‘The eyes tracking me is awful’: senior women’s complaints about MoD behaviour

Edited extracts of women’s recent testimonies about working at the Ministry of Defence

• 60 women at MoD complain of widespread ‘toxic’ behaviour
• Revelations add to crisis within wider military

The following are edited extracts from a letter that 60 senior civilian women at the UK’s Ministry of Defence sent to their permanent secretary. The letter includes anonymised testimonies in which women have shared their recent experiences of working at the MoD.

The accounts allege a range of serious incidents and patterns of behaviour, which the women said were “only a sample” of “an extraordinary amount of concerning experiences” they had received.

I was told by a military officer that there were only two kinds of women in Defence, the bitches, who were effective, and the mumsy ones, who were completely useless, and I would need to decide which I was going to be if I planned to have a career in Defence.”

I avoid walking through the Pillared Hall [one of the main hallways of the MoD’s headquarters in Whitehall] alone. The groups of men staring is horrible. It’s the same on some of the 4th floor floorplates. They’ve even wolf whistled. The constant objectification and harassment is appalling. Behaviours that are completely unacceptable on public transport, for example, are accepted in pockets of Main Building.”

In a one-to-one setting in the office during the working day, a senior military officer came on to me. It made me feel shocked, upset, and reduced from what I thought I was seen as by my [exclusively male] seniors … to a woman seen through a lens of ‘attractiveness’ at work … It shattered my confidence and, I hate having to say this, I couldn’t help but question whether it was my fault: what is it about me that made this man think he could do this; am I too friendly at work; am I wearing the wrong clothes. It took me a long time not to feel anxious in his company.”

I was propositioned by a military officer late at night in a corridor on [an overseas MoD] base when I was leaving my room to go to the bathroom. I felt sick with fear and couldn’t sleep afterwards, not knowing whether he had access to keys and could get into my room.

The eyes tracking me as I walk through the Pillared Hall is awful. The fact that there are some men in the team [who are] so inappropriate, others warn us about being alone with them on work nights out. The fact that those men are some of the most senior in [my department] and keep getting promoted.

I am often the only woman in the room and on almost all occasions men comment on what I wear, my fragrance, and if I’m wearing a skirt or dress, they have often remarked, ‘you have legs!’. This started when I first joined the MoD as a junior official. On arriving or introducing myself, I was told that it was lovely I was there to ‘fragrance’ or ‘decorate’ the room and always in front of other meeting attendees. These behaviours always made me feel reduced compared to others in the room. It was intimidating, sometimes held me back from speaking in meetings, and undermined me and my role. It also made me doubt myself and my abilities. I spent a long period of time never wearing skirts or dresses, muting the colours I wore, and trying to be plain so as to blend, rather than stand out; all in the hope that people would take me seriously.

[When I joined the department], there was an equal mix of men and women on the programme. Most of the men are still at the MoD. I’m the only woman left. Every single woman who has left before me has put their decision to leave down to the culture here … Not a single woman [is] left from a large fast stream year group. It’s a damning indictment, as well as a colossal waste of MoD talent investment.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/r6QwxmH