour policy: A Victim/Survivor Focused Approach, (b) zero tolerance approach to sexual exploitation and abuse policy and (c) Strategy for Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence consulted a number of organisations in the development of its policies and strategy, including Service Women's Networks and the Victims Commissioner who is also a permanent member of the Service Justice Board and is represented on the Service Justice Executive Group. Others consulted in the development of the Strategy for Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence included the Survivors Trust, the National Association of People Abused in Childhood and the Male Survivors Partnership.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Zero Tolerance approach to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) policy and the screening process for Defence people who are on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register, how many Defence people are on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 June 2022 to Question 14577 to the hon. Member for Barnsley East (Stephanie Peacock).
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the Zero Tolerance approach to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse policy excludes the use of (a) transactional sex and (b) transactional sex of trafficked victims by military personnel in the United Kingdom; and states that this policy applies only to those deployed abroad.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Zero Tolerance approach to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse policy is intended to deal with specific issues that arise if members of the Armed Forces pay for transactional sex when deployed or based outside the UK. Service personnel will often be deployed on training or operations in States which are less economically developed or where civil society has broken down, which means, as with aid workers, transactional sex is likely to be exploitative and harmful. Transactional sex between locals and service personnel is also illegal in many States and risks damaging relations between the armed forces and the local population and may harm the reputation of the UK and its armed forces.
It should be noted that Service personnel are always subject to UK criminal law, whether at home or deployed outside the UK, which bans soliciting and payment for the sexual services of a prostitute subject to exploitation or coercion. In addition, wherever they are, their conduct must always be consistent with the values of the armed forces and must not bring the Armed Forces into disrepute.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the UK and Kenya has not yet been ratified.
Answered by James Heappey
The Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) must be ratified through Parliamentary processes in both the UK and Kenya. This process has been completed in the UK. In Kenya, ratification was tabled for discussion in Parliament on 13 July 2022. This session was subsequently cancelled. It is not for the UK to comment on Kenyan Parliamentary decisions and timetabling. The existing DCA arrangements remain in place through a bridging arrangement. A revised DCA was signed by both the UK and Kenyan governments in July 2021.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the case of the death of Agnes Wanjiru has been a barrier to the final ratification of the Defence Cooperation Agreement between the UK and Kenya.
Answered by James Heappey
After engagement with the Kenyan Government, and the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee of the Kenyan Parliament, the ratification treaty was tabled on 13 July 2022. That session of the Kenyan Parliament was subsequently cancelled. The existing Defence Cooperation Agreement remains, with a bridging agreement, in place in the meantime.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions military personnel have been found to have engaged in the sexual exploitation of women and men in the last five years; and what disciplinary action resulted.
Answered by James Heappey
Defence recognises the devastating and long-term impact that Sexual Exploitation and Abuse has on those who are victims of it, and that it is an abuse of trust and power which causes immeasurable harm to those who are affected. We have existing policies on the values, standards, and behaviours expected of all service personnel and any allegation of sexual offending, wherever it occurs, must be referred to the Service Police. We have adopted the NATO policy for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse on peace-keeping operations and we are building on that to develop a policy to be applied overseas and in the United Kingdom. Anyone found to fall short of the Services' high standards or to have committed an offence will be dealt with robustly, which can include imprisonment and dismissal from Service.
At present, the sexual exploitation of any person is not recorded as an offence in its own right, however, any criminal activity or undesirable behaviour is recorded by the specific type of offence or prohibited behaviour which took place and we publish details of those offences on a yearly basis: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sexual-offences-in-the-service-justice-system
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the current code of conduct is with respect to serving military personnel engaging in the sexual exploitation of prostituted women and men in the UK and abroad.
Answered by James Heappey
Defence recognises the devastating and long-term impact that Sexual Exploitation and Abuse has on those who are victims of it, and that it is an abuse of trust and power which causes immeasurable harm to those who are affected. We have existing policies on the values, standards, and behaviours expected of all service personnel and any allegation of sexual offending, wherever it occurs, must be referred to the Service Police. We have adopted the NATO policy for the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse on peace-keeping operations and we are building on that to develop a policy to be applied overseas and in the United Kingdom. Anyone found to fall short of the Services' high standards or to have committed an offence will be dealt with robustly, which can include imprisonment and dismissal from Service.
At present, the sexual exploitation of any person is not recorded as an offence in its own right, however, any criminal activity or undesirable behaviour is recorded by the specific type of offence or prohibited behaviour which took place and we publish details of those offences on a yearly basis: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sexual-offences-in-the-service-justice-system
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any Ministers in his Department attended the Presidents Club Charity Dinner run by the Meller Educational Trust in an official capacity.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
No Defence Ministers attended the Presidents Club Charity Dinner hosted by the Meller Educational Trust in any capacity.