Rape In The Military

[MrsSpringsteen]

This is so sad and infuriating

More than 59,000 female troops have been deployed overseas to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have flown combat missions, served on ships and, in 12 cases, died in Iraq - stark evidence of the equality women have attained as soldiers.

Yet, when several reported sexual assaults in the combat zone during the past year, equal treatment vanished. They say their complaints were ignored or spurred mistreatment by male superiors.

Thirty-seven women who have served in Iraq and Kuwait in recent months have reported to a civilian group that they were sexually assaulted by fellow troops or superiors during their assignments overseas.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-02-05-our-view-usat_x.htm

That is an op/ed piece, but I think the "statistics" speak for themselves. Here is the link for the opposing op/ed

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-02-05-oppose-usat_x.htm

Interesting, I just saw this on the CNN Site, breaking news

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld orders review of alleged sexual assaults on female soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait by other soldiers

He is just finding out about this now?

 

[Vorsprung]

You send women into a testosterone mecca. Combine this with a high stress environment and very limited possibilities to get rid of these testorone overdoses and you'll always get men that can't control themselves....

 

[Dreadsox]

This should be in FYM not war.....

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Well, I put it here because it's referring to incidents in Iraq. I would think someone would have moved it by now if they felt it was in the wrong place

Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have posted it. And honestly I'm shocked that someone refers to rape in terms of testosterone and men not being able to control themselves

 

[Dreadsox]

No you should have posted it...but so many do not come in here...and this is not so much about the war as it is rape.

I am pretty horrified by it.

 

[BAW]

You send women into a testosterone mecca. Combine this with a high stress environment and very limited possibilities to get rid of these testorone overdoses and you'll always get men that can't control themselves....

So being at war is an excuse for rape? If rape were only about testosterone and sexual urges, masturbation would be the solution.

 

[DrTeeth]

Vorsprung wasn't trying to make excuses BAW. An explanation isn't the same as a justification

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Is this 2004? Seriously, I'm not trying to be a smart ***

I really wish I had never posted this

Maybe someone could just delete it...

If there are any guys reading this who have another opinion, I'd appreciate it if you would post

 

[BVS]

This is extremely saddening and horrifying at the same time. There is no excuse and these reports should have been dealt with right away.

I don't think anyone was trying to justify the situation. I think he tried to give a very simple explanation to an act that really can't be explained.

 

[BAW]

I think he tried to give a very simple explanation to an act that really can't be explained.

Agreed.

 

[oliveu2cm]

This is so upsetting. I remember reading about a problem like this at the Air Force Academy a while back. It's so shameful, and those who do not support these women and punish the men are nothing but advocates of the horrible, harmful behavior. I hope something is done...... There is NO excuse for it.

 

[sue4u2]

My first thought while reading something similar to this was "it's uneducated, hungry males with little or no hope for a future. Horrific as it is I thought this is the plight of African women in this war torn nation. So.. What's the excuse for these men to committ such act's?, Inside this the most highly educated and trained military in the world. There is no excuse, try them, court martial them and strip them of their self imposed dignity. Set a higher example.

 

[Klaus]

I think the female US soldiers arent the only victims, i think to female iraqis might have hapened the same.

For some reason it hapens in every (or almost all) wars that soldiers - no matter how educated or from which country, rape females

The only thing the military can do is punishing soldiers who rape others in such a drastical way that it is frightning to their soldiers

Klaus

 

[joyfulgirl]

Published on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 by CommonDreams.org

One Hundred Twelve Women Assaulted in Iraq, Afghanistan
by Irene Weiser

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0518-06.htm

The US serviceman waited outside the latrine and hit the woman on the back of the head as she exited, knocking her unconscious. He tied her hands with cord, blindfolded her, cut her clothes off with a knife, stuffed her underwear in her mouth and proceeded to rape her. When she regained consciousness and began to resist, he threatened to rape her with the knife instead. He hit her in the head again, this time forcefully between the eyes, again causing her to lose consciousness. When she came to she was transported to another facility where she was interrogated for three hours. She received no medical treatment for her head injuries. For the first few days following the rape she was housed with another woman; she was subsequently left in isolation for an extended period. Her requests for religious counsel were denied.

