Newsflash: Assaulted Service Women Sue the Military by Francesca Tarant reports on seventeen veteran and active-duty service members who were raped, sexually assaulted or harassed while serving their country who, on Tuesday, announced that they
from Ms. Magazine blog 2/15/11
filed a groundbreaking class-action lawsuit against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. They charge the Department of Justice leaders for failing to prevent, investigate and prosecute the crimes.
In light of the lawsuit and to show my support to these veterans and active-duty service members for their courage to speak up, I am republishing my post of March 4, 2010: Raped In Service To Your Country
It’s said that there’s a little bit of Hitler in all of us. Jung’s shadow side. I don’t know about Hitler but Abu Ghraib is definitely inside me today. I’m the torturer. I’m beating and humiliating the male American soldiers who raped their military “sisters”. But my rage doesn’t stop there. It includes all the commandants who turned a blind eye. It includes the military decision-makers who gave the rapists honorable discharges. As one point of view goes: “These guys are in a pressure cooker over there. They’re really good men traumatized by the brutality they see and they’d never do it at home.” I don’t care. Do you hear me, I DON’T CARE. They did it. It was wrong. They don’t even have the so-called legitimate excuse that it’s the enemy: “he woulda killed me if I hadn’t killed him scenario.”
As reported by Nancy Gibbs for Time magazine this March 2010 Sexual Assaults on Women Soldiers: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell “The Pentagon’s latest figures show that nearly 3,000 women were sexually assaulted in fiscal year 2008, up 9% from the year before; among women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number rose 25%. When you look at the entire universe of female veterans, close to a third say they were victims of rape or assault while they were serving — twice the rate in the civilian population. [And]the problem is even worse than that. The Pentagon estimates that 80% to 90% of sexual assaults go unreported.”
I’ve heard some people say that women brought this on themselves by pushing for equality in society and in the military. I want to scream. When, oh when, will the mantra of blaming the victim end? Thirty+ years ago I was a volunteer with the Rape Crisis Council. I was the public face going out and making speeches. I heard the same thing over and over: they (woman who was raped) shouldn’t have been wearing “that.” Well with fatigues that argument’s moot. So now we’re back to location, location, location. She shouldn’t have been on that street, on that date, in that bar or, in this case, in that country. That’s forgetting that, like the men, they chose to serve our country. Irrelevant if you were/are against the war, we ought to support the troops; the individual men and women who are putting their lives on the line and, sadly, in the case of women, putting their sexual freedom on the line as well.
The advice of the military chain-of-command perpetuates the woman’s responsibility in her own rape “Don’t go to the latrine alone.” A woman “finally” goes to the powder room alone and she pays by being raped and sodomized while another USA male soldier stands guard. This is not what was meant by the buddy system or that your comrades will protect your back. The attacks are apparently commonplace enough that many women will not drink anything after 7pm because then they might have to go to the bathroom during the night, opening them up for sexual brutality.
So this is what a minimum of 1 out of 3 female soldiers could come home with:
- PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) from the war itself
- PTSD from being raped or assaulted
- Inability to trust their comrades again
- Inability to trust the military again
- No expectation that the system will be fair and equitable
- Unwillingness to serve their country again
- Inability to trust that their employer will support them
- Fear of going to the bathroom after 7pm
- Scared to speak up against injustice because of being ostracized from the group
- Unwillingness to let their daughters, and perhaps their sons, sign up for military service
There was some hope back in 2007 voiced by Helen Benedict, Salon.com, in The private war of women soldiers “I am not claiming that sexual persecution is universal in the military, or that it is inevitable. Several soldiers I interviewed told me that if a commander won’t tolerate the mistreatment of women, it will not happen, and studies back this up.” But we know the numbers of sexual assault victims have grown since that article. It’s difficult to know if reporting has improved (there is now a DOD website for reporting assaults) or if actual cases have increased. But that’s not the discussion that needs to be held. Instead there needs to be a rallying cry with action that says: We don’t mistreat women nor tolerate their mistreatment under any circumstances. As an officer or as an enlisted man/woman I will respect and protect my comrades-in-arms regardless of their gender.
PS-I think it’s unfortunate that a lawsuit is necessary to get the military to take both preventive and post assault action against these atrocities within their own ranks but to quote one of the victims “I’m still coping. The VA refused me care [emphasis added] —even for my broken jaw. Susan’s [Burke, the attorney for the vets in the lawsuit] office has been my biggest supporter, letting me know I’m not alone.”
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Jesus. I don’t know how I missed this news. It’s…horrifying.
I remember when I attended the Air Force Academy back in the early 90′s. I had my first sexual harassment incident my freshman year, but proudly found a way to address the situation personally instead of going through official channels. It worked.
When I suffered a sexual assault my sophomore year, it was a little more serious. I tried the same tactics as before, except this time the perpetrator was my supervisor. So I gave HIS supervisor a “heads up,” who then insisted it be an official incident.
At the time, I was really mad about that. The “trial” was very much about me and what I did to deserve the treatment. Other women came to me to say this person had done similar things to them too, but when they saw how I was treated, refused to come forward. The night of the incident, I went to the rooms of 4 male friends asking for help. That information was used against me to portray me as “loose.” Ultimately, my supervisor and I received the same punishment, since they couldn’t tell who was to blame.
