Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Rape and the Military

We are all aware that there is something seriously wrong with the U.S. military.  I know we need one, I know soldiers are not to blame for the missions they are sent on, but they are to blame for their behavior overseas.  Frankly, I'm getting sick of every time you criticize the military being call un-American.  I know and am thankful we have a military, god know we need one with this administration.  What am I saying?  I'm saying when I read stories about the rape and harassment of our female soldiers by our male soldiers something needs to be done.  1 in 7 Deployed Female Soldiers Suffer from Sexual Trauma. According to the article women in this situation are less likely to report, and that is less likely than civilian victims are unlikely to report sexual assault.  Every branch of military service is going to expand their sexual assault prevention programs.  This is one of those things where I just can't understand why these programs weren't comprehensive to begin with, and why we aren't hearing about disciplinary action of the prison variety.  

On a related note, I recently heard that pornography is shown to soldiers before they head out into combat situations.  This is standard practice.  Anyone besides me think there is a correlation between pornography and violence?  I think the military is an anti-women organization.  Sexist slurs are used as insults to men early on in their careers.  It is a misogynist environment, and looking at it in that context there is no surprise to me that women in the military find themselves as targets for these rage.  

2 comments:

J.N. said...

re: 1 in 7

That is a pretty obscenely horrifying statistic. I normally don't post without jokes, but, uh... wow.

Kari said...

1 in 6 women, internationally will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Then again there are fewer women in the military then in the rest of the world.