bird99. You have my deepest sympathy but it saddens me to think you felt unable to take the appropriate steps.
WRT the 'survey' I wonder what sort of results would be obtained if it had been carried out in another male-dominated section of society such as a large bank, newspaper, or a football club? I am also intrigued by the general nature of the statement from Sky News. In typically vague manner, the original article stated that
Out of a survey of 2500, over 1000 were 'sexually harassed':
Most of them were said to have been groped or subjected to sexually explicit remarks or gestures
So over 500 were:
subjected to sexually explicit remarks or gestures
Once? Twice? Degree of seriousness? What is a sexually explicit remark? What constitutes harassment "Would you like to come out for a drink with me?"?
There is also no mention of the time period to which the survey applied. Ask an SAC if they have been shouted at unfairly in the last 5 years, the answer is probably going to be yes; haven't we all had group bollockings?
Now I am not suggesting that sexual harassment or bullying is acceptable, but I work in very close proximity with men and women from LAC up to wg cdr, and I genuinely do not believe that the problem is endemic in my part of the Service, despite what the article implies.
It is easier now than ever before to talk to someone about a problem you are having with an individual or group of individuals if you believe you are being bullied or harassed, but this brings me on to another point:
WE ARE AN ARMED SERVICE.
Being told to do something you don't want to do or don't like doing does not constitute harassment or bullying. Being punished informally for a misdemeanour (eg turn up late for work, your 'turn' to hoover the crewroom). Being shouted at for being somewhere you shouldn't be (or not being somewhere you should), is not bullying.
Some of our people are joining the RAF (and I dare say the other Services) with completely the wrong impression of what to expect, and I don't believe that the initial trg they get helps.