Harman: women in military ‘more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.’
Harman: women in military ‘more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.’
In today’s LA Times, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) sheds light on the staggering number of sexual assaults within the military, stating, “Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq,” and calls on Congress and the military to do more to protect servicewomen:
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.” […]
The absence of rigorous prosecution perpetuates a culture tolerant of sexual assault — an attitude that says “boys will be boys.”
A Department of Defense report released this month found 2,688 reports of sexual assault in the military in FY2007. According to Harman, the number of reported military rapes jumped 73 percent from 2004 to 2006.
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And what does this say about “our boys” who are so courageously serving our country in uniform ?
March 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pmLooks like sexual assault is on the march in Iraq.
Hey Chimpy
Sure the “terrists” don’t (rightfully) hate us for our allowing of sexual assault ?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:04 pmIt says that they are not being given adequate supervision and training.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:05 pmYou do realize that neo-cons will only use this to prove their neanderthal view that women shouldn’t be in the military to begin with? It’s their fault they got raped because they wanted to serve.
PLEASE understand this isn’t my viewpoint, I’m just throwing out what I’m sure people will say and completely believe.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:08 pmYou need “supervision” to be informed/told that sexual assault is wrong ?
And you need to be “trained” to not sexually assault someone ?
That doesn’t inspire much confidence…………….
March 31st, 2008 at 4:09 pmCongress and the military to do more to protect servicewomen
March 31st, 2008 at 4:09 pmWe will see… but my guess is all enlisted military are considered GI’s or Government Issue and nothing more. Rape has been a long time problem and handled poorly if at all.
During the Vietnam war, I had a female friend in the military who was raped, reported it to the MP’s and was laughed at. End of story.
Since rape really has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with power, it seems likely that there is a correlation between an increase in rapes and a general sense of helplessness and lack of power. And rage.
In addition to the “boys will be boys” attitude of the military, perhaps the armed services simply do not want to address the underlying causes — or even admit they exist.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:10 pmIf it’s okay in the military academies, why not everywhere? Didn’t I read recently that a female soldier was prosecuted for filing a rape complaint against a fellow soldier? I’ll bet the incidences are far more numerous that those reported…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:11 pm# MapleStreet Says:
March 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pm
And what does this say about “our boys” who are so courageously serving our country in uniform?
they fit right in?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:15 pmbobcat - my thoughts too…
March 31st, 2008 at 4:16 pmwonder when the first one will show up here…
see, when idiot son was yammering about the ‘rape rooms’, we all thought it was in outrage; when in actual fact it was jealousy. for the u.s. military and u.s. corporations like kbr, rape is a benefit of membership.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:18 pmI served as a photographer in the U.S. Navy back in the 1970’s. At the time, women made up about 7% or 8% of the military, and it was just generally accepted as part of the culture that the women were there for the pleasure of the men. I have been physically groped in many darkrooms by my fellow shipmates who felt they were entitled to do so — even had one guy try to remove my clothing while I was developing prints. Resisting or complaining brought (at best) responses of “well, you WANTED to be here!” or “what do you want us to do about it?” or “he was just joking with you — you’re way too sensitive!” and (at worst) being branded a pariah and saying goodbye to decent assignments and promotions.
When I read about the Tailhook incident in Las Vegas years later, I wasn’t surprised. Saddened, but not surprised. I feel the same way now, because I realize nothing has changed. WHEN is this going to be taken seriously? WHEN are our women in uniform going to be valued as highly as the men are?
March 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pmIf they are allowed to get away with it then it will happen.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:20 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
March 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
When I read about the Tailhook incident in Las Vegas years later, I wasn’t surprised. Saddened, but not surprised. I feel the same way now, because I realize nothing has changed. WHEN is this going to be taken seriously? WHEN are our women in uniform going to be valued as highly as the men are?
When men decide to stick up for what’s right , as opposed to their “buddies”.
Believe anyone is worth being your “buddy” that would grope a woman that is unwilling ?
