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Sexual assault in the united states military
Sexual assault in the united states military
Sexual assault in the united states military
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The Army Policy on Sexual Harassment/Assault and Response Prevention.
The effects of sexual harassment and sexual assault will always have a drastic and negative impact on any unit in our Army. Therefore the Army has taken measures to help prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment and sexual assaults. The Army has created a program called SHARP (sexual harassment/assault and response prevention) to help prevent this type of behavior in today’s ranks across the entire Army.
Army Program
Sharp in today’s Army consists of two types of actions, sexual harassment and sexual assault. Between the two types they are completely different actions but one will lead to the other if complaints are not filled with unit Sharp representatives. The
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Verbal sexual harassment would be calling co-workers by names such as honey or baby and not by the Soldiers last name. Another example of sexual harassment is telling sexual jokes, whistling, and explicit cadences during runs are just some of the many verbal sexual harassment meanings that the Army classifies. The next category that falls within sexual harassment is nonverbal. Nonverbal is exactly how it sounds, the U.S Department of the Army classifies this as “blowing kisses to another person”, or “licking one’s lips in a suggestive manner” (2014, p.69). Nonverbal sexual harassment is also any type of explicit picture posted where any one person or persons could see the picture. The last category that falls into the three categories as sexual harassment is physical contact. A physical contact that falls into sexual harassment is blocking doorways so that the victim has to brush up against the subject that is blocking the entrance. Another form of physical contact that the U.S Department of the Army classifies is “patting, pinching, and grabbing” (2014, …show more content…
Since the program has begun the Army has seen increase in sexual assaults due to knowing how to report and trust in their units. The annual report on FY17 (fiscal year 2017) on sexual assault in the military has increased by nearly 10 percent. Sexual assault reporting has increased by over 88 percent within department of defense since FY12 (Department of Defence, 2018, p.8.)
The Army has produced a lot of ways to seek help with sources and a hotline number. The website has multiple different resources for anyone looking for information such as if you’re a leader, responder, transitioning service member, family member or friend (Department of Defence DoD safe helpline). The website also has a section for understanding sexual assault which has a lot of good information to help with reporting options and information just for men.
Conclusions and Future
In 1996, Captain Derrick Robinson, Sergeant Delmar Simpson, and Sergeant Nathanael Beech were arraigned for their suspected involvement in one of the biggest sex scandals the United States Military had seen. According to CNN, between these three men, charges of rape and adultery were pending in a huge case of sexual misconduct against female soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland (CNN, 2996). Following this incident, the United States Military took it upon themselves to open a telephone hotline to encourage the reporting of similar harsh crimes. Furthermore, the spike in reporting influenced extensive research to examine the prevalence of rape against women soldiers in the U.S. Military (Titunik, 2000). This paper will explore the dynamics of rape against women soldiers in the military and the research done on its prevalence.
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.
Service members Legal Defense Network, ""Conduct Unbecoming: Sixth annual report on Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass.” (2000): 1. Print.
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...
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.
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.
Roberts, Barry S. and Richard A. Mann. ?Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: A Primer.? n.pag. On-line. Internet. 5 Dec 2000. Available WWW:
Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is what Veterