Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to combat victim blaming when investigating in-service bullying, harassment, sexual assault and rape cases.
On 19 July 2022 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) published a series of new policies as part of our commitment to deal with unacceptable behaviour: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ministry-of-defence-policies-to-tackle-unacceptable-behaviour
Among these new policies includes measures aimed at tackling victim blaming. The policy 'Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour: A Victim/Survivor Focused Approach' outlines the MOD's policy on victim blaming at heading 3:
"Supporting people who are victims of unacceptable sexual behaviour must be our priority. Defence wants to ensure that victims of unacceptable sexual behaviour trust that they can report such behaviour, that their report will be listened to, and that they will be supported throughout any investigation. Commanding Officers (COs) are to take this responsibility to victims extremely seriously and any indications that a sexual offence has taken place must be referred to the Service Police. Defence must ensure that victims have the confidence that that their complaint will be investigated in an appropriate and sensitive way and that appropriate action will be taken against any person displaying unacceptable behaviour."