After that, I told younger women to never, ever report sexual misconduct unless it was violent. I’m hear to say that advice is wrong. If we are brave enough to serve our country, we must be brave enough to protect each other.
This post is a good beginning, because we need to get this out in the open. We have to stop covering it up to lead the culture change. We have to tell our male counterparts that sexual jokes are not appropriate. The code of conduct has to apply to friendly forces.
Jen,
I’m sorry that you were both sexually harassed and sexually assaulted. Then the added humiliation, loss of control and trust that happened with the trial must have been horrible.
I’m glad to hear that you would change your advice about reporting; that being said it’s still not an easy road. Cherry
Jen,
Thanks for sharing this. We never think we know someone who has been victimized this way and then your voice. It’s horrifying on so many levels, maddening on so many more, and discouraging when we realize that the system doesn’t work as it should.
I had heard this news about the class action suit with much satisfaction. Once again it’s women who have the courage to finally blow the whistle. Time Magazine once heralded women whistle blowers, where are the men? Behind the scenes, in denial, hiding, unprincipled? We need to work together to fix wrongs for everyone.
It breaks my heart to hear your story, Jen, but it heartens me knowing how able you are to turn every trial into something positive to share. ~Dawn
Wow. I can not believe this is happening. In 2011? In our military? The bastion of honor and integrity?
My first thought was in a day and age of Dont’ Ask, Don’t Tell – how many men are victims of this type of assault also that can’t report it for fear of being kicked out?
Who is teaching morals in America today? Clearly counseling during times of conflict needs to be more prevalent – perhaps salt peter or other “limpening” drugs also. This is ridiculous and all of those commanders that did not address this outright and loudly – forget the ones turning a blind eye – SHAME ON YOU!!
Thanks for such a passionate response Daria. More people getting upset and speaking up are needed to change how the military deals with rape and sexual assault. And yes, male service members have been raped.
My daughter, whom I will describe as ‘model-gorgeous’, spent 10 yrs in the Air Force, and left as a Major. She did a tour in Iraq, and various state-side billets. She won various performance awards, and was Officer of The Year several times at her commands. In other words, an outstanding performer. But–like many of the women who have written to you, she, too, experienced the ‘come-ons’ and leering solicitations from male co-workers. I asked her how she handled that, and she replied that she first had a one-on-0ne conversation with the ‘gentleman’, with whom she made it verbally clear that she wasn’t ‘going that way’, and that her career was HER career, and she wasn’t about to screw it up. (pardon the pun). If the misbehaviour continued, she again confronted the man, and made it quite clear that she would beat his ass to a pulp if necessary, if he didn’t back off. (she took a self-defense course, and wickedly enjoyed it!) She also made it clear that the very next incident she experienced would not only go to the command, it would go to public to the world, and she would do everything necessary to embarrass, humiliate, and/or socially torture the guy and ruin his miserable little life. She says that, the whole time she was telling the guy this, she was smiling and looking him directly into the eyes, and she always saw fear, confusion, and embarrassment–exactly what she was looking to see! Women should not have to put up with this crap, and they shouldn’t have to go to these absurd lengths, simply to do their jobs, or stive to keep their integrity and their careers intact. But–until some idiot guys learn the lesson, and some field commanders learn that women servicemembers mean “NO!”, then individual women will have to take direct action for their safety and well-being, and NOT be intimidated by a command structure which may, or may NOT, support them. ….just the opinion of an old Navy Chief…
Wayne,
Thanks for sharing your daughter’s story. She sounds like an impressive, strong woman and you sound like a proud dad. That being said, it’s disgusting and annoying that she had to keep fending off guys. And it’s sad that I want to say “she’s one of the lucky one’s” because it didn’t go further than harassment. Geez.
Your opinion is spot on. Cherry
Oh My! Thanks for writing this article. Let there be no doubt: I totally agree that the responsible parties should be held accountable – there can be NO excuse.
And to the victims: I sincerely hope that we soon can say: “You are no longer alone”.
Shared on FB and Twitter. Encouraging everyone to spread the word!
It is astounding that intramilitary rape and sexual assault to swept under the table by military. One of their ugly secrets. Thanks for sharing this Irene so more people will speak out against it. Cherry
Wow, Cherry! This is a timely post for me. I have been invited to speak to a group of veterans returning from Iraq who are pregnant. Before this, I did not know there was such a situation. I didnt know how prevalent rape is in the military. I am preparing for this by visiting a site funded by grants that supports this population, and speaking to leaders of support groups in the VA. The military needs to address this big problem. Thanks for bringing this up !
One of the leaders sent me this link to look at:
http://www.stopmilitaryrape.org/reports.html
You’re welcome Kathy. Many people don’t know about this, which is part of the problem. Hopefully the lawsuit will generate both action and support for the victims. Cherry
Cherry, you continue to keep this issue front and center. There can never be too much written, too much pressure, and too much indignation. You give voice where there is too much cowering silence. ~Dawn