Sexual assaults are frequent, and frequently ignored, in the armed services.
By Jane Harman
March 31, 2008
The stories are shocking in their simplicity and brutality: A female military recruit is pinned down at knifepoint and raped repeatedly in her own barracks. Her attackers hid their faces but she identified them by their uniforms; they were her fellow soldiers. During a routine gynecological exam, a female soldier is attacked and raped by her military physician. Yet another young soldier, still adapting to life in a war zone, is raped by her commanding officer. Afraid for her standing in her unit, she feels she has nowhere to turn.
These are true stories, and, sadly, not isolated incidents. Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.
The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29% report being raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and the downward spirals many of their lives have since taken.
Numbers reported by the Department of Defense show a sickening pattern. In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were reported -- 73% more than in 2004. The DOD's newest report, released this month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with data from previous years much more difficult.
The Defense Department has made some efforts to manage this epidemic -- most notably in 2005, after the media received anonymous e-mail messages about sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy. The media scrutiny and congressional attention that followed led the DOD to create the Sexual Assault and Response Office. Since its inception, the office has initiated education and training programs, which have improved the reporting of cases of rapes and other sexual assaults. But more must be done to prevent attacks and to increase accountability.
At the heart of this crisis is an apparent inability or unwillingness to prosecute rapists in the ranks. According to DOD statistics, only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to courts-martial, the equivalent of a criminal prosecution in the military. Another 218 were handled via nonpunitive administrative action or discharge, and 201 subjects were disciplined through "nonjudicial punishment," which means they may have been confined to quarters, assigned extra duty or received a similar slap on the wrist. In nearly half of the cases investigated, the chain of command took no action; more than a third of the time, that was because of "insufficient evidence."
This is in stark contrast to the civilian trend of prosecuting sexual assault. In California, for example, 44% of reported rapes result in arrests, and 64% of those who are arrested are prosecuted, according to the California Department of Justice.
The DOD must close this gap and remove the obstacles to effective investigation and prosecution. Failure to do so produces two harmful consequences: It deters victims from reporting, and it fails to deter offenders. The absence of rigorous prosecution perpetuates a culture tolerant of sexual assault -- an attitude that says "boys will be boys."
I have raised the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Although I believe that he is concerned, thus far, the military's response has been underwhelming -- and the apparent lack of urgency is inexcusable.
Congress is not doing much better. Although these sexual assault statistics are readily available, our oversight has failed to come to grips with the magnitude of the crisis. The abhorrent and graphic nature of the reports may make people uncomfortable, but that is no excuse for inaction. Congressional hearings are urgently needed to highlight the failure of existing policies. Most of our servicewomen and men are patriotic, courageous and hardworking people who embody the best of what it means to be an American. The failure to address military sexual assault runs counter to those ideals and shames us all.
Jane Harman (D-Venice) chairs the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence.
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21 comments:
I've heard little about this. Scary. Thanks for posting. Love you!
I suppose female American soldiers who serve and die for this country aren't worthy of news coverage.
yea, my friend in the air force was also a victim of sexual assault... he was found not guilty and now she has to see him everyday.
Having been a soldier, I can assure you that the rumors and statistics are not only true, but probably slightly off. I believe the statistics are higher. I was raped while in country, and although it wasn't by my own countries soldiers, the treatment when I got home was horrid. There is no counseling for rape victims. We are bandaged up and sent back out. If we want help, we must pay for it out of our own pockets and try to find the time to receive the counseling. Thank you for posting this article though. I think alot more people will be aware of the situation now and demand better treatment for our female soldiers.
That's extremely disturbing, I read of it all the time and have followed so many stories in the news of murders of women.
It's amazing how long this can go on under the governments nose or perhaps in and they have yet to sneeze?
I have a very good friend who is in the military. She is a lesbian. A fellow male soldier raped her and threatned to "out" her and ruin her life if she told anyone. My partner and I are the only ones that know to this very day. She is also in the military. This blog hit home...because it's true! It does happen, and still is.
This is sick and disturbing. Luckily for me, I have never taken any interest in joining the military and the two female cousins I have who were in the Army have since been discharged. Someone should really bring this to th attention of the government in a serious way. Too often things go unnoticed or ignored when it comes to women's rights.
What sickens me the most about this is that no one knows? We try so hard to stop FMG but how little we help our own soldiers.
