A “statutory fact-finding process” will be established following a review of allegations of sexual abuse, gender-based violence and rape in the Defence Forces.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that he felt a “degree of disgust” when he read the extent of the abuse contained in the report.
The Independent Review Group report into the stories of the Women of Honour was published on Tuesday.
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The lengthy report said that “neither men nor women in the Defence Forces are working in a safe working environment”.
It stated that there was a “consistent and embedded theme” that saw “some members of the Defence Forces management abuse their positions of power and command in their treatment of subordinates”.
It warned that ways in which gender roles are written about within the Defence Forces “reveal attitudes and norms that would be associated with earlier time periods”.
It reads: “Patriarchy, access to women’s bodies, viewing women as sexual objects, and the belief that seniority brings ‘privileges and protection’ are attitudes that are supported by the notions about gender from the last century, or even the one before that. They have no place in a modern Irish workplace.
“The reality of modern Irish workplaces and attitudes among younger people around gender roles, family and work appear to be unfamiliar to many in the Defence Forces, with the absence of concepts like consent, respect and the like.
“This impacts on men as well as women in the Defence Forces.”
Some examples of “tubbing”, “beasting” or “mobbing” were described to those conducting the report. Tubbing is described as “the placing of an individual in a barrel, which may contain any combination of chemicals, oil, airplane fuel, deceased animal carcasses, or other substances, for the purposes of hazing or punishment”.
The report contained several examples of testimonies.
“Constantly threatened to ruin your career if you didn’t do certain things,” one respondent said.
Another said: “Daily there is some comment about my sex. Or accusations on how I have achieved positively in my career. It must of course be because I have breasts or performed some form of sexual acts”.
“A senior officer made unwanted sexual advances, I rejected her and retaliated by treating me differently than she had previously,” another said.
Of the 527 people spoken to, one third of respondents experiences harassment while serving in the Defence Forces. Female members were more likely to report experiencing harassment, 76% compared to 27% of males.
One quarter (25%) of respondents reported experiencing sexual harassment in the Defence Forces. Some 88% of females reported experiencing one or more forms of sexual harassment.
While over half of the instances of harassment occurred over five years ago, 7% reported that it was still ongoing.
Some 80% of the harassment was perpetrated by one or more members of a higher rank to the victim and the majority of perpetrators were male.
Some three quarters of instances were not reported. Over half of the respondents (55%) stated that they considered or took steps to leave the Defence Forces due to bullying.
Overall, 0% contacted the Gardaí about the incidents.
Mr Martin said at the publication of the report that he was not aware of the “specifics of what was going on” when asked what political ramifications there would be for former Ministers of Defence who did not intervene.
He added: “I think Women of Honour having come forward over a year ago, was the significant catalyst in terms of the experience of rape, the experience of misogyny, the experience of sexual assault.
“We’ve had far more [members] coming forward than we would have ever had before.”
Minister Martin said that he read the report with a “degree of disgust” and said that members of the review group told him that “they had never experienced anything like this before [with] the personal testimonies that were presented to them”.
The Tánaiste said that instances of sexual assault must be reported to the gardaí.
Other recommendations in the report include an external oversight body for the Defence Forces and a reform to the process of making a complaint.
There are also recommendations for addressing cultural issues related to gender, including a sanctions system for misogynistic attitudes and behaviours.
A non-statutory into deaths by suicide over the last 20 years will also be set up.
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