An ex-army dog handler is suing the MoD for £200,000 over claims she was sexually harassed and bullied (Picture: Facebook)
A former dog handler who says her army career was ruined by two years of sexual harassment and bullying is suing the Ministry of Defence for £200,000.
Stefanie Leyshon had been in the armed forces for eight years when the abuse began in June 2018.
It lasted until May 2020, the 35-year-old from Rutland, East Midlands, claimed.
She says the abuse she was subjected to created an ‘intimidating, humiliating and offensive environment’.
Her treatment in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps caused her to suffer psychologically and she was discharged in February this year.
But now she is pursuing the MoD for failing to provide her with a safe place and safe system of work.
The ex-lance corporal is seeking a payment for damages of up to £200,000.
Stefanie Leyshon says the abuse she suffered created an ‘intimidating, humiliating and offensive environment’ (Picture: Facebook)
Average payouts to complainants by the MoD more than doubled from £100,527 to £235,564, reports The Sun.
It comes after 60 senior women at the MoD described its culture as ‘hostile’ and ‘toxic’ in a letter which they claim to have suffered sexual assault, harassment and bullying at the hands of male colleagues.
The letter, which was revealed by The Guardian last month, claimed that women had been ‘propositioned, groped and touched repeatedly’ by men.
‘We are spoken over during meetings, we are subject to pejorative language, we receive unwanted attention and face sexual harassment, including intrusive staring, sexualised comments, running commentary about what we wear, how we look, and how we smell,’ the group wrote.
The Ministry of Defence said in November that it was ‘deeply concerned’ about complaints of sexual harassment raised by 60 women in the armed forces (Picture: Getty Images)
In response to the letter, the MoD said it was ‘deeply concerned’ by the complaints and that it’s ‘taking action to tackle the issues raised’.
‘No woman should be made to feel unsafe in the Ministry of Defence and this behaviour will not be tolerated,’ a spokesman said.
‘We also continue to encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed this kind of inexcusable behaviour, to report it immediately.’
In October, an army investigation found that 19-year-old gunner Jaysley Beck was subjected to ‘relentless sexual harassment’ before she is believed to have taken her own life at her base.
Earlier this year, a servicewoman said she ‘felt pushed out’ of the armed forces after reporting ‘repeated sexual harassment’ to her chain of command.
Just weeks ago, one of the first ever Rastafarian soldiers in the British Army also spoke out about the racist abuse he suffered and how it forced him to quit.
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She says it ruined her army career.
