In the military today, women still struggle with many issues that civilians would see as outdated. Sexual assault in the military is an extremely prevalent problem; not only does this problem affect women but men as well. While this blog will focus on the issue of women’s sexual assault in the military, it is important to make note that this issue reaches across gender lines, and the only way it can be solved is through mutual support by both men and women. One article states, “more men than women were sexually assaulted in the military in 2013”, but upon analysis, this fact can be extremely deceiving. 12,000 women say they were assaulted, while 14,000 men say they were assaulted, but in the military women only make up approximately 14.5% of the forces. 12,000 women when they only represent 14.5% is an extremely large number when the other 85.5% of the forces experienced 14,000 sexual assaults. Some officials say that this issue is “not solely a women’s issue”, and with that, I agree. However, I disagree in their opinion that this issue is not focused mainly on the females. I believe that it is; even in my time ROTC, I have experienced forms of harassment and belittlement based on my gender (outside of the Penn State program, fortunately).
These numbers are highly underreported, just as my experiences went unsaid as well. Fortunately, for me there was no outright harassment or assault, but some women experience traumatic experiences such as rape and fail to report it to their superiors. Why? The failure to report comes from not only the masculine culture of the military, but sometimes because the assault transgressed with the superior to whom they would be reporting! The military is desperately trying, and in some cases succeeding, in curtailing the number of sexual assaults, but the training program can still be misconstrued to slightly blame the victim or focus on victim prevention of women changing their own habits.
In the Army, every soldier goes through the SHARP training program to help prevent sexual assault. SHARP stands for Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program. In my personal experience with this program, scenarios are presented among which both males and females are the victims, but the scenarios are those in which the female is typically the victim. For example, they are given scenarios at the bar where an individual is trying to pick someone up and take them home; a superior is trying to coax an individual to treat them to a sexual favor in order to be promoted, etc. Soldiers are taught to intervene, act, and motivate through this program. It seems ideal as the program is presented to the body of soldiers as a whole, but in some occasions this does not always occur. The program may be presented in one instance to the soldiers as a group, but then in other occasions the women are pulled aside separately and given their own “preventative program”. This is extremely concerning to me, as it singles out the women as the potential victims and it encourages them to stay in groups or watch what they were or say or drink… These typical strategies we hear about are what perpetuate victim blaming in the first place! Measures like these are ones that scare women away from reporting, as if the masculine culture was not intimidating enough for some of them already.
Now, I would never be one to say that the Department of Justice is not trying to prevent sexual assault. It is clear that they are trying to do their best to prevent sexual assault and harassment for both males and females in the military, but due to past stigmas and strategies, some can still be seen as perpetuating females to be the main victim. They can still make the women feel as though they should watch their every move when trying to simply perform their duty. Women should not feel the need to watch their backs while on the job; the job should be the only focus. It is a shame that in today’s day and age, women must still worry about being assaulted within the ranks. The ranks are a brotherhood and sisterhood, and no military member should ever be a victim.
http://www.sexualassault.army.mil/index.cfm
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/politics/military-sex-assault/
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/05/01/3433055/dod-men-mst/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/03/military-sex-assaults_n_6265492.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/4/pentagon-sexual-assault-claims-drops-among-militar/?page=all
So I received A LOT of feedback on this post, and I really appreciated hearing everyone’s thoughts. Sexual assault and harassment can be highly overlooked, but it needs to be at the forefront of our conversations. From the battlefield to the dorm room, people experience this tragedy. Laws need to be created, and they need to be created at a faster rate than what is being done now. Yes, many work to combat the acts of sexual assault, but more can always be done. The only way for our nation to be the strongest it can be is if we stand together behind issues such as these.
I was surprised to see the numbers for the reported accounts of sexual assault and harassment so high for the nation’s armed forces. In an organization as disciplined and professional as the military is, I would expect the number of accounts to be much lower. However, not even the armed forces can escape from the presence of assault in today’s society.
