British defence chiefs ban sexualised jokes after ruling offensive humour is a form of harassment
By Sean Rayment
Defence chiefs are banning sexualised and inappropriate jokes after senior commanders ruled that they represent a form of sexual harassment.
The move effectively brings to an end years of sexist and often intimidatory military banter which many senior female officers believe has had a corrosive impact.
Troops who tell female colleagues rude jokes, or make sexualised comments either to or about them, now face being disciplined and court martialled.
The ruling also applies to women who tell dirty jokes to their male troops or make sex-related comments about their appearance.
The move follows the disclosure that over 60 per cent of female troops revealed they had been subjected to dirty jokes by male colleagues in a Ministry of Defence survey.
The report, Armed Forces Sexualised Behaviours and Sexual Harassment Survey, found that 98 per cent of women surveyed felt that dirty jokes were a form of sexual harassment.
The same survey also revealed that 58 per cent of men who had been told a sexualised joke by a female colleague regarded it as a form of harassment.
Senior officers want to be able to court martial repeat offenders or have them summarily dismissed on the grounds that telling dirty jokes to women is intimidatory and sexist behaviour.
One senior source told National Security News that banning sexualised jokes had become necessary because attempts to change the sexist culture which existed in parts of the military had failed.
The officer said: “This might seem like a sledgehammer to crack a nut but the world has moved on in terms of behaviour towards women. Unfortunately there are still plenty of dinosaurs roaming the corridors of many military bases across the country.”
A female officer who spoke to the Mail on Sunday anonymously said that she personally received a sex-related comment or joke almost every day.
She said: “I’m glad the MoD have finally woken up to this. When someone tells you a sexualised joke I believe it is a form of harassment. In this day and age that sort of behaviour is not acceptable. I would not behave like that with a male colleague and I would expect to face disciplinary action if I did.”
Last night the Ministry of Defence confirmed that troops who tell sexist jokes face discipline, adding that senior officers were determined to root out sexist behaviour.
Sexist behaviour in the Armed Forces is also believed to have had a direct impact on recruiting.
Government data shows that between 2016 and 2022 the number of women joining was increasing.
In 2016, a ban on women serving in close combat roles was lifted, and in 2018 it was announced that all combat roles would be open to women.
These included infantry and special forces units. But since 2022 the number of women enlisting has been steadily decreasing to 11 per cent.
In 2021, the Atherton Report was published and found that the MoD and Services are failing to protect female personnel.
The fall in women signing up since 2022 is seen across all three Services, the Navy and Navy Reserve, the Army and Army Reserve, and the Royal Air Force and Royal Air Force Reserve.
In April 2024, just over 11 per cent of the Forces were women, totalling 16,220 personnel. Data also shows that more women are leaving the Forces than are joining.
But the Army has an ambitious recruitment target of 30 per cent women by 2030, more than double the current proportion, which many experts say is unrealistic.
Colonel Phil Ingram, a former Army Intelligence Officer, said he was glad that sexualised jokes were being banned.
He said: “This is a positive step by the MoD but it has taken far too long to take decisive action on sexualised comments. How this will be enforced remains to be seen but making sexualised comments, even in jest, can no longer be regarded as innocent banter.”
An MoD spokesperson said: “Unacceptable behaviour, including sexualised jokes, has absolutely no place within our Armed Forces. We are committed to rooting this out, including through cultural change and initiatives such as training, education and a new task force to tackle such behaviour.”
