the British army has admitted that a black soldier who fronted several recruitment campaigns had to work in an unacceptable environment where she experienced SE sexist and racist harassment as well as apologizing the Army has paid the soldier substantial Financial sum krie an Knight who left the Army this year has been talking for the first time to our defense correspondent Jonathan Beal yeah this is just that's a section I was in yeah can you spot me I can spot you yeah ker Anne knight always knew she'd stand out in an army struggling to recruit both women
and ethnic minorities were you the only black person in yeah I was the only um a black female but she joined full of Hope assuming racism had long been Stamped Out for some reason I thought um someone in uniform was going to be professional and I was very excited um to be a part that and just creating my own family um within the Army keram became a face for Army Recruitment she knew why the Army wanted to appeal to the groups she represented but she also became a target for abuse that was extremely shocked because
I really didn't experience such um deep levels of racism yeah I had to learn the hard way in the Army it got worse when she became an instructor at Harriet it's where the army trains Junior soldiers from the age of 16 it's controversial not least because in the past there have been allegations of bullying carianne says she witnessed it but she too suffered at the hands of her fellow white male instructors that pile everything daily on my desk so just to show me that I'm not welcomed and I remember one day they took a photo
of me just standing at that desk looking slightly broken just having to sort out that rubbish before I can use my desk they'd have jungle Unchained playing they would repeat the most say racist lines and then they chuckle they spoke outright in the office about um lynching me simply because i' I'd put in a complaint and it was suggested for me to be tar and feathered rather than root out the racism she says the Army closed ranks to protect the organization when they tried to paint out as if I was a aggressive black woman that
was extremely tough if it wasn't for those individuals who supported me whether secretly or publicly yeah I would have I would have been broken earlier this year she took a case to an employment tribunal the Army contested it but as the evidence Meed it issued an apology it accepted Mrs Knight had to work in an environment where she experienced racist and sexist harassment it admitted the Army failed her in a separate statement the mod said it had settled the claim with no admission of liability I would never encourage a any a woman especially off Cola
um to join the Army because it's not going to benefit your life in the long run ker Anne's image was used to promote a positive image of the army that it's inclusive and welcome to all but her harrowing experience tells a very different story Jonathan Beal BBC News
