Our specialist Military Claims team have long campaigned for improvements for women in the military and female veterans, including changes to the Service Justice System, the removal of the Chain of Command from complaints of a sexual nature and combatting bullying, harassment and discrimination in the services. We have represented numerous women or their families in claims relating to these areas. Change is absolutely critical to protect servicewomen.
BBK’s Head of Military Claims, Ahmed Al-Nahhas, previously appeared before the Defence Committee to give evidence to the Women in the Armed Forces inquiry in March 2021. We also provided evidence to the 2023 inquiry, the focus of which was exploring how much progress had been made since the first parliamentary inquiry on this issue.
As part of our work, we were strong supporters of the Women in Defence All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), and sponsored their parliamentary reception which was attended by Ben Wallace MP, Johnny Mercer and numerous others. APPGs are cross-party groups formed by MPs and Members of the House of Lords who share a common interest in a particular policy area, region or country.
Sarah Atherton, Chair of the APPG and author of the Defence Committee report into the military experience of servicewomen and female veterans, titled: ‘Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Force from Recruitment to Civilian Life’ lost her parliamentary seat in 2024.
Unfortunately, since then, we have not seen any MP take over the vital work Sarah was doing in this area, and the Women in Defence APPG has been discontinued and not resumed in this parliamentary session.
How can you help?
We, along with many others, want to ensure that the valuable work the APPG was doing, continues. We are asking that all interested parties both within and outside the wider Armed Forces community to reach out to their own MPs. We believe that our individual voices can combine to effect positive change.
If you would like to lend your voice to this important campaign, you can find your MP by entering your postcode at the website linked here. That should also show your MP’s contact details. We have provided wording below that you can send to your MP via email.
Make sure you include your name and full address in your email so that your MP knows you are one of their constituents (otherwise they will not engage with your request).
Email Template
I am writing as [*A FEMALE VETERAN, WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES, A FAMILY MEMBER OF A WOMAN IN THE ARMED FORCES, A WORRIED CONSTITUENT) to raise my concerns over parliamentary support for Women in Defence.
In 2023, Sarah Atherton launched the Women in Defence APPG. This was following the Defence Committee Report – Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life.
Sarah Atherton was doing great work to highlight and address the challenges faced by Women in Defence. However, as she was not re-elected in 2024, I am concerned that this work has now been abandoned by Parliament. I am incredibly disappointed that the APPG has not been registered again in this parliamentary session and that there appears to be no plan to continue its work.
I am therefore asking you as my local MP to:
- Urgently work towards setting up a new Women in Defence APPG
- Meet with me so I can help you to understand why this is such an important issue [*DELETE IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO MEET WITH YOUR MP]
- Write to the Secretary of State for Defence to ask what he is doing for Women in the Armed Forces
I know that the re-established Defence Sub-Committee has committed to completing the inquiry started under Sarah Atherton and I look forward to reviewing the committee’s findings once published.
I look forward to hearing from you.
[Enter Your Name and Address]
*delete as appropriate
