Defence Minister Boris Pistorius of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) told the Bundestag on Wednesday that the analysis of sexual misconduct in the Bundeswehr would uncover uncomfortable truths. Earlier that day he had presented the findings of the Bundeswehr's first study into unreported cases to the Defence Committee, and the results show such misconduct is far more widespread than previously known. Pistorius said only between one third and one sixth of cases are reported and announced an action plan to address the issue, stating there is zero tolerance for sexual misconduct in the armed forces.

The study, carried out by the Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences (ZMSBw), examined the so-called dark figure of incidents that never reach official statistics. The institute surveyed 45,000 service members, around 18% of whom responded, and evaluated more than 8,100 questionnaires supplemented by individual and group interviews. According to the institute the data are scientifically representative. Younger women in the lower ranks are particularly affected, non-heterosexual soldiers are disproportionately affected among men, and perpetrators are predominantly male. Combat units do not differ statistically from the rest of the armed forces, while women in units with more than 15% women are less likely to be affected.S1S2

Verbal harassment is by far the most common form of misconduct. Some 72% of female soldiers and 31% of male soldiers said they had experienced it at least once during their military service, and in the 12 months before the survey 38% of female and 16% of male soldiers reported verbal sexual harassment. Nine per cent of female and 3% of male soldiers reported physical sexual misconduct, and 2% of both women and men said they had experienced sexual violence. The most commonly cited reason for not reporting was a desire not to draw attention to themselves, which Pistorius linked to a lack of awareness of reporting channels and, above all, a lack of trust in them.S1S2

In response the Bundeswehr plans to improve awareness of how and where cases can be reported. The Greens, in opposition in the Bundestag, have criticised this approach, and defence policy spokesperson Sara Nanni is calling for an external reporting office alongside the regular disciplinary process, with investigative powers.S1S2