How can people do this? How can we trust male soldiers to protect us if they don't protect thier own.
I feel sick.
This story doesn't mention how female officers who become so "Gung Ho" to make rank...will often brutalize the lower enlisted military females just for the sake of making rank.
I'm speaking about female to female sexual harassment. The power hungry military female officers will go to any lengths to torment the most vulnerable women under her command.
This is the situation I experienced. Sexual orientation had nothing to do with it. It was the mere fact that she was my division officer and willing to personally make my life a living hell for the two years I was assigned to her workspace.
This lady officer would have me come in an hour before every one else to sweep the asbestos dust off the desks and floor. If there was a single piece of litter on the floor, it was automatically my fault. She threatened to hit me on repeated occasions and stated that just because she was an officer that she could do what ever she wanted TO me.
Many days I'd come in the door only to be slammed up against the wall and held by my throat. She would tell me to look at her gold bars on her collar and ask me what they meant. If I answered the wrong way, I would receive more verbal abuse and threats.
This officer continued her behavior when I was pregnant. She refused to allow my limited duty despite doctor's orders. I typically worked 15 hour days. She told me that according to the Navy, a women cannot say she's pregnant or wear a maternity uniform until the baby's heart is heard during and ultrasound.
I was nearly 6 months along before I was allowed to wear my maternity uniform. Until this point, I was classified as being FAT and placed on a diet(against doctors orders to gain weight).
This female officer also decided that I would be in charge of the AC by monitoring the controls. We weren't allowed to have the AC on unless it was at least 90 degrees inside the workspace. (this was a Caribbean location where the temps average 95 to 100 degrees every day.)
My point here is that I was carrying a growing life inside me and made to put both our lives at risk. I was made to buff floors at eight months along. I was made to shoot on the rifle range up until I was nearly nine months along.
I had toxemia and high blood pressure and my pregnancy was very risky. But it didn't help that I was worked to the extent where I was collapsing from heat exhaustion. Eleven days before going in labor, I was given a chore of completing a three hour supply inventory in a 100 degree room with no air circulation.
I collapsed for the last time that day and was finally sent to ER where the chief of staff from the hospital ordered me to strict bed rest. My labor was several days early and I had a very difficult time with the delivery. The baby was too big for me and the military doctors refused to do a C-section. Instead they used high forceps, the OB doc anchored his feet on the stirrups and yanked my son out of me with all his might. This tore through many layers of skin and left me with over 500 stitches internally and externally and never able to have another child.
My son was born with bruises on his head, deprived oxygen thus causing birth defects and autism. I've always carried the guilt that I allowed this to happen and I endanger the life I created...just by remaining in the military. That same day while I was taken to my hospital room, the same lady officer entered my room with a smug look on her face. She then threw a fitness magazine at me and ordered me to get "in shape" because she scheduled me for a PT test in 6 weeks and then cut my convalescent leave down to two weeks.
I was ordered to return to work despite the fact that I was hemorrhaging. Then I received a lecture from this female officer about how unimportant my baby was and compared my job in the military to the Indian women who rode into the woods, squatted to give birth and got back up on their horses. She said that I was a wimp and a disgrace to my uniform.
This is female to female sexual discrimination. I know it happens all over the military. Most people just ignore it and the ones going through such horrific treatment typically leave the military and try to forget what happened.
If it hadn't been for the kindness of a base chaplain who befriended me, I don't think I would be here today. He told me to just "grin and bear it" because my division officer was screwing the CO and the entire base knew that she was doing it to get meritoriously promoted. She made her rank of LT within one year as she intended. But she made many women under her, pay the price for her selfishness.
And she had the nerve to write on my evaluations that I wasn't a team player. In the military, being a team player means keeping your mouth shut and tolerating abuse.
More recently, I tried to get counseling from a Vet Center who told me that it would be so much easier to treat me if I just said I was raped...regardless if I wasn't. I refused to lie and admitted that I was sexually harassed and tormented. Then I'm told that I don't qualify for MST counseling because I refused to lie.
My emotional well being was tormented and my physical health was placed at risk. It's affected my entire life because 20 years later I've suffered from PTSD from my military experiences.
Pregnancy is normally a joyous time in a woman's life. I was deprived any such feeling and made to feel shame for my choices.
