Rood Boncoeur
English 12- Period 5
Carolyn Axt
2018 Barnum Essay
22 March 2018
The military's dark secret
The Military for some is an escape, for others it is a necessity and for others it's a grim and dark hell.Sexual assault is something that even the military has to go through and anyone is in danger of facing sexual assault or harassment.Women in the military all around the world are constantly getting harassed and raped by other soldiers and nothing is being done about it .Many of these victims are not getting the justice they need and deserve and are more likely to be treated worse than the attacker and targeted because they were raped to keep them silent . Women and young men alike will be discouraged from joining any branches of the armed forces if this continues to happen and this would mean that our military may be short of soldiers during one of the most controversial times in united states history.
Sexual harassment of women and men in the military has been an issue for a long time and is now being talked about in public by officers and civilians and can affect a person’s psychological and emotional state , besides the psychological torture people have gone through just being in the military.
Succeeding in the military and ranking up can be very hard for the victims because of the trauma they have endured from
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A year and a half later, the Marines diagnosed her with a personality disorder and deemed her psychologically unfit for the Corps “Pentagon officials estimate up to 19,000 military sexual assaults occurred in 2011” and that number has only risen
From the end of the draft in 1973 to the military data from 2003, the number of women in service rose from 2 percent to 12 percent. A sample of military women studied in 1991 showed 69 percent to have experienced sexual harassmen...
In addition, they would dismiss the claims of sexual assault as they would even reverse a verdict of it. It reveals how little the military cares for the women in the
The common story from victims who report being raped, according to a Military Rape Crisis Center worker, is that they were “met with disbelief and skepticism, blamed for the crime, and disposed of one way or another,” (Kitfield). Until the military stops re-victimizing the victims it will never be able to completely eradicate rape from the ranks.
Thanks to courageous women like Stephanie Schroeder and the Tailhook scandal in 1991, sexual assault in the United States military does not carry the same stigma that it once did. Even Congress is “genuinely embarrassed by the extent of sexual assault in the military. It is conduct unbecoming a soldier and also makes recruiting women more difficult” (Rosen). Unfortunately, it is unlikely that sexual assault will be completely stopped. It can, however, decline through laws. Some proposed laws, like reinstating the ban on women in combat roles and Senator McCaskill’s bill, will not effectively shrink the epidemic. But until a proper solution is put into place, sexual assault will continue to permeate the United States military.
In the surveys they have referenced in the article, it displays military sexual trauma increases among women during and after military deployment of unwanted sexual contact in recent years. The authors have recruited and conducted of twenty-two US servicewomen telephone interviews from May 2011 to January 2012 to participate a qualitative study with or without their MST experiences. They asked the participants questions regarding about MST during deployment and other factors which are disturbing their reporting and accessing to services against the perpetrators. The issues of sexism, high stress levels, and failed military leadership contributing factors which put these servicewomen in jeopardy of MST. Some of the interview women said that servicewomen do not report MST due to lack of support from peers, unreliable confidentiality, stigma, and other barriers. The interviewees feel more comfortable opening to medical care services after deployment in the United States that grips with sexual assault cases than throughout deployment around the world. The participants have suggested to improving the MST services: by increasing awareness, prosecution, investigation, cultural shift, and independence service providers. The interviewees recognized that Military se...
Article 120, UCMJ, is rape and sexual assault generally. The manual for courts-martial provides a very detailed and informative definition of what Sexual Assault is. The goal of this article is not to regurgitate that definition for you, but simply to make you aware of some of the common themes and similarities seen in past military sexual assault cases, provide some clarity on the two reporting options and finally to make you aware of some of the resources available to you in the event you become a victim of sexual assault. Many military sexual assault cases share two prominent characteristics; the consumption of alcohol and lack of clearly given consent. The unfortunate and tragic truth is sexual assaults still occur within our ranks. However, we can mitigate our chances of becoming a victim by educating ourselves, being aware of common themes and staying proactive in the prevention of this despicable crime.
