Complacency Kills: The Men The Military Ignore

In the theatre of war, silence is not merely an absence of noise, it can be a weapon. It can be complicit. And it can be fatal. In the United Kingdom's armed forces, a grave silence still persists around a truth many refuse to face: male service members are also victims of in-service sexual assault, bullying, harassment, and discrimination. This is not a fringe issue. This is a crisis and complacency is killing people. We have, for too long, swallowed the lie that male soldiers are unbreakable. That their uniforms grant them immunity from trauma. That their masculinity shields them from victimhood. It’s a myth so embedded in military culture that even the system designed to protect its personnel recoils from the truth. Despite numerous reports, testimonies, and independent investigations, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) still refuses to adopt the term Military Sexual Trauma (MST), a well-established, globally recognised term that encapsulates the unique, service-related nature of sexual violence within military contexts. The refusal isn’t just bureaucratic stubbornness…it’s indefensible. MST isn't merely a label. It’s a framework. It validates the experience of victims, informs tailored support systems, and facilitates research and accountability. By rejecting it, the MoD isn't just avoiding a phrase. It’s avoiding responsibility. One of the most jarring, uncomfortable realities and one often overlooked even in conversations about MST is this: most male-on-male sexual assaults in the military are perpetrated by heterosexual men against other heterosexual men. This is not about sexual orientation. It’s about dominance, power, control, humiliation often wrapped in a toxic cocktail of hypermasculinity, initiation ceremonies and institutionalised silence. These acts are not anomalies. They are manifestations of a deeper cultural illness. Perpetrators may use rape or sexual violence as tools to reinforce hierarchy, punish, or "correct" perceived weakness. And when the victims are male, the shame is compounded by a society that tells them they can’t be vulnerable, that real men fight back, not report. The armed forces may have policies on harassment and assault, but when culture undermines those policies, they become performative gestures. When male victims fear reporting because they might be seen as weak, unmanly, or worse complicit, then the system is broken. When chain of command structures discourage open disclosure, or when complaints mysteriously disappear, we’re not dealing with isolated failures. We’re looking at an environment where silence is rewarded, and truth is treated like a traitor. Even worse, the public narrative tends to focus almost exclusively on female victims, who absolutely deserve attention, support, and justice, but male victims remain ghosts in the machine. Their trauma doesn’t fit the public's expectations and as a result it’s ignored. Make no mistake: this is not only a moral issue it is a strategic one. A force that silences its wounded is a force that bleeds from within. PTSD, depression, suicide, these are not just human tragedies; they degrade readiness, cohesion, and capability. The MoD's refusal to confront this issue honestly endangers the very thing it claims to defend: operational effectiveness. By failing to address MST, including male victimhood, the UK is not only failing its soldiers. It is undermining its own military. Complacency kills, not just on the battlefield, but in the barracks, the mess hall, the chain of command. It kills the spirit of the men and women who signed up to serve, only to be betrayed by the very system they swore to defend.

Tony Wright CEO Forward Assist