How was rape/sexual assault between soldiers and sailors handled by the British Empire? (16th - 19th centuries)

by BatCountryTourist

Was reading about Roman military discipline in regards to homosexuality and sex crimes, with the case of Trebonius given as an example. Trebonius was an attractive low-ranking soldier whose superior kept harassing him and trying to coerce him into sex. He used lethal force to defend himself when the officer tried to rape him, and was subsequently acquitted for killing the man and commended for bravery. Made me curious as to how a much later empire -- the British -- dealt with rape and sexual assault in uniform, given all the jokes about buggery in the navy and the like.

  • How did the British Empire's military legal system handle cases of coerced sex crimes within the ranks?

  • Did the British Empire have separate military and civilian courts?

  • What would the penalties have been for the aggressor? Would the survivor legally have any culpability?

  • How did penalties differ between enlisted, noble and non-noble officers, etc?

  • Were their differences in procedure and punishment if the crime were committed in the field versus while garrisoned someplace?

  • How were the survivors handled? In cases where tribunals were held, would the identity of the survivor be made public?

neon_dt

This answer only concerns the British Navy, I'm afraid I don't know anything about the army at all.

When it came to the crime of buggery, the Navy didn't distinguish between consensual and coerced acts. They were both illegal and punished harshly. The navy had disciplinary trials separate from the civilian legal system. Cases of buggery in the navy were handled by a court martial board. These courts were convened when circumstance required them to be, and were not permanent standing courts as many civil and criminal courts are and were. They were presided over by one or more judges.

The prescribed penalty for sodomy was death. This was codified formally in the Articles of War, but was also the case prior to its explicit inclusion. That said, the death penalty was not universally applied. The court martial board could, after sentencing, write to the Admiralty Board and recommend mercy for the convicted man, which could result in a royal pardon or alternative sentence. The King almost always accepted these recommendations. This however almost never happened in the case of buggery. Mercy recommendation were very rarely written and the King did not accept the few that were. Between 1759 and 1806, there were 33 cases of sodomy brought before the court martial board. Of these, 10 resulted in acquittal, 19 in a death sentence, and 4 resulted in convictions but for various reasons did not result in a capital sentence. Only 1 of the 19 cases of a capital sentence resulted in a royal pardon. Statistically, it was the second worst crime to be convicted of, with an execution rate behind only desertion to the enemy – convictions of striking an officer, mutiny, and even murder had lower capital sentencing rates. Men accused of buggery who escaped the death sentence usually had extremely harsh punishments regardless. In 1761, two men (who presumably consented) were sentenced to one thousand lashes each. By comparison, the average lash sentence for desertion was 300 lashes. The punishment for sodomy, consensual or otherwise, was extreme.

A victim of rape could very well get the same sentence as the rapist if the crime were discovered by a third party. This put pressure on the victim to turn his rapist in to the authorities as soon as possible, or else it might be assumed that he consented. However, this wasn't always easy. In one documented case that occurred in 1762, a boy who was raped by a ship's boatswain at first kept silent because he was afraid the boatswain would harm him further if he confessed and was not believed. Word got out anyway, and the boy confessed. At the trial, the court martial board believed his version of events and he was not punished, while the boatswain was dishonourably discharged.

Usually military courts were much more lenient towards officers than towards other crewmen. Between 1756 and 1806, 21 officers were tried for murder, of which 18 were acquitted and only 1 was actually hanged. Although officers were significantly less likely to be accused of buggery, if they were actually brought to trial the results are very close to the average rates for ordinary crewmen. Captains were the least likely to be accused, but of the four that were between 1756 and 1816, two were found guilty. Of those, one was hanged and the other discharged.

As for your other two questions. To my knowledge, there was no difference in proceeding that depended on the location of the alleged crime. If the crime was discovered on board a ship at sea, the accused would be imprisoned on board until the next time they made port in a place where the matter could be dealt with officially. Identities of the victims of non-consensual sodomy were not public, since military courts were not themselves public. Although that's not to say that victims would never face social consequences from people who were more closely tied to the people involved.

Source: Arthur N. Gilbert, Buggery and the British Navy, 1700-1861

You can also read about the history of the British Navy more generally in N.A.M. Rodger, The Command of the Ocean (oddly enough, Rodger would have been my naval history lecturer had I enrolled a few years earlier than I did).