Sound like the latest expos? from Abu Ghraib? Guess again. It?s just one of the more than 100 incidents of rape, sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct reported in the past 18 months by U.S. women soldiers currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan who have been sexually assaulted by fellow U.S. soldiers.

 

[BVS]

Well just like all the other abuses it will sadly get written off as the act of a few bad seeds and be swept under the rug.

 

[A_Wanderer]

It gets investigated and those "few bad seeds" are sent away to be breaking rocks and learning how it feels in a millitary prison.

 

[joyfulgirl]

For fifteen years women servicemembers have been sexually assaulted in ways every bit as dehumanizing and agonizing as the assaults on prisoners in Abu Ghraib. The behavior of the men who commit these crimes is every bit as appalling, and the failures of leadership equally egregious. Maybe after fifteen years of management apathy and reports that go nowhere, the most important action we could take would be to send our women servicemembers digital cameras.

 

[BVS]

It gets investigated and those "few bad seeds" are sent away to be breaking rocks and learning how it feels in a millitary prison.

The rapists, the staff that ignored her medical needs, those who denied her requests and the leaders that allow this shitty service to our country should all be investigated and locked away.

 

[Scarletwine]

I agree BVS. The lack of "Command Control" is appalling. Same for the Academy. The most the soldiers got there was a verbal reprimand. In civilian life they go to jail.

There is a serious systemic problem with our military ideology that needs fixed.

 

[Mullen-Girl]

That's absolutely terrible

 

[verte76]

This sucks.

 

[Scarletwine]

http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/sfvo/mil_sa_iraq.html

A great site to affect change.

"The military's response to these victims has been grossly inadequate. Many victims did not receive even the most basic medical care. Emergency contraception, rape evidence kits, testing for sexually transmitted infections, prophylactic treatment or testing for HIV, and rape crisis counseling are not consistently available. Military personnel lack even common-sense sensitivity as to how to respond to rape trauma; one mental health counselor cleared an Army sergeant who had just been raped to go out on missions again, feeling it would be good for her to "keep busy." Prosecution of these crimes is delayed indefinitely, and servicewomen must often continue to serve in the same unit - and sometimes sleep in the same barrack - with their assailant.

In February, after Pentagon officials admitted receiving 112 reports of sexual assault of troops deployed in the Middle East over the previous 18 months, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appointed a task force, headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Ellen Embrey to investigate the problem and make recommendations. Those findings were released May 13th in a 114-page document titled "Task Force Report on Care for Victims of Sexual Assault."

The report acknowledges the widespread problem of sexual assault in all branches of the military - over one thousand incidents reported in 2003 alone. It also acknowledges the military's broad-based failings and lack of leadership in addressing the problem, noting everything from confusing definitions as to what constitutes sexual assault, to poor data tracking to a deficiency of sound policies for preventing or responding - most notably a lack of privacy or confidentiality for victims who report. The report notes that victim advocacy and integrated services are often not available, that offenders are rarely held accountable and that consistent, timely, sensitive responses to victim medical and psychological needs are frequently lacking. Indeed the report states that the Department of Defense does not have any mandated requirements to provide advocacy for sexual assault victims.

The report goes on to make recommendations about what needs to be done to address this problem in the immediate, near and long term. Astonishingly, here's what the report recommends: summits, conferences and more reports! "

...

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Allegations of sexual assault in the U.S. Army have climbed steadily over the past five years, and the problem has been abetted by weak prevention efforts, slow investigations, inadequate field reporting and poor managerial oversight, according to internal Army data and a new report from an Army task force.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...washpost/20040603/ts_washpost/a10959_2004jun2