I’d like to snap their arms off…………
March 31st, 2008 at 4:22 pmHold the officers, especially unit commanders, accountable, for education, prevention, and, in the event of incidents, for investigation and prosecutions. Take their careers if need be until the problem is cured by leadership!
March 31st, 2008 at 4:25 pm“Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.” A damning and defensible claim.
First as an enlisted military policeman and military police investigator, then later as an officer in the reserver components—while simultaneously working as a police officer in the then eleventh largest metropolitan are in the nation, I have long followed this issue. Let me postulate a couple of ideas as to why this complex problem has surfaced.
Over time, more victims of rape and other forms of sexual assault have become willing to step forward, demonstrating to some observers that this is skyrocketing problem. While I don’t at all disagree that—particularly for individual victims—this is a horrible, injurious crime, it’s is also fair to point out that historically, such offenses have been vastly under reported. That makes any statistical increase in reported offenses appear to be much larger than the actual number, both reported and largely unreported, that take place. From the point of view of a criminal justice statistician, this ‘increase’ generally is a good thing—not a bad thing—precisely because it pushes the number of reported crimes closer to the number of actual crimes, as measured though victimization studies, and gets us closer to a truer picture of the incident rate.
This alone does not let commanders or others involved in the process off the hook: a case can be made that rape and other sexual offenses are intolerably higher than one would or should expect in the military.
There are also other factors inescapably involved: one unintended consequence of lowering recruiting standards is the admission of less qualified, and—I believe, far more likely to offend—individuals who survive screening standards and basic training, and go on to commit such offenses. That is not to say that all such ‘lower standard’ recruits do, or that those traditionally recruited who met higher standards did not, but I believe that a study of identified offenders would support this contention.
Sexual assaults, and the tolerance of them by some parties, is also mirrored in the larger, non-military community and in our culture. It is difficult to show clear correlations between cultural markers and the incidence of offenses but, as a long time observer, I believe that links exist.
Rape and other felonious sexual assaults are considered a serious crime. Rape itself ranks just behind homicide as the most serious of offenses, ahead of robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft and arson. All are considered Part I—or Index—crimes, with rape and included non-rape felonious sexual assaults considered the second most serious offense category in the Part I group.
The military must recognize this problem and continue to seek improvement in investigating and adjudicating these offense, and Congress should consider changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice which would push both the conviction for such an offense or the declination to prosecute such an offense to the next command level for automatic review.
Victims and advocates should continue to speak out and demand that the military do a better job of handling this issue than they have done to date.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:37 pm…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.
This is referring to Article XV of the UCMJ, which allows for commanders to issue non-judicial punishments. Though I have no numbers to support what punishments were given out in these cases of rape, people should know that an Article XV can also result in jail time, demotion, and forfeiture of pay. It is not necessarily true that an Artivle XV punishment is always a “slap on the wrist”.
That having been said, I hope any soldiers that raped anyone else, let alone a fellow soldier, were castrated and tied down in the desert with their genitalia stuffed in their mouths. And, no, that is not in the UCMJ. But it ought to be.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:44 pmI’m certainly not excusing rape - it’s barbaric - and the consequences should be certain. However, it’s not surprising. Years fighting in a hell hole with out any sex - just look at inmates correctional facilities.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:51 pmMCMetal Says:
March 31st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
When men decide to stick up for what’s right , as opposed to their “buddies”.
Believe anyone is worth being your “buddy” that would grope a woman that is unwilling ?
I’d like to snap their arms off…………
_______________________________________
In the interest of fairness, even though the percentage of men who saw their women shipmates as gropable flesh was far higher than I had experienced in the civilian world, there were many men who treated ALL their shipmates (men and women) with respect. I hope I didn’t imply that all men in uniform had a cavalier attitude toward sexual assault.
