Share your experiences as a BAME person in the armed forces

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/10/share-your-experiences-as-a-bame-person-in-the-armed-forces

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Military police have launched 35 investigations into racially aggravated crimes over the past five years, the Guardian has revealed, prompting warnings that many service personnel from BAME backgrounds are “suffering in silence”.

It’s also known that disproportionate numbers of BAME service personnel use the service complaints procedure (when compared with their numbers in the forces overall), and that a very large proportion of those complaints concern allegations of bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Many don’t report problems out of fear that it may harm their career, according to the human rights group, Liberty. Nevertheless, the issue of racism in the armed forces was brought into sharp focus earlier this month when an employment judge ruled that two former paratroopers were subjected to racial harassment while in the army and had endured “degrading, humiliating and offensive environment”.

The Ministry of Defence, which admits that the number of investigations over recent years are “ relatively low,” insists that the armed forces do not tolerate racist behaviour in any form.

But the issue comes at a particularly sensitive time for the armed forces, which faces an army recruitment crisis, and has been running high profile campaigns aimed at recruiting more people from a diversity of genders, sexualities, ethnicities and faiths.

Is enough being done by the armed forces to ensure that serving personnel don’t experience racism, and if they do, that they don’t feel isolated?

Share your experiences

We want to hear from BAME people who are serving - or have served in recent years - in the armed forces.

Whether you’re a soldier, sailor, marine, member of the RAF or someone who has engaged in the recruitment process, what have your experiences been? Have you encountered racism or discriminatory behaviour? What have your experiences of the culture in the armed forces been like? How do you feel about efforts being made by the armed forces to combat racism and help those suffering as a result? Do you feel that the service complaints procedure is fit for purpose in its present form?

You can share your stories in the encrypted form below, only the Guardian will see your responses. We will include some of your submissions in our reporting.

If you’re having trouble using the form, click here. Read terms of service here.