London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Armed forces complaint 'used as weapon against me’

Armed forces complaint 'used as weapon against me’

Four years on from submitting a complaint alleging she had been raped while in the armed forces, "Jane" is still awaiting a decision and says it was used as a "weapon" against her.
She told the BBC that colleagues knew things about the confidential process "they should never have known".

Her concerns are not unique, according to a report by the ombudsman for armed forces complaints.

The Ministry of Defence acknowledged "there is still more work to be done".

In her report, ombudsman Mariette Hughes said the complaints system was "not efficient, effective or fair" - the seventh year in a row it has been criticised - with the main grievances raised being around career management, bullying or discrimination.

The BBC is not using Jane's real name. She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You have no idea who that service complaint is sent to, but it could initially be somebody that sees things within your immediate chain of command."

She also received very limited communication about the next steps of the complaint, while information was lost and correspondence sent to an incorrect home address.

"I've never ever experienced anything like that in my life," she said.

In its annual report for 2022, the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces said there is a "persistent view that the system will disadvantage or discriminate" against personnel who submit complaints.

Ms Hughes, who was appointed to the role in January 2021, told the BBC it was important to take into account "people's situations and emotions" when tackling complaints.

"The biggest overarching issue is still that sometimes within the service complaints process we forget that there are people involved," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We need to be able to show greater flexibility, take account of people's situations and emotions, and just recognise that at the end of the day these are people who have complaints that need resolving."

The ombudsman provides "independent and impartial oversight" of the service complaints process.

Ms Hughes said it was "distressing" that complaints relating to bullying, harassment and discrimination "take far longer than other complaints to resolve".

"Those are the ones where there's a lot of emotion involved, and they can really hang over individuals," she said.

A total of 12% of service personnel said they experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination, although just 7% of those raised a written complaint, down from 11% in 2021.

More than half - 56% - of those who experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination said they did not submit complaints because "they did not believe anything would be done about it", while 51% felt that "complaining would adversely affect their career".

While the report noted an overall increase in confidence in the complaints system, it said overall trust levels were "worryingly low".

"It's really difficult to understand the scale and breadth of the problem until people have more confidence in coming forward," Ms Hughes said.

"If we can't see the issues, we can't fix the issues."

Other issues highlighted in the report included the effect of changes to the appeals system, as well as the system not dealing with complaints at the lowest level.

However, the report also acknowledged improvements made to the complaints system in 2022, notably that the independence of the process has improved now that those making complaints no longer have to submit them through their chain of command but to a specialised team.

Efficiency also improved, with 66% of complaints being dealt with within the targeted time-frame of 24 weeks, up from 47% in 2021. However, this figure fell short of the 90% target.

The report found that 935 complaints were "ruled admissible", of which 43% were upheld either partially or fully in favour of the complainant.

Women in the armed forces continue to be overrepresented in the complaints process, making up 21% of complaints, despite comprising only 12% of armed force members.

The report made five recommendations for improvements, including reviewing case-handling processes and developing a dedicated area on their intranet to provide information about how people can submit complaints.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said that "bullying, harassment and discrimination" are not tolerated in the armed forces, and that it was "committed to providing a fair, efficient and effective" complaints system.

"We acknowledge that there is still more work to be done and are working hard to deliver it," the spokesperson said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×