Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the changes to policy from the Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour policy, Zero Tolerance approach to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse policy and Strategy for Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence, whether (a) specialist support services and (b) sexual violence experts will be put in place to support (i) victims coming forward and (ii) defence agencies in managing cases of sexual violence.

Commanding Officers have a legal obligation to report alleged sexual violence to the Service Police who are trained to investigate cases of sexual violence to the same standards as the civilian police. All three Services' Police have a sexual violence lead ​who advise on policing policy and practices. The Service Police will use Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC) where at all possible to aid their investigation and support the victim/survivor (SARC use may not be possible if an investigation is taking place abroad or on a ship at sea).

Agencies such as the Service Police and single Service Welfare agencies also routinely refer victims to Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) services during investigations or through access to Welfare services, to ensure that all victims receive the appropriate independent support from sexual violence experts. ISVA services operate across the UK, and as such, appropriate services can be identified on a case-by-case basis. The anonymous whole force Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination Helpline, Army 'Speak out' Confidential helpline, Service Police Confidential Crime Line and Service Charities' support lines can also signpost personnel to publicly available support services.

The Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence strategy sets out a number of measures to support victims in coming forward and support and enhance the work of the Defence agencies in managing cases of sexual violence. These include ensuring Sexual Assault Pathways with specialist services are followed for all survivors who have faced sexual assault; raising awareness with survivors of external sources of support available; developing ways to gather feedback for those encountering sexual violence and tackling issues of 'victim shaming' through education and awareness raising.