In 2021, the Defence Sub-Committee, chaired by Sarah Atherton MP, conducted an inquiry into Women in the Armed Forces and female veterans. It published a detailed report in July 2021, which made a series of recommendations to improve the experiences of servicewomen and female veterans, focusing on all stages of a servicewoman’s career, from recruitment through to transition to civilian life. In November 2022, the Committee held a follow-up session with the MoD regarding progress on matters raised in the Report.
In May 2023, the Committee published anonymous whistleblower evidence from MoD medics who revealed unacceptable behaviour towards female servicewomen and poor handling of complaints. The Committee followed this up by writing to the Minister with a series of questions in July 2023.
As with the initial inquiry in 2021, serving personnel are authorised by the Ministry of Defence to send written evidence. All requests for anonymity will be respected by the Committee – anonymous submitters will not have their name in the public domain.