A soldier is one of the most honorable professions in society. These men and women risk their own lives in order to protect the citizens of America. Soldiers take part in selfless acts of fighting for their own country, and such an honorable duty deserves respect. Over the years, statistics have surfaced as soldiers have come forward, claiming to have been sexually assaulted while in the US military. This is not at small number of individuals, 46% of the U.S. military have been sexually assulted.6 The U.S. government needs to take action, to protect these people who have always protected us. The senate needs to pass a legislation that will protect the victims, put the assailants away, and treat the trauma that these individuals have faced.
The purpose of this essay is to discuss the issue of rape and sexual assault in the military. The number of attacks for rape and sexual assault in the military are at an all-time high. Women have recently been allowed to fight on the front line. While this may be a huge achievement for women-kind, for this woman, it is a very scary thought. I am a junior at Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences; a school geared towards students wishing to enter the medical field. I may be forced to join the military one day if a war breaks out and women are needed to protect the country. I would be happy to serve my country if I did not have to be scared of my fellow soldiers. Rape and sexual assault are major issues in the military and have been for many years without much effort to decrease the attacks. I am suggesting that unless the rape and sexual assault issue is fixed, the amount of people joining the military, specifically the women, will decrease greatly.
The military has become the epicenter for rape and abuse of women, all of which military officials have swept aside with all too little concern. Case after case of rape and sexual harassment are dismissed with little to no investigation made. The women of the military live scared of their male superiors and colleagues, and what they might do. Victims of sexual harassment or rape often see their pursuers honorably discharged and returned to society with no criminal record.
Sexual assault in the military has become one of the most controversial of all issues that have been discussed over the years. The topic has received extensive media coverage and has contributed to multiple media scandals. According to a Newsweek report done in 2011, women are more likely to be assaulted by fellow soldiers than killed in combat. The Department of Defense estimates approximately 19,000 sexual assaults occur per year amongst military personnel. That number is stifling considering that in the last year only 1,108 troops filed for investigation, and of those only 575 cases were processed. Out of the 575 processed cases only 96 went to Court Martial. Obviously from the numbers, sexual assault is a serious issue in the military. Much like in the civilian world there is bias when it comes to the guilt or innocence of the attacker, as well as the validity in the accounts of the accuser. I believe that the system in place may inadvertently contribute to the continuous rise in sexual assaults and that if this system isn’t fixed quickly, it will be detrimental to the organization as a whole. Sexual assault has seriously negative impacts on service members and their families. That impact carries over to their work, limiting mission readiness, and undermining national security.
Sexual Assault in the military has become an uprising problem. Within the military community, the term sexual assault carries a meaning that includes everything from violent sexual acts such as rape and forcible sodomy, to assault with intent to commit rape, unwanted sexual touching or attention and being a witness of the crime and not reporting it. Although most believe those who commit such heinous crimes are usually a person or persons with a violent record, violence is not a prerequisite for sexual assault. Once a service member becomes a victim of sexual assault, they become much more than a victim of just the crime itself. They fall victim to their own thoughts, never being able to trust their chain of command again, jeopardizing careers
... To come back to the last point, there are always sexual distractions in any career field, so why is it used to limit women’s integration in the military, when most cases of sexual based offences are done by male soldiers? Women in the military are more vulnerable than men, because they are the ones being raped by their male soldiers. Marti Ribeiro was raped by her colleague. She tried to report it, but if she were to file a complaint, she would be charged because she had her weapon unattended in a combat zone.
...ory as a risk factor for sexual harassment among U. S. Army soldiers. Violence and Victims, 13(3), 269-286.
The US Military has a long history and jaded history of issues with sexual assault. The number of women sexually assaulted in the US Military is 5% higher than that of women in the ficivilian population; there are an estimated 20,000 sexual assaults on women service members each year. This is not, however, a strictly female problem; it is estimated that nearly half of... ... middle of paper ... ... ese predators will be back in the civilian population and with no criminal record of sexual assault, they will pose a risk to many Americans.
The act of enlisting in war has been seen as an honorable task since the establishment of the military and its different branches. To take pride and to fight for one’s nation is the true meaning of being an American citizen. Like with every decision made in life, enlisting in the military has consequences. The act of war is often unpredictable and many measures are taken into count. These soldiers therefore, entrust their life to the military. However, what most soldiers never take into consideration before enlisting is the fact that a majority of them will be subjected to a form of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. Sexual abuse and harassment that occurs within their own respected military group. These soldiers get in trouble for reporting