The emerging allegations of unnecessary and invasive medical examinations conducted on women entering the UK armed forces highlight systemic failures that directly affect women’s ability to participate safely and equally in the security sector. Hundreds of women now report that, at the very start of their military careers, they faced intimate examinations presented as routine, often without clear explanation, consent, or a chaperone. Many of these recruits were young women at the threshold of military service, eager to succeed and unaware that what they were being subjected to might not have been standard medical procedure.

These claims span decades, from the 1970s to as late as 2016, and are now the subject of a major Wiltshire Police investigation. Although the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) changed its policy in 2018, removing the requirement for internal examinations, this shift suggests an implicit acknowledgment that earlier practices were inappropriate. While the examinations were reportedly conducted by civilian doctors, the MoD set the standards, commissioned the assessments, and accepted their outcomes, meaning it retained full responsibility and a duty of care. Women described being told to strip, examined intimately without chaperones, and reassured that this was “routine,” leaving them little room to question authority.

This situation reflects broader cultural patterns previously raised in the Women in the Armed Forces Defence Select Committee inquiry, where women described environments shaped by power imbalances, lack of information, and silence driven by fear of reprisal. When women encounter harm and mistrust at the entry point to service, it discourages participation and undermines efforts to increase women’s representation in the UK security sector. Addressing these past harms is not only necessary for accountability but is critical to ensuring that women can serve with dignity, safety, and equal opportunity within the armed forces.

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