I remember one incident when I and a fellow photographer were working in the print room busily churning out prints for a job with a tight deadline — he at the enlarger, I at the developing trays. He and I were both petty officers — E-5 for me and E-6 for him. A Chief Petty Officer enters the darkroom (outranking us both), walks up behind me at the developing table, presses his groin into my backside, puts his arms around me from behind, and begins massaging my breasts. He was so overt there was no possible way I could misinterpret his intent. I said, “Chief, if you don’t remove your hands and your privates from my body, you will get christened with this tray of Dektol.” At the sound of my voice, my partner looked away from his enlarger just in time to see what the Chief was doing and his backing away. He calmly walked up to the Chief and absolutely reamed him, saying that if I didn’t bring the Chief up on charges, he would. The Chief slunk away and never bothered either of us again.
There are people in the military (and everywhere else) who will do what’s right. It’s a shame they so often get overshadowed by the creeps.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pmOne of the Iraqi Vets that I housed for 6 months said that Sexual Harassment and Assault are very prevalent in Iraq. She decided to leave the service because of it and that she seemed to have no recourse. She said she was lucky to be 6′3″ and can handle herself.
March 31st, 2008 at 4:56 pm“… if I didn’t bring the Chief up on charges, he would.”
and did he, molly?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:00 pm…
I’m sorry, maybe I have seen too much or maybe I’m confused but this is just a microcosm of our society. Women in America are raped regularly by opportunists who get away with it most of the time.
Women who complain or bring charges in our society are re-victomized…..when we stop doing that and start dealing with this crime as a crime….it will get better.
In the meantime, our teenagers who smoke a little pot and get caught in texas are doing hard time…..does that make any sense?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:04 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
March 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
There are people in the military (and everywhere else) who will do what’s right. It’s a shame they so often get overshadowed by the creeps.
I apologize on behalf of all males on how you were treated ; and I’m sorry , but your fellow petty officer didn’t do enough.
I would have thrown the Chief Petty Officer through the ship’s hull……..Who’s to say he just didn’t repeat his ‘performance’ on you on some other woman later on ?
March 31st, 2008 at 5:15 pmAs Cheney says, “they volunteered”.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:31 pmMolly, I’m really sorry that happened to you. I left two jobs for that very reason. In one case, the owner was the problem. I found out later that the woman I replaced left for the very same reason I did. The owner’s brother found out the next day and from what I heard beat him up pretty bad.
I stopped working in offices over 12 years ago because of it. I hope the Military starts cracking down on the offenders with long jail terms.
March 31st, 2008 at 5:44 pmApparently my statement of “And what does this say about “our boys” who are so courageously serving our country in uniform ?” was a little too vague. So let me rephrase it:
Someone with a Harvard MBA and stellar record is much less likely to have enlist than someone from a poorer background with poorer prospects for employment or advancement. Additionally, the Harvard MBA is more likely to quickly be bequeathed with a higher rank.
Additionally, the warrior is put in deplorable conditions with a high degree of violence, fear and frustration.
To add to the problem, the Iraq war has shifted the military from tasks involving a high degree of regimentation (blow up that bridge and take that hill), to jobs requiring a high degree of professionalism and individual responsibility.
Concurrently, not being to meet their quota of cannon fodder, the military has had to lower its admission standards including physical, mental, criminal background, etc.
So is it any surprise that rape may occur more frequently. And this is in addition to the “traditional” military bases of the 60s and 70s - bases where the incidence of rape was markedly higher in the vicinity of the base.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:27 pmMapleStreet Says: And what does this say about “our boys” who are so courageously serving our country in uniform ?
TheToonGuy responds: It says that they are not being given adequate supervision and training.
It says that and more. This won’t be popular, I expect, but this is what you get with an all-volunteer, i.e. professional, army. You get people that, frankly, love violence. Not exclusively, perhaps, but to a significant degree and rape is far more about violence and subjugation than it is about sex.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:33 pmWayne A. Schneider says: That having been said, I hope any soldiers that raped anyone else, let alone a fellow soldier, were castrated and tied down in the desert with their genitalia stuffed in their mouths. And, no, that is not in the UCMJ. But it ought to be.
Good lord! How Inquisitorial of you! I guess that would fall under extra judicial punishment.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:41 pmJohnR Says: I’m certainly not excusing rape - it’s barbaric - and the consequences should be certain. However, it’s not surprising. Years fighting in a hell hole with out any sex - just look at inmates correctional facilities.
