Written evidence submitted by the ‘Living in our shoes’ review team to the "Women in the Armed Forces: From Recruitment to Civilian Life" Parliamentary Inquiry

This inquiry will explore the experience of female service personnel from recruitment to transition and consider whether there are unique challenges that are not adequately addressed by the current policies and services.

Challenges that the inquiry will explore, include:

Recruitment and retention of female personnel;
Incidences where female serving personnel are the victim of sexual offences;
Overrepresentation in the complaints system;
Female personnel are more likely to make bullying and harassment complaints;
Female personnel are more likely to be assessed with a mental health disorder; and
Transition to civilian life, where female service leavers have a lower employment rate and a higher economic inactivity rate. Other areas of interest that the Committee are keen to cover within the scope of the inquiry include issues around pensions, terms and conditions of employment, housing and general wellbeing.