Germany vows action after report finds widespread sexual misconduct in military

Germany's defence minister Boris Pistorius on Wednesday pledged fresh measures to tackle sexual abuse in the country's armed forces, following a report that highlighted widespread misconduct in the Bundeswehr, the German military."We are currently seeing a rise in the number of reported cases.

This is unacceptable," he told reporters in Berlin.Pistorius' remarks came in the wake of a report by the Bundeswehr's own Centre of Military History and Social Sciences, which found that 40% of female soldiers had experienced at least one instance of sexual misconduct in the preceding 12 months.The misconduct ranged from verbal harassment and visual abuse, including unwanted exposure to pornography, to unwelcome touching and, in 2% of cases, sexual violence.Around 19% of male soldiers also reported experiencing similar misconduct, with non-heterosexual personnel disproportionately affected.Based on survey responses from 45,000 serving military personnel, the report indicated that the actual scale of abuse was likely to be significantly higher than reflected in official complaints.Pistorius…