While in uniform, I often disassociated from reality to cope. I dealt with so much stress that my blood pressure jumped to 160/110 and many times, heat exhaustion.
Why doesn't anyone talk about this kind of abuse that happens when a crazy person is placed in a position of power. My innocence was stolen from me. My right to having a choice to be a healthy mother was stolen from me. And my son still suffers from my choices I made to "grin and bear" such torment. No man can ever imagine or want a female family member to endure such treatment and especially while she's having a risky pregnancy.
Luckily I didn't have a miscarriage like many active duty women experience from being worked to death. I survived to tell my story and I will continue to stand up and speak for the women in uniform still suffering!!!
Wow I was actually thinking of joining the army. I'm going to think a lot harder about it. Wouldn't want to be one of those statistics.
I'm also in the Navy, and unfortunately, I've seen shipmates have miscarriages or be worked in unsuitable conditions while pregnant. I also, however, have seen many of them be told to sit down and take a break when they wanted to work, but someone felt they shouldn't put themselves through too much stress (I don't mean this in a "You're pregnant, you can't do anything" way. I mean their superiors were looking out for the well being of the woman.) I also have heard stories of sexual harrassment and sexual abuse and rape. Although the military has the highest statistics for any sexual abuse, the Navy, at least, is trying to do something about it. Every command has a Sexual Assault Victim Intervention. There is a hotline (everyone knows the number - male and female) that is manned 24/7. There are benefits and downfalls to the program they've put into place. While not every instance gets tried, more people report because they don't HAVE to press charges. This means victims can get medical help and counseling without having to press charges on someone. From that point, they have up to one year to decide whether or not to press charges. Although I have not personally experienced any sexual assault or descrimination, I will say that if I were a more prudent person, some of the things that my shipmates say may offend me. However, I'm just as bad as most of the guys I hang out with, and I'm used to the things said because I have always hung around guys. Unfortunately, the military doesn't always take care of things the most diplomatic way. A lot of things can get swept under the rug. I guess the best way to explain that, is tht career military really are a different breed.
This comment is to Jenn:
I posted the lengthy comment about my sexual harassment while serving in the Navy. I personally don't know what you're talking about when referring to this Sexual Assault Victim Intervention and being able to file charges.
This must be something new to the Navy. I served from 81 to 87 and I worked in the Public Affairs Office. My division officer was directly under the CO's commend. She was assigned to escort dignitaries on base and to write speeches for the CO.
I really can't think of any job in the Navy that's a "sit down job". My job as a community relations journalist was to organize and escort base tours, write articles, shoot and develop photos for the base newspaper, delver the base paper by car around base housing, publish the base TV guide, compile the base history, complete all administrative filing in triplicate, fulfill the job as a supply inventory petty officer and lastly to field day the office very Friday afternoon.
My work day began at 6:30am. Some days I got no lunch break. I spent my afternoons at the photolab. Returned to the office at 4pm only to find that the division officer had filled my inbox so high that I wasn't allowed to leave until all my work was finished. We used outdated word processors then. There was one new computer placed in the middle of the office. We were instructed to teach ourselves during slow times.
Additionally we had barracks watches, base evacuations, bomb threats and riots at the front gate to deal with.
So please don't make the Navy appear so innocent. I was considered to be "in theater" during Grenada in 83. We were on all hands alert and on call 24/7. Our mail was censored and we were forbidden to read any newspapers.
The Navy is not a friendly place for women. The only women who manage in the Navy are those single women who fully dedicate their lives to the Navy and never have any plans for a family or motherhood. Single mothers are required to sign guardian papers for their kids. If they don't they are punished by demotion in rank and or court martial.
By the way your comments read...I bet your a Navy recruiter. You sound like a recruiter trying to glorify the Navy.
When I first came out of bootcamp in 1981, my primary job as a new E3 was to fulfill temporary assignments for the pregnant women who had been ordered to full bedrest after having their 4th 5th or 6th miscarriage. A female friend of mine was 6 months along and worked for a 38 year Master chief counselor. This poor girl had to get special permission to serve her last 3 months of her 7th pregnancy on strict bedrest after having her cervix tied up. She still lost that baby and never could carry another child.
I don't believe that the Navy has changed the way you described. A female veteran friend of mine has a 22 year old daughter who was pregnant on the USS Roosevelt. She was allowed to remain on board until her fifth month then sent back to the states, gave birth and had to return to sea for another 9 month tour when her daughter was only 2 months old.