One of the biggest problems remaining is that only a small percentage of incidents go reported, when every single account should be reported. In 2012, a survey estimated over 26,000 men and women were sexually assaulted. Of those, only about 3,500 were reported. Those numbers improved slightly by last year. 2014 had an estimated 19,000 accounts of sexual assault and only 5,500 were reported. One of the main reasons people have for not reporting incidents is out of fear of retaliation.
Recently, a bill was brought forward in Congress to address this exact issue. Senator Kristen Gillibrand of New York proposed a plan to give victims less of a reason to fear any kind of retaliation after filing a report. The bill addressed how reports would be handled from a legal perspective. Instead of reports being handled by the military, Senator Gillibrand proposed a third party be responses for investigating reports of sexual assault. The plan would help keep identities anonymous while also removing any bias in the process as the third party has no stake in either way the decision goes. Unfortunately, the bill fell just short of the needed sixty votes needed to pass.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/us/reports-of-sexual-assaults-in-military-on-rise.html
I agree with everyone who commented so far; this is a truly a very relevant and valuable topic to address right now. I think that in general, sexual assault is in the news and on people’s minds right now. The movement to really reveal and combat the horrendous crime of sexual assault just began within the past few years. For a really long time, it was just a part of our culture to brush past the topic of sexual assault and pretend like it never really happened. For women, it was very taboo to talk about one’s own assault because it gave them the stigma of being a “slut” or “unclean” in some way. For men, it was (and still is in many ways) worse to talk about being sexually assaulted because it made them seem “weak.” But in reality, we know that these things are not true. Victims, both men and women, are not at all to be blamed for being a victim of a sexual assault. I recently went to a seminar about sexual assault about two weeks ago. There were two women who travel around the country and talk about their experiences with sexual assault and what people can do about it. This actually opened my eyes very much and made me think about my own experiences and the experiences of my friends. I was shocked to find out that most sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone known to the victim. I also found out that the percentage of women assaulted on college campuses is drastic. It seems like we always need to be aware that sexual assault is a danger, whether intentional or unintentional. That is not to say that we need feel unsafe or uncomfortable, but it is very important to be aware of yourself and your friends. What I found most interesting about this seminar was that it was geared towards members of ROTC. My roommate (and also my best friend) was required to go to the seminar and so I just went to keep her company. In the end, I feel very thankful for the experience which opened my eyes so much. Today, one in five women is a victim of sexual assault. This seems like a lot, but it is down from one in three which was the case a few years ago. Because of awareness programs, we are really making progress, but there is still a long way to go. As Sirena mentioned, the number of sexual assaults and sexual misconduct in the military is shocking and very disheartening. This is both a male and female issue as both genders can be victims or perpetrators of misconduct. I was actually reminded of one infamous instance of sexual misconduct by a military member in the news recently. A few weeks ago, a plea deal was under way for former Gen. David Patraeus. He was found giving classified government secrets to his mistress. This case broke a while ago, but it was astounding to me that even a top respected general could be manipulated in such a dangerous way. I know this is not a typical sexual assault case. However, I think it is effective in illustrating just how deep and how high up sexual misconduct in the military can reach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/us/politics/letter-calls-plea-deal-for-david-petraeus-a-profound-double-standard.html?_r=0
I forgot to cite my source.
http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/21st_century_sailor/sapr/Pages/default2.aspx
It is always important to raise awareness for sexual assault in the military. Today the Navy ROTC Battalion had a SAPAR brief, similar to the Armies SHARP, on sexual assault. The military has been the profession of men for all of history and within the last 100 year the military is on its way to becoming fully integrated. Women are now allowed to serve on the front line and hold the same positions as males. However, with this integration struggles are still going to exist and I believe only time and effort is going to solve this issue. Until women make up 50% of the military I think there is always going to be high cases of sexual assault. Men are brought up and taught to be tough and aggressive, and nowhere else is this clearly exemplified than in the Alpha Male dominate society that is the military. What I am curious to learn is about the culture of women on board ships more specifically submarines. Our current Battalion Commander is a female and is planning on joining the submarine community. Now for a long time the submarine community has been one of secrecy and dominated by males. I can only imaging what it is going to be like to live with a bunch of men in a steel tube 300 feet below the surface. For a long time women were not allowed in the submarine service due to the fact that there were no separate quarters or bathrooms. The only way to solve this problem was to create a new submarine, which would be expensive and take a long time. Only within the last few years have female officer been allowed to serve on board submarine. That is why I would be interested in seeing what the dynamics are going to be on board.
