Alleged male sexual assault at Prince Harry’s airbase
Prince Harry’s new book Spare is available now. (Getty)
Military police are investigating an alleged sexual assault on a soldier at the Wattisham air station near Stowmarket, Suffolk. The Sun on Sunday placed the story on its front page.
The soldier said he was sexually assaulted by three servicemen at the army helicopter base, which serves as the home to Army Air Corps Apache helicopters deployed in Afghanistan. Prince Harry, who qualified as an Apache helicopter pilot, is stationed at the base.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said an inquiry is now in progress, and that action would be taken against those who fell short of the army’s high standards.
“As there is an on-going investigation into this allegation it would be inappropriate to comment further,” he added, the BBC reports. The Minister of Defence could not confirm whether Prince Harry was present at the base during the time of the alleged attack.
Male on male sexual assault is rarely reported to the authorities. According to Survivors UK, just 11% of the estimated 85,000 male sexual assaults that happen each year in London alone are investigated by the police. A high profile advertising campaign was launched in February with the headline ‘Real Men Get Raped’ to raise awareness of male sexual assaults in the capital.