My point being that motherhood and children of active duty Navy females are frowned upon. The Navy sees motherhood as a nuisance. And should that woman carry to term and want to breastfeed her newborn, forget it. The Navy continually reminds her that if she chooses to do so that she would have to use a machine and store her milk.
In the 80s, while I served in the Navy...once a lady gives birth and received a lecture about how breastfeeding isn't conducive to the Navy. This same recovering mom isn't given any medical intervention to help stop the milk from producing. I spent weeks having to ice down my chest after work hours of course. And in too much pain to even lift up my son.
I think that the image that you're describing of the Navy is totally not true. The Navy doesn't care about it's women serving unless they are dedicating themselves 24/7 to the Navy's mission.
I absolutely believe you're a recruiter trying to con young innocent minds into joining the Navy. Your Navy is not the real Navy. I served for 6 years and I've seen and experience some horrible experiences. Does your Navy require its members to be in full uniform to get any medical treatment regardless if they're off-duty???
My left knee was drug out of a car on my way to the base in Jacksonville. I was in my "civies" and my jeans were torn open and my kneecap was hanging off and bleeding. I was ordered to return to my off base housing while bleeding and to return in full dress whites before the medic would even see me.
This same happened when I broke my water at 2am. I was gushing water and had to arrive at the Navy hospital in dress whites before I was allowed to be assigned to a delivery room.
Does this sound like your ever so caring Navy??? Please keep it real and don't use this site as your recruiting source. The trauma in the Navy is real and the Navy is not like what's seen on TV or in some fake recruiter film.
Do you mind if I ask you what your Navy rating was and how long you served?? I bet you're an officer who just finished some cushy shore duty in a recruiting office or perhaps you are only in your second year out of bootcamp and haven't seen the real Navy yet. It doesn't matter...either way you are making up stories to try to convince young "unknowing" girls to give up their future choices of motherhood and future good health.
I've been around many female veterans over the past 21 years. It doesn't matter what service or the era they served each and every one has had something horrific happen to them while in uniform.
So perhaps you should go back to your recruiter job or company commander job at an RTC and keep convincing yourself that you think you're right in your beliefs. But I know the truth because I lived it and HAD to deal with it. Enlisted women don't get to just walk away from confrontation. Officers can and that's the difference.
People like yourself are the very reason the Navy doesn't work for women. You go around with your delusions and fake smiles to try to convince yourself that your Navy worked is wonderful and perfect. It's not and it's traumatizing to as many as 60 to 75% of the women who have and are still serving. Please get real!!!
Couldn't find your email so am posting here to let you know that you are a very popular blogger indeed! Thanks for including my post about this terrible situation; it sent a ton of traffic. Clearly you are read, and taken seriously. I was grateful to be included.
i was assaulted in the airforce also and was afraid to speak out because of the stigma attached to accusing someone.
To The Menstruator:
You sound like you're very mentally tormented. You really should get some help before you go a postal real life butchering spree!!!
Your posting does not represent anything but the rantings of a mentally unstable person.
You ARE VERY DISTURBED. I've pulled my posting. Please go ruin someone else's day or do us all a favor and go in-patient at your nearest psych ward.
No one cares about your rants and you've ruined this blog for everyone.
horrid, abysmal, and sadly not surprising. thanks for posting. what can we do?
Who writes a note to someone on someone else's blog? Well, now you've made me that sort of person.
Fyi. I teach your children for a living!!! Enjoy. Sleep well tonight. Thanks for voting for Obama.
Excuse me, Little Miss Menstruator: FYI: I diagnose people like you for a living and confine them to state run mental institutions!!!
Perhaps you're writing from the one shared computer in the therapy room right now!! Break time is over...
Guard!!! Time to put the shackles on this one...
It's funny how when people don't like what people have to say and disrespect their thoughts... they then have to label them as crazy.
I feel sad for you. If I'm crazy I can't imagine what you must be!
I laugh all the way to the bank with your tax dollars!
Happy Bastille Day Sandi!!!
I agree with the comment above. We do not always have to agree with another persons comment on a blog. We are allowed to comment without fear of being attacked by another commenter who doesn't like what someone else's thoughts are. I actually thought the original comment from Menstruator was very funny and thought provoking as well. Coudn't ask for more interesting discourse!
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