An inquiry into the death of a 19-year-old soldier in the British army found that relentless sexual harassment by her line manager was “almost certain” to have been a causal factor in her death.
Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck took her own life after receiving more than 4,500 messages and voicemails from her boss over two months. Beck felt unable to report the harassment, as a previous alleged sexual assault she experienced by a different senior colleague had not been handled effectively. She did not want to be labelled a “serial troublemaker”.
Our new peer-reviewed study co-authored with Emma Norton, a founder of the Centre for Military Justice, suggests that Beck’s fears of reprisal were well founded.
