Female defence workers feel that insufficient action has been taken to address sexual harassment more than a year after whistleblowers raised serious concerns at the Ministry of Defence, according to a leading trade union.
A Prospect union survey of female members working in defence revealed declining confidence in measures to deter sexual harassment, dropping from 47% in January 2024 to 39% in February 2025.
In response, Prospect has written to Defence Minister Alistair Carns calling for an “independent, solutions-focused inquiry with sufficient authority to deliver a very necessary shock to the system.”
The issue first gained prominence when approximately 60 senior women at the MoD wrote to the department in 2023 alleging sexual assault, harassment and abuse by male colleagues. Their letter, which became public in November 2023, detailed claims that women had been propositioned, groped and touched repeatedly by male colleagues in what they described as a workplace culture “hostile to women as equal and respected partners.”
Since then, additional women have approached Prospect and other unions with similar concerns, including one MoD civil servant who reported three separate incidents of sexual assault by male colleagues.
Sue Ferns, Senior Deputy General Secretary of Prospect, stated: “More than a year has passed since a series of disturbing revelations about the extent of sexual harassment in the MoD and wider defence sector, and women do not feel that anything has changed. In fact, in a number of respects things have worsened.”
She added: “Nothing less than a wholescale, top-down culture change will make this a sector that women feel safe working in. Our view is that an independent, solutions focused inquiry is the best way to deliver the shock the industry needs to change.”
The Prospect survey found that 57% of respondents were unaware of any actions taken in the past 12 months to raise awareness about workplace sexual harassment, while 46% reported their employer had taken no action to address the issue during the same period.
Confidence in reporting incidents has also declined across all defence organizations. In 2024, 65% of respondents felt confident to report sexual harassment, but this figure dropped to 58% in 2025. Within the MoD specifically, confidence fell from 63% to 55%.
Although a majority of respondents still viewed behaviours in the defence sector as toxic and inappropriate, this perception decreased from 65% in 2024 to 58% in 2025.
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