Four young women have alleged they were sexually assaulted and intimidated at the British army's main training facility for under-18 recruits, describing a dangerous culture of misogyny and sexual violence at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate. One woman said she was raped for hours by multiple fellow junior soldiers when she was 17.
North Yorkshire Police received 16 reports of sexual offences linked to the college in the year to June 2025. In total, 176 complaints of inappropriate sexual behaviour were recorded between January 2018 and June 2025 — 32 against staff and 144 against junior recruits. A 2025 Ministry of Defence survey found 67 percent of female soldiers had experienced at least one form of sexual misconduct in the preceding 12 months.
The Ministry of Defence called the alleged behaviour unacceptable, and the British army termed the accounts "extremely disturbing." Labour MP Emma Lewell, a member of the Defence Committee, called for an independent inquiry into the college, which currently has 70 female junior soldiers among 889 trainees.