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Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 07:58 GMT 08:58 UK

'Barrack-room banter turned sour'

By Steve Hawkes
BBC News

Sebastienne Lawton Corporal Leah Mates has told an employment tribunal an "anti-female prejudice... permeates the whole Army".

"The Army is a male preserve and a woman who tries to establish herself does so at the peril of her health and happiness."

BBC News asks another female soldier what it is really like to be a woman serving in the British Army.

When Sebastienne Lawton joined the 3rd Battalion of the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire - the Yorkies - at the age of 26, it caused "a lot of raised eyebrows".

"The first question they always asked was, 'What does your husband think of you being in the Army?'" she tells BBC News.

And when male colleagues found out she was single, they often accused her of enlisting just to meet men.

"I was asked what sexual positions I liked - it upset me, but I didn't let it show because I wanted to get along with everyone"

After Sebastienne transferred to the 4th Battalion - away from the regiment's Administration HQ, she started to feel even more isolated.

"They were much more macho and less open to women being around.

"Sexist banter permeates the whole of the Army - but some units are definitely worse than others, and in the infantry there is a smaller proportion of women.

"We got on really well and I let the banter go over my head - although some of it was a bit heavy.

"For them it's funny and you're supposed to laugh and if you don't you haven't got a sense of humour"

"I was asked what sexual positions I liked - it upset me, but I didn't let it show because I wanted to get along with everyone.

"For them it's funny and you're supposed to laugh and if you don't you haven't got a sense of humour."

But the jokes soon turned sour.

One of her male colleagues asked Sebastienne for her home telephone number, dialled it and then hung up when her mother answered.

Sebastienne finally lost her temper. Her colleague reacted by throwing the phone at her.

"It can quickly turn sour, and when it did I suddenly lost my allies and felt very isolated"

"There was an officer in the room but he didn't do anything."

Having shown her vulnerability, Sebastienne increasingly found herself being verbally bullied.

"A sergeant told me I was too sensitive.

"He would try to belittle me and make me out to be stupid all the time."

Her colleagues soon followed suit.

"They would have a dig - not nastily, but always making a joke out of me.

"Their attitude was you had to put up with it or leave"

"They would stop talking when I walked in.

"It can quickly turn sour and when it did I suddenly lost my allies and felt very isolated.

"I would not have been bullied if I had been a man."

Sebastienne complained to senior officers but found them unsympathetic.

"Their attitude was you had to put up with it or leave."

"I was just told to get out of the way because the men wanted to dominate"

Eventually she was transferred away.

"They should have dealt with the problem - but their solution was to move the woman, which just perpetuates the problem for the next woman."

Sebastienne was transferred to the Intelligence Corps, where there is a greater proportion of women.

"The consensus is women tend to be more suited to less physical tasks - security, interrogations, communications.

"They're pushed into administrative roles, become secretaries or medics.

"The Army doesn't exploit their strengths.

"He told me to undress, then chatted me up for 10 minutes"

"I'd done really well in my training and was hoping to put what I'd learned into practice - but I was just told to get out of the way because the men wanted to dominate."

Sebastienne finally left the Army - after five years' service - when she was sexually harassed by a medical officer.

"He told me to undress, then chatted me up for 10 minutes.

"He commented on my looks and even asked for my telephone number.

"Then, under the pretext of examining my fingernails, he began stroking my hands.

"I was in tears, and he was just screaming at me"

"His behaviour was totally inappropriate - but he was a high-ranking officer in the Medical Corps and I was told, 'You can't complain.'"

Her request to see a female doctor was refused and when she failed to attend her next appointment she was confronted by the full fury of an officer.

"He didn't give me a chance to explain. I was in tears and he was just screaming at me, 'Perhaps you would like to leave the Army'."

Sebastienne decided then and there to do just that. She also left the country and now lives in France, where she teaches English for a living.

"In the Army you're not supposed to question anything - but you can't change things from the outside"

But she has nothing but admiration for the women brave enough to follow in her footsteps.

"In the Army you're not supposed to question anything - but you can't change things from the outside.

"Many privates and non-commissioned officers don't hide the fact they don't like the idea of women in the Army.

"But the more women who join up and challenge their tired point of view and way of doing things, the better it is going to get."

In response, the Army said in a statement: "There is no place for sexual harassment or bullying of any sort in the armed forces.

"We are committed at the highest levels of leadership to dealing with it."

The statement said a great deal of work had been done to tackle inappropriate behaviour and that all complaints of harassment and discrimination were taken seriously.

"All such allegations are investigated thoroughly and, where proven, appropriate action is taken," it added.



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Related to this story:
Spy wins compensation in sex case (04 Apr 06 |  UK )

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