Training and recruiting of child soldiers Research in the
United Kingdom has found that the enlistment and training of
adolescent children, even when they are not sent to war, is often accompanied by a higher risk of
suicide,
stress-related mental disorders,
alcohol abuse, and violent behavior. In view of developing
children's rights standards and evidence showing a detrimental impact of military training and employment on younger recruits, several bodies, including the
Children's Commissioners for each of the four nations of the UK and the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child, have also called on the armed forces to raise the
minimum age of enlistment to 18. In response to these concerns, the
Ministry of Defence (MOD) has defended the current policy, stating in 2016: 'The army needs to attract school and college leavers at the earliest opportunity.' In the same year, the
Chief of the General Staff, General
Sir Nick Carter, added: '[T]he fact that our junior entry is always 100% manned is indicative of people finding that it is something that is really positive to do.'
Ofsted grade In 2018 and 2021, the education inspectorate
Ofsted awarded the college an 'outstanding' grade for its duty of care. The 2021 report noted: 'Recruits speak consistently of fair and respectful treatment from all staff...'
Rape and sexual abuse of recruits In 2021, nine investigations were opened into sexual offences against 22 girls at AFC; in one investigation, three of the suspected perpetrators were members of staff. The revelations were the subject of a
Vice News report in July 2022. In 2023, another instructor was convicted of eight counts of disgraceful conduct of a cruel or indecent kind and one count of sexual assault, which took place over nine months between 2020 and 2021. Also in 2023,
North Yorkshire Police revealed that 13 complaints of sexual assault AFC, including nine of
rape, had been referred to them between July 2022 and August 2023.
Abuse and assaults against recruits Between 2014 and 2022, recruits made 72 formal complaints of allegations of assault or other ill-treatment by staff at the college. 13 of the allegations were proven following investigation, of which seven occurred since 2017. In 2021, an instructor was convicted for abusing recruits.
2014-2018 Recruit abuse investigation In 2017, the MOD confirmed reports that 17
instructors at AFC would be standing trial at
court martial for 40 counts of alleged
physical abuse of recruits during battle camp at
Kirkudbright, Scotland, in 2014.
ForcesTV, and the
Guardian reported that the allegations included assault, holding trainees' heads under water, and forcing animal dung into their mouths. The case was reported as the British Army's largest ever investigation of abuse. At a preliminary hearing in September 2017, the accused pleaded not guilty to all charges. An internal review confirmed multiple failings by the Royal Military Police. It noted that, in addition to recruits who had lodged formal complaints, 'a considerable number of JS [junior soldier recruits] who had been the subject of ill treatment / assaults' had not wished to do so.
Racist abuse against Black people In 2024
Kerry-Ann Knight, a
Black British woman and soldier with the rank of
Corporal, won a settlement from the Ministry of Defence for racist and sexist abuse she suffered while in the British Army, much of which took place at the Army Foundation College. Knight served in the British Army for 12 years and was once considered the "face of British army recruitment" because she appeared prominently in military recruitment advertisements across the UK. In 2021 when she was the only Black British woman working in the college, fellow staff would shout "watermelon" when she approached, stack her desk with filthy crockery and boxes, loudly played
Django Unchained, and post photographs of
Adolf Hitler in the instructor's professional WhatsApp channel. Knight began to secretly record evidence of the abuse and captured audio of fellow staff members threatening to
lynch her. ==See also==