A quarter of all women in the Defence Forces were bullied or harassed in the last year, a higher rate than any other profession, a survey claimed.
The survey, commissioned by the Department of Defence, also found that 10 per cent of female soldiers questioned complained about sexist abuse.
Despite these negative findings, however, the research found women in the Defence Forces are generally happy and find serving their country a good experience.
Women make up 5.2 per cent of the total strength of the Defence Forces. The number of women serving in the Permanent Defence Force has grown from 244 at the end of 1997 to 557 at the end of 2006.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea insisted that, on balance, the results are positive. "The report reveals that women serving in the Defence Forces have a positive attitude to their job and believe that they have a rewarding career in the Defence Forces."
Even though around three quarters of personnel are happy with their job, the study found 11 per cent of female personnel surveyed spontaneously noted sexism or harassment on duty.
And 27 per cent, when prompted, agreed they had been bullied or harassed at work in the past year.
"These findings are disappointing, but my purpose in commissioning this research was to quantify and identify obstacles to progress," Mr O'Dea said.
"The research has done what I wanted it to do. It does not sugar-coat the situation and parts of it make difficult reading. We all recognise that military life is robust, but bullying is not training for anything.
The survey found problems with family-friendly policies in the Defence Forces with 65 per cent of serving women saying that raising a family is difficult, particularly where both partners are working.
Mr O'Dea accepted this was unsurprising and it reflected developments in society in general.
PA