Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of girls under the age of 18 in the armed forces were victims of crimes under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022; and how many of these cases were dealt with by the (i) police and (ii) Royal Military police.

In the interests of protecting the anonymity of the victims of sexual offences, and to ensure that victims of sexual offences are not deterred from coming forward, I will not be providing the requested information. This is consistent with my answer to Question 182068 and Question 199692.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold information on cases dealt with by the civil police, as these organisations are not within the Department’s jurisdiction.

Information on the number of victims of sexual offences is provided by year, broken down by age, and separately by gender, within the official annually published Murder, Manslaughter, Sexual Offences and Domestic Abuse in the Service Justice System statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sexual-offences-in-the-service-justice-system. The published figures for victims of sexual offences are based on investigations opened, and the most serious offence initially reported, not convictions. Not all investigations result in an arrest or a charge.

Defence has made it clear there is zero tolerance to any form of sexual abuse.

Zero tolerance means that every allegation of sexual offending or instructor/trainee sexual relationships will be acted upon through prompt, thorough, efficient and independent investigation. When a person is convicted of a sexual offence or an instructor is found to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a trainee, their discharge is mandatory.