The British Armed Forces began to prohibit military personnel who work on missions abroad from hiring the service of sex workers. The move, which The Guardian says is unprecedented, is part of efforts to clean up the image and preserve the institution, after complaints about violence and sexual exploitation involving soldiers came to light.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace justified the decision by saying that a change in attitude in the Armed Forces was necessary. “We want more and more women to be in our ranks and we have to keep in mind what that means in different environments. We need to set parameters and make it very clear what is acceptable,” he said.
Military personnel who break the rule and have sex in exchange for payment may be fired and, if the offense is committed in countries where prostitution is illegal, even prosecuted. The new ban will not apply in the UK.
The behavior of British soldiers abroad has come under increased scrutiny after the revelation of the 2012 murder of young Kenyan Agnes Wanjiru, 21. She was found dead near a camp used by the army, and the crime was committed. by a military, would have been covered up by officers of the Armed Forces.
Further investigation revealed that British soldiers often paid for sex in the East African country — in Kenya, prostitution is not illegal.
In 2020, fresh criticism came after it was revealed that hundreds of members of a paratrooper battalion sought medical help and had to undergo confinement after having sex with sex workers.
The case happened again in Kenya, and at the time a document released by the Armed Forces accused the military of having little discipline.
Asked about the reasons for the delay in implementing such a measure, Wallace deflected the conversation, according to the Guardian. “Don’t ask me, I’m the secretary who just took over. I served in the Army in 1991, this is a different generation and things are different.”
The Ministry of Defense’s new policy, called “Zero Tolerance of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”, provides that when carrying out defense activities outside the UK, military personnel are “prohibited from engaging in ‘transactional sex’ at all times.” “.
The term is defined as “paying or offering payment in exchange for sex or other sexual services”, and the ban applies regardless of whether or not prostitution is legal in the countries where British forces are serving.