It is a shame that women are afraid to report being assaulted. I think the idea of a women reporting she has been sexually assaulted is the same as reporting that you have PTSD. They both come with this nasty stigma on you being weak or a crybaby. That is simply not true. Sexually assault and harassment happens in the military on a daily bases and men and women should not be afraid to report it. The military is supposed to represent the best this nation has to offer. How is the nation going to do this when they can’t even take care of there own.
There have been significant strides to make the military more inclusive and female friendly. However, change is not happening fast enough. The only way to change is that members of our nations military have a changed mindset that most of the time women are not blame in cases of sexual harassment. Sexual assault and harassment is not something to be tolerated and something that needs to change immediately. I believe this Sexual Assault Awareness month we concentrate on making not only our military but also our society a more safe and friendly one.
I really like and appreciated this post. What stood out to me right from the beginning was the fact that this is not limited to just women in the armed forces. Men are also victimized, which shows this is no longer an issue of gender, but an issue of the immorality of these crimes themselves. It shouldn’t be an issue of who gets sexually assaulted, but instead that people are being sexually assaulted at all in the military. I agree that this is something that should not be tolerated under any circumstances in the military, especially considering that these are supposed to be our nation’s finest, serving to protect our country. That protection of course should extend to those in the ranks, and there of course needs to be an awareness of the issue and policy that ensures that these types of events don’t persist.
Like many things, these types of problems are deep seeded in values. There’s a reason that moral atrocities happen, and it’s usually because the perpetuators of these immoral actions don’t realize what they are doing is wrong. Possibly even worse, they have been taught that such things are normal, and this usually happens through culture. It was seen in the SAE fraternity scandal, where they sang a racist chant that apparently had been around for a long time, which from a side view seemed morally repugnant. Similarly, it was found that there was a very sexist book in the air force, which was filled with sexist comments and songs. Even more disturbing is the fact that the songbook is used exclusively by commanders. This shows that those in leadership are perpetuating a culture that says it is okay to be sexist and misogynistic. Indeed, I don’t believe that a few songs are automatically going to make those in the armed forces want to sexually assault women, but it does lay a fundamental ideology that makes it easier for one to get to the point of sexual assault, or at least for others not to do anything about it. If people believe it is acceptable to treat women in a derogatory way, even those that disagree would be silenced by the majority, especially if that majority resides within the leadership. Therefore, if there is every going to be anything done, it has to start with making the culture different, and ensuring those that lead the forces are not causing the problems themselves.
Finally, there is a huge conflict of interest issue in the armed forces. According to Fox News, those that decide whether sexual assault cases go to military trial are commanders. These are the same commanders that sing songs what sing songs that characterize “raping women as fun.” Clearly, if we want to stop these incidents, it is vital to take a closer look at how these matters are handled when they actually are reported. If there is rarely justice when incidents do go reported, then it isn’t hard to understand why other people don’t come forward after an assault, seeing as how their efforts won’t result in much more than a social stigma. Cleaning up the system and ensuring that those that prosecute or decide if these cases go to trial in the first place are not corrupted in anyway by proximity to the matter or have an ideology that biases their decision making is an integral first step to solving this very real problem.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/03/31/sexist-songbook-reportedly-unearthed-in-lawsuit-seeking-to-overhaul-military/
This is a really good topic to write about. This is an issue that can only be solved if we talk about it in the open and proactively try and prevent it. Sadly these acts of aggression and vileness are everywhere in the world. The military, schools, universities, homes, offices, everywhere and it is an incredibly hard issue to stop. I know a lot of the issue is about women (and men) that don’t give notice of the assault so it is never reported or followed up on. You were completely right that this doesn’t happen a lot in the military because many times it is a superior officer which makes the situation that much more difficult. I believe in that situation you should have a completely different person to report these assaults to. Trying to keep the reporting of transgressions like this out of the hierarchy might lead to a better result in reports of assault.
I still believe that main issue is men and women controlling themselves in this situation. At no point in time is it right to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. When it comes to unwanted touching I believe the quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. comes in handy. “My rights end at the tip of your nose.” That is as long as your aren’t protecting yourself from physical harm. I know President Barron here at Penn State is really ratcheting up the training of students and staff on sexual assault awareness and prevention as it is a problem that pervades not only our campus but also universities around the nation and globe. I think his biggest and greatest idea deals with the institution of a new Title IX coordinator that will have access to staff their own office and really focus on the issue of lack of reports, awareness, and education.
He also stated that he doesn’t think this will end sexual assaults at campus, which is something that seems unrealistic because people will always do bad things to other people. You can’t stop every assault, but you can try and educate, inform, and teach students and staff how to notice the signs and intervene and hopefully stop assaults. This is a huge task that truthfully will take a number of years I believe to really get underway and make a noticeable impact and hopefully if we can accomplish something here at Penn State, other universities, states, schools, and even the military can look to us and take our ideas and apply them to their own structures and help curb or end the sexual assaults that happen across the nation and the world. One final thing is that while sexual assault is may be rising I know in Pennsylvania if you report an assault that occurred in say 2000 and the year is now 2015 it is reported in the 2015 year. I know in the S-Book I believe 2012 saw a sharp rise in sexual assaults when in reality it was reports from other years, not actual assaults in 2012. I don’t know if the military does reports this way as well, but it is a good thing to figure out when they occurred and what year they were reported for this reason and other statistical reasons.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/02/penn_state_president_eric_barr_7.html
http://servicewomen.org/military-sexual-violence/
Hold on to what you believe,
Brad Stuby
I love how you chose this topic. It’s so relevant, and it brings an already widespread issue to light. The crazy thing about the statistics you mentioned is that they are only a rough estimate – there are still a large contingency of women, and men, who do not report because of fear or humiliation. This issue needs to stop, and it can’t be allowed to get worse before it gets any better. Action needs to be taken by the leaders so they can set an example that is able to be followed by all involved.
I am currently doing a speech on a similar topic. I’ve been researching sexual harassment in Congress for quite some time, and I find the situations to be next to identical. Most women do not report what happens to them because, like you mentioned, they feel uncomfortable, further victimized, or would have to report the crime to the very person who did it. The rates of occurrence are getting higher and higher, but this does not have to do with an increase in harassment and rape occurring overall. It actually represents more victims coming forward, which is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of solving this problem. I find this to be absurd, and I believe that the system is in desperate need of a makeover.
Having mandatory classes for those in the situation, like all in Congress and the military, is helpful. It teaches how to spot and respond to sexual harassment in multiple situations and how to report it. That way, offenders are not as rampant since they feel as though they are unable to effectively prey upon others, and possible, present, and/or past victims feel more empowered and comfortable. I think this is a great additive to an all-encompassing solution, but I do think more needs to be done.
The system as a whole needs to change. It is simply unacceptable for victims to feel further victimized by the people who should be helping them. It’s just unreal to think about. There also needs to be less judgment based on gender when it comes to these things, regardless of whether or not it’s in the workplace or Congress or the military. If something like this happens to a colleague, you would hope that they would nail the guy who did it, but receive help and proper guidance after the traumatic event. To think that the necessary help may not be given truly scares me as a woman looking to enter into the workforce in the future. This is not a fear I should have, and I totally agree when you say the only focus should be on the job. Women and men alike should not be worried of being preyed upon and hurt by their coworkers; it not only frustrates me, but also frightens me. This issue is not something that can be looked at from the sidelines; action needs to be taken before anything escalates to the point of no return.
http://servicewomen.org/military-sexual-violence/