THE WOMEN OF HONOUR group has called for a wide-ranging tribunal of inquiry into abuse within the Defence Forces.
The group, which is made up of women who have spoken out about experiences of being abused or mistreated within the Defence Forces, has published a proposed terms of reference that would allow for a far-reaching inquiry.
It follows the publication of a review earlier this year into allegations of abuse within the Defence Forces, which the WoH raised concerns with.
The Independent Review Group (IRG)’s report on abuse allegations found that cases of bullying, harassment, discrimination and sexual harassment continue to persist within the Defence Forces.
Following the review, Tánaiste and Minister of Defence Micheál Martin circulated a draft terms of reference for a statutory inquiry to representative groups last month, including the WoH, inviting suggestions ahead of a final version.
The WoH are due to meet the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in Government Buildings tomorrow evening to discuss their own proposed terms of reference.
In a statement this morning, the group said: “We will be proposing to them our terms of reference for a tribunal of inquiry carried out in public, answerable to the public and a report that will be made available to the public. It will be more transparent which will work towards building confidence and trust. It can still allow for anonymity for those who want it but it will finally put an end to the secrecy and concealment.”
The WoH said that a tribunal “can be costly and may take longer but this is a matter of real public importance and so the public needs to know exactly what is going on and have confidence that it will be done right”.
“The importance of the terms of reference cannot be emphasised enough. They explain the areas that can be investigated. Anything not included will not be investigated,” the statement said.
The WoH described the terms of reference drawn up so far by the Government as “very narrow” and said it would “only look at a very small part of the problems we have all experienced”.
“They exclude a huge number of issues and large groups of people. We think the Department of Defence have overly influenced the proposed terms of reference by the Government. The Department of Defence needs to be investigated by a tribunal of inquiry and have no place deciding on the terms of reference.
“Because of the flaws and deliberate exclusion of issues in the Government’s terms of reference, we have produced our own terms of reference based on the details of specific experiences made known to us. We have tried to make sure that as many people as possible can have their say and have their issues dealt with.
In simple terms the terms of reference need to look at all the football pitch. If, as proposed by the Government, in any match we only look at what happens inside the centre circle it would be a pointless exercise. Everything on the pitch needs to be looked at.
“The Defence Forces needs to be overhauled. But this needs to happen in an informed and structured way. Not with knee-jerk reactions to ‘the current climate’ as it is now often referred to. That is why a tribunal of Inquiry with an inclusive term of reference is needed. It will provide the information about the problems that exist and inform how best to fix them.”
The WoH’s terms of reference set out a non-exhaustive list of the types of behaviour that can be classified as abuse, including emotional abuse, discrimination, sexual harassment or assault, and intimidation.
The group identifies 15 grounds that the inquiry should investigate.
These include the extent of abuse within the Defence Forces and the knowledge of the Department/Minister for Defence of any such abuse; whether the complaints processes in the Defence Forces in relation to abuse were followed and appropriate in each instance of complaint; and whether Senior Officers/Members of the Defence Forces attempted to utilise seniority to avoid consequences of their actions or to minimise the prospects of persons who had made allegations.
The inquiry should also investigate retaliation against persons making an abuse allegation; whether the Defence Forces’ complaints processes are fit for purpose; and the interactions between members of the Defence Forces and gardaí, the Department/Minister of Defence, and the Defence Force Ombudsman relating to abuse complaints.
The investigation should provide people who have suffered abuse in the Defence Forces the opportunity to recount the abuse, the WoH outlined.
At its conclusion, the tribunal should publish a report with any recommendations it considered appropriate to address the effects of abuse that has been experienced, to reduce future instances of abuse, and to advise on whether there should be counselling, support and recompense provided.
The terms of reference should outline that the Tribunal will provide anonymity to any complainant or respondent where it is sought and any witnesses serving in the Defence Forces should not be adversely affected by participating, the group said.
It called for the tribunal to investigate instances of abuse from 1 May 1973 to the present day and examine events that occurred within Ireland, while serving overseas, or on board Defence Forces vessels.
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