Secret broadcast of female army cadet during sex sparks decade of calls for change in ‘male-dominated’ ADF
![While the incident occured back in 2011, the commission heard that abusive and inappropriate treatment of women in the ADF remained rife. Warren Lynam / Sunshine Coast Daily](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-4803709/d39aba0a6194d9ca8533cbde0fb4cf813a4768d7-16x9-x0y15w2000h1125.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
A young female Australian Defence Force cadet was secretly filmed while having sex as her male colleagues watched-on from another room, the royal commission into Defence and veteran suicides has heard.
Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick told the commission that the intimate encounter was broadcast on Skype from the ADF training Academy in Canberra.
Ms Broderick said that while the female cadet had consented to having sex with the male cadet, she had not been informed she was being filmed.
“What the female cadet didn't know – so without her consent – was that the consensual act was being broadcast via Skype, to a group of men in a nearby room," she told the Commission.
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READ NOWWhile the incident in question occurred back in 2011, the commission heard on Friday that abusive and inappropriate treatment of women in the ADF continued to remain rife.
![21 Dec 2001 Silhouette of young woman seated in doorway, date rape victim in Adelaide. Sexual Assault crime sa sex generic](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-4803709/ece40858473b0102b3eb16e4e2672c2d97a7fa16.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
Alexandra Shehadie, who lead the Australian Human Rights Commission’s review into the treatment of women in the ADF in 2012, said she had received “thousands” of testimonies from women who experienced sexual misconduct, exclusion, bullying, and harassment while serving their country.
“What women in the ADF told us who had been harassed or sexually assaulted, was that they experienced anxiety, depression, a sense of fear, a loss of self esteem and confidence, relationship dysfunction, or breakdown,” Ms Shehadie said.
“We did actually hear from some that they‘ve experienced suicidal ideation, or were actually suicidal.”
![Alexandra Shehadie said she had received ‘thousands’ of testimonies from women who experienced sexual misconduct, exclusion, bullying, and harassment in the ADF.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-4803709/04907086546845f85f193a46e3c26b17b924ed63.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
Ms Shehadie said women in the ADF were often too afraid to speak up about these incidents, noting it was often the victims, not the perpetrators, of abuse and mistreatment in the ADF who were punished.
“These experiences had a silencing effect, because reporting was just not an option,” she said.
“(The women) believed that it would adversely impact their career, lead to ostracism or victimisation by their peers and by their leaders.
“They often left the ADF, were moved from their base, or took time off for an extended period of time.”
Ms Broderick said that while there had been progress in improving the presence and treatment of women in the ADF since the incident in 2011, the industry still has long way to go.
“(The ADF) is very much still a male dominated environment,” she said.
“Most organisations like militaries and national institutions are male dominated because they were invented by men, for men, and even today are still largely run by men.”
![Raaf base bushfires](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-4803709/b15ad2c0a1a9e571a825901d2166fa1c6ce3e81f.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
Ms Broderick said the ADF needed to continue to work towards a fundamental structure and culture shift to make the defence force a safe and dignified place for women to live and work.
“Those (military) organisations are recognising that women now make up half the talent base of our nation,” she said.
“But women are being brought into organisations which were not necessarily structured with them in mind.
“Without the active and intentional inclusion of women, the system will unintentionally exclude them.”
Originally published as Secret broadcast of female army cadet during sex sparks decade of calls for change in ‘male-dominated’ ADF
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