Sexual Assault, Abuse in the Military: Too Big to Be a Secret Any Longer

Conservative Feminist

Sexual assaults and abuse in the military: it’s an dark secret that no one wants to talk about. Red State Gal has two questions: why is this happening, and what is being done about it? The answers will dismay anyone who either cares about the U.S. military or who has loved one serving. It’s sad and it’s in this week’s Conservative Feminist.

Red State Feminists

FAITH * FAMILY * WOMANPOWER

From the Red State Feminist Blog:
Red State Feminist Blog:
The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault

Red State Feminists are deeply saddened by the statistics concerning sexual assault in the military. In 2010, more than 3,150 sexual assaults were reported within the US military, and best estimates are that only about 14% of such assaults are ever reported. And this is not a problem that affects only women: of the 68,000 veterans being treated for the aftereffects of military sexual assault, 40% are men. Nevertheless, 1 out of 3 female veterans being treated by the VA has experienced military sexual assault.

This is unconscionable. Two questions immediately arise: why is this happening, and what is being done about it?

As to the first, researchers tell us that when groups of men bond within a context that is highly gendered male, such as the military, women will often be seen as either intruders to be attacked or as sexual resources to be exploited. That they could be seen as professional colleagues does not seem to appear in the playbook. When women are seen as intruders, the assault is usually a gang assault, and the purpose is to get the victim out of the unit. When women are seen as sexual resources, the men in the unit simply assume that the women is in the unit in order to service their sexual needs. The men may not view their actions as assault, but merely as taking something that is theirs to use.

Of couse, in discussing both of these mentalities, the fact that US culture is saturated in porn, and that 50-75% of men in the US access porn on a weekly basis. The average weekly use is two hours. Porn teaches men that sex is about power and appetite; it is not about having a relationship with a real person that you regard as a human being. Porn hurts men and women both, but that’s a subject for another day.

Back to military sexual assault: so what is the military doing for victims of sexual assault? Apparently, not a whole heck of a lot. In fact, there are credible allegations that the military would rather victims just go away, and that the military often harasses victims, letting perpetrators walk with impunity. Recently, the Service Women’s Action Network, or SWAN reported the following:

In recent weeks, SWAN has been hearing from increasing numbers of active duty women and men whose careers have ended after reporting their rapes and assaults. In these cases, servicemembers have been sexually assaulted, and then almost immediately after reporting their attacks, have been diagnosed by military medical providers with a “Personality Disorder.” Why should we care? Personality Disorders make one ineligible for military service as well as veterans’ benefits. Rape and assault survivors who are diagnosed with this condition are then routinely discharged from service. Their careers end practically overnight. What I want to emphasize here is that Personality Disorders are pre-existing conditions that do not appear out of the blue. As we have seen with combat veterans, sexual assault survivors are often times misdiagnosed with Personality Disorder, instead of being properly diagnosed with PTSD or another medical condition that accurately reflects their symptoms. Let’s be clear. In the cases we are talking about, at both Military Academies and throughout the military itself, these are not diagnoses that correlate with the facts of a servicemember’s military or medical record. In fact, all evidence suggests in these cases that the diagnosis of a Personality Disorder is meted out to a military sexual assault survivor as retaliation. It appears to be a way for the military to get rid of troops who are simply reporting a violent crime committed by a fellow servicemember.

Women victims talk about how the military punishes them, and not the perpetrators of the crime. The reason only about 14% of these crimes are even reported is that the victims know there will not be justice–they know that they will be seen as the problem. Victims haven’t even had the right to transfer out of the units in which they were assaulted–leaving them prey for further retaliation by the perpetrators.

In summary, the military’s handling of sexual assault within its ranks has been nothing short of disgraceful.

It looks like Congress will try to step in and force the Pentagon to do better. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Niki Tsongas, D-Mass.are sponsoring legislation called the STRONG Act, which would give all victims access to legal services, a chance to transfer jobs away from their attacker, and a promise that their private counseling sessions won’t be used against them in court. Also, Rep. Bruce Braley, R-Iowa, has introduced separate legislation to strengthen the punishment for military sex crimes. Want to learn more? Here’s an excellent interview with the director of SWAN.

For example, in this interview we learn that,

when deciding case disposition, the instructions given to commanders is to first “consider the overall value to the service of the perpetrator” instead of looking at the facts of the case or listening to what the victim has to say. These policies are why such a huge number of perpetrators are not brought to trial and why close to 90 percent of victims do not report their assaults in the first place.

Amazing. Clearly, the newly proposed legislation is long overdue. But what does it say about the Department of Defense that Congress has to force upon it the right thing to do?

by Red State Gal
images: DBKP file; SGN
source: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault

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