…. who, were it not for their barbaric confinement, would be upstanding members of society?
March 31st, 2008 at 6:43 pmMCMetal Says: …and I’m sorry , but your fellow petty officer didn’t do enough.
I would have thrown the Chief Petty Officer through the ship’s hull……..Who’s to say he just didn’t repeat his ‘performance’ on you on some other woman later on ?
Thereby screwing up the whole issue. To act as you suggest would have resulted in a Captain’s Mast for the crime of striking a superior officer. The “relatively minor” offense of groping a junior of the opposite sex would doubtless have been lost in the shuffle.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:50 pmDon’t try to compare vioent rapists to people in prison.
70% or more are non-violent drug offenders who are methodically turned into violent (smart) criminals by our justice system. I would say that before they were put in prison that they had just a good a chance of being upstanding members of society as anyone else in their neighborhood……..
prison in America is a business. Newt Ginritch said in the 90’s that the goal of republcians and big business was to have 10% of Americans behind bars.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:59 pmI’m flagging this one……..
March 31st, 2008 at 7:02 pmI agree, Fred.
Flagged.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:26 pmNo, don’t flag him, he’s right.
In all ethical codes there are things that overshadow all other aspects of a situation. If you strike a superior officer, all bets are off. Nobody cares why you did it.
Don’t flag that guy, geeze.
March 31st, 2008 at 9:15 pmboreas Says: The “relatively minor” offense of groping a junior of the opposite sex would doubtless have been lost in the shuffle.
Fred Says: I’m flagging this one……..
Zooey Says: I agree, Fred.
Flagged.
Don’t you people understand the purpose of the quotation marks above? I personally believe that the groping offense is far from minor but am convinced that the Navy would have regarded it as such when compared to striking a superior officer.
Anyway, even if I did think of it as minor - and again, I don’t, where the hell do you two get off flagging someone because they make a statement you think that you might disagree with? Sheesh!
March 31st, 2008 at 11:30 pmFrom what I’ve heard, “boys will be boys” is the literal message to women in the military. Sounds like those numbers are pretty low.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:40 pmboreas Says:
March 31st, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Anyway, even if I did think of it as minor - and again, I don’t, where the hell do you two get off flagging someone because they make a statement you think that you might disagree with? Sheesh!
Sorry if I misunderstood your intent, boreas. Please don’t assume that I thought I might disagree with the statement — I did disagree with it. There’s ugly shit happening on this blog lately, and misunderstandings will happen.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:11 amI just want to thank ThinkProgress for highlighting important stories like this when over half the formerly-progressive formerly-dedicated-to-news sites online have disfigured themselves into mini-MSM Hillary-bashing machines.
This is the type of story the online news community can make sure don’t get buried by all the nonsense out there. Change is not going to happen without information.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:18 amer, *doesn’t* get buried. I guess I was thinking of all the stories TP writes up.
April 1st, 2008 at 10:20 amwintermd Says: Send Ted Kennedy in. He will save them all.
Somebody GOOGLE Kennedy and that bridge
And did you Google “that bridge”? If you had you’d know the name of it, (Chappaquiddick) and how much it has to do with rape or any other sort of sexual offense, (nothing at all).
Lord, you wing nuts never let go of anything, even long after none of you can remember what it was really about.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:14 amI know this is overblown X 100. It makes me sick and it dishonors those that actually have been sexually assaulted. It is comparable to military people seeing the psychiatrist. There are a few that get out of certain punishment, duties, or maybe even get to go home because they have legitimate, debilitaing mental illness. All other soldiers are aware of this. For some less scrupulous (sp?), a light bowl goes on. Hmmmm….if I say “A”, I either get out of things I don’t like or get goodies I do like. This congresswoman is enabling scumbags. Note: Not that it will matter to some who crucify me, but I’m all about preventing and punishing sexual assault of anyone.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:17 pmoops..meant to say light “bulb”
April 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pm