US military service members who report sexual assault frequently experience retaliation that goes unpunished, Human Rights Watch said. The report is the result of an 18-month investigation by Human Rights Watch with the support of Protect Our Defenders, a human rights organization that supports and advocates for survivors of military sexual assault. Despite extensive reforms by the Defense Department to address sexual assault, the military has done little to hold retaliators to account or provide effective remedies for retaliation.
The 113-page report, “Embattled: Retaliation against Sexual Assault Survivors in the US Military,” finds that both male and female military personnel who report sexual assault are 12 times as likely to experience some form of retaliation as to see their attacker convicted of a sex offense. Retaliation against survivors ranges from threats, vandalism, and harassment to poor work assignments, loss of promotion opportunities, disciplinary action including discharge, and even criminal charges.
“The US military’s progress in getting people to report sexual assaults isn’t going to continue as long as retaliation for making a report goes unpunished,” said Sara Darehshori, senior US counsel at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. “Ending retaliation is critical to addressing the problem of sexual assault in the military.”
The report says that some of the retaliation came from superior officers including this chilling claim by one soldier:
“A certain Sergeant in my platoon had told me he would kill me if we ever went to Afghanistan because ‘friendly fire is a tragic accident that happens,’” said a soldier who reported a sexual assault by a male soldier from another platoon in 2012. “After I had been there for a year, someone tried to knife me in a bar and kept screaming ‘DIE FAGGOT, DIE’ and that was when I told my Captain that I wanted a discharge before I ended up dead on the evening news which would be bad for him too.”
It is incredibly troubling that not only are in serious danger of being sexually assaulted in the United States military, whether you are a man or a woman, but that if you dare report the crime you can then be subjected to threats of violence, harassment, and loss of promotion.
That is not just a few assholes being assholes, that is a systemic problem which speaks to an underlying problem in our military structure.
American exceptionalism my ass.
The basic problem is that we are not a society that protects, let alone lionizes whistle-blowers, whether sex is an element of the crime or not. With presidential candidates that maintain 'corporations are people' I don't expect it to get better, either.
ReplyDelete.....(Snowden).....
DeleteTry to find that whistle-blower any props around here. Apparently whistle-blowers under an Obama presidency are traitors to 95% of the IMers.
This is not news, it is standard operating procedure.
ReplyDeleteMy late husband was pagan and the recepient of abuse. After convincing the rape party the error of their ways (he was a very good Marine) he was given a dishonorable discharge and his would be rapists were promoted. Oh, he also broke out of their brand new brig once or twice. No court martial for my husband. The marines couldn't get rid of him fast enough. He's dead so I can tell the story now.
Instead, America lionizes any dumbfuck in fatigues, no matter which jail they were sprung from or who they just raped.
ReplyDeleteLook at all the hooha over that Meyer dude- all the video says he's a liar but it's too late for the truth to make any difference because he has been elevated to "hero for the ages" and protocol demands his unattractive secrets be forever sealed and hidden.
America can't handle the truth.
Propaganda is not just an American, or modern thing.
DeleteExceptionally greedy, hateful, bigoted, arrogant, and so on.
ReplyDeleteSenator Murkowski added an addendum to the Defense Policy for 2015...about Sexual Assault in the Alaska National Guard...got the letter...smile...
ReplyDeleteDidn't her oil daddy do a good deed and reversed the Statute of limitations on Rape? And didn't that bring the Natives toward to report the Catholic priests?
ReplyDeleteAs a feminist, I think the feminist movement's biggest mistake was trying to shoehorn women into testosterone-poisoned male institutions like the military, as if women could only prove they were men's equals by participating in men's most destructive and loathsome occupation. All that does is make it easier for men to destroy life as we know it.
ReplyDeleteThe Victimology of Coercive Minority Parasites
DeleteWomen are destroying numerous US institutions by using the same tactics over and over(The Victimology of Coercive Minority Parasites). Namely: (1)Showing their T&A. (2)Inducing men and women to have sex with you. (3)Turning on your led-attackers. (4)Ruining your led attackers. (5)Then starting all over. This time “the institution is getting revenge”, so a new pogrom sweeps the institution, knocking more off evil white men. And so it goes until, the military academies, elite unit training and the militaries themselves all have female generals and do nothing but cluster fuck. You crazy bitches are insatiable. What you really want is power and the literal annihilation of white men (although most of your attackers are black, But they are protected species.) You are phonies, the lowest scum on earth and you are destroyers. If you were real feminists you would not approve and underwrite white slavery, pedophilia and the murder/beating of Moslem women and white slave women by their black male mates. You never go against your commie, homosexual, black racist and Moslem imperialist enemies. Damn you to hell forever. When THE SNAP comes, you will be mowed down like the cancer-carrying swine that you are. Thanks for the anarchy!
Uh,....DUH.
ReplyDeleteThey just hide the retaliation better now. But it has never gone away. Nor has the harassment and assault.
The good ole boys network, one hand washes the other and the victim gets victimized even more. I recall reading about an incident where a woman was repeatedly assaulted and when she went to report it, they told her to cover it up with make up. From what I understood, makeup is a no no, so where does she go to cover the evidence of repeated violent acts? It affects morale for female soldiers, they're trapped with no one to help them.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I wouldn't want one of my daughters to go to war, but I support those who do, if they want that career, they have every right a man does to serve, but it's gotta be hell knowing your own fellow soldiers are your enemy, and you're powerless.
Some don't have much of a choice in today's job market. If you have a family to support, the military is your best option. They'll train you, feed and clothe you, house you and give you a steady paycheck to support your kids. Everyone gets free medical, dental and vision. If you stick it out there is even a chance for advancement and a retirement pension.
DeleteFor that you're expected to take the abuse and keep quiet.
You rarely see silver spoon kids volunteer. It's our poor that are enlisting.
Officers are no different than the 1%ers when it comes to entitlement and social bigotry. Some of them went through military academies and think hazing is acceptable and builds character. Some just see the enlisted as below them and not deserving of respect and dignity, no matter what the regulations say.
I know feminists won't like it but I'd like to see the military segregate by gender. Get all the same equipment, training and job opportunities but be kept separate. It may not protect all but one thing it will do is show that women can fight as well if not better than men.
The ancient Greeks hated fighting all women armies because they were vicious and had a nothing to lose attitude.
Ok then put up a global notice...calling all tomboys... the Amazon women...let's start there..see how quick they lose their dicks!
ReplyDeleteA strong military is an ugly necessity for survival in the world. Acknowledge it. It has nothing to do with claims of exceptionalism.
ReplyDeleteRead Caesar's accounts of the Gallic Wars, and realize how far we've come in terms of sensitivity and concern. Most people reading this tacitly expect all armed forces to do their respective jobs, from killer commandos to caring nurses, without complaint.
Combat arms personnel have to undergo a profound level of subjugation and brutalization in order to kill the enemy. Follow orders. Kill the enemy, because he/she/it is less than human.
The worst of the military try to become legend, like Chris Kyle, and exaggerate the harm they've done. The best of the military do their jobs as responsibly and humanely as possible. In between these extremes are everyday people trying to earn a living.
The brutality of an organization whose primary job is aggression will carry over from one sphere to another. Rape is institutionalized in military life as it is in civilian life. I see no difference. Most men rape, and find excuses for it.
Is this your excuse for rape? There's always been rape, it's part of military life, get over it?
DeleteYou think victims of sexual assault should just STFU because it's part of what it takes to be a soldier?
And if they don't they deserve retaliation for failing to keep silent and continue keeping what goes on secret?
It's not my purpose or responsibility to make excuses for rape. I make points about the exacerbation of a culture of rape that may not occur to those who aren't intimately familiar with the organizational behavior of combat arms personnel.
ReplyDeleteOur evolution probably plays a role in predisposing men to rape, to spread their genes as far and wide as possible, with or without a willing partner. Observing the frequency of rape in close primate relatives such as chimps and orangs bears this out. This is a hotly-debated topic among sociologists, but it can't be dismissed. We like to think we're more highly evolved than that, but clearly rape is still a problem--in civilian and military life.
My point is that the military is a culture of brutality. Behind the noble patriotism and the dignified formations and ceremonies, they are trained killers. I saw how this is done over a period of many years with my own husband and his close comrades. Unfortunately, the system ruins those who are not psychologically hardy enough to withstand it. My husband was, but many people are not, and they suffer from PTS.
My husband was a member of Mensa and InterTel, had a degree in political science (and later a master's), and was a world class bridge player. He was also an airborne Ranger, an infantry officer, holder of a black belt in tae kwan do, and a killer of many people in Vietnam. Anyone who met him in his civilian persona was shocked to learn what he did for a living.
The transformation of men into killers is carried out under the auspices of the best psychologists money can buy. The military knows how it's done. Personnel are systematically taught how to kill--not just the physical skills, but the emotional mindset. That is no small feat. Only about 1% of men are "natural killers," but most people can be molded into killers through a structured, unrelenting process.
Enlisted men and officers are not merely trained to be brutal, they are subjected to brutality, in order to toughen them up, and for the enjoyment of the one doing the brutalizing. (And most do enjoy it.) In airborne school, my husband's back was constantly covered with bruises, from his shoulders to his thighs, because the NCO standing in the door of the plane hit or kicked each airborne trainee as he jumped. That's one small example. For that brief time, the NCO was dominant over all the jumpers, and he kept them black and blue.
My husband once surprised me when he said being a soldier was easier in a war zone because back home, he explained, "You have to watch out for the friendlies."
Women in the military have made progress. Just a couple of decades ago, most women wouldn't even have reported rape or abuse. And recently women were admitted into Ranger school. Since this is a tactical leadership course, and women have traditionally not played a major role in combat, the Ranger tab was previously not available to women.
Rank and dominance are all-important in the structure of the military. Rape is often a crime of dominance, more than sexual desire. My comment was about the link between the purpose and the training of the military, and the prevalence of rape within their ranks.
Nothing in my comment suggested women should tolerate rape under any circumstances. Your comment shows you missed the point entirely.
You left wing lying, self-serving parasites.. You are employing the same tactics as minority (blacks) parasites. Its part coercion, part pretense victimology, part provocation and unrelenting psychopathic hatred on your part. You are parasites. You practice sexual politics and physical inducements. Then you turn on those you encouraged and ruined them Then you get special privileges. But its never enough. Now you claim that you are continually mistreated. You get more privileges or payoffs. Then you want more. It never ends. That is why it is so stupid to integrate men and women, white and minorities, etc. It does not work, never has and never will.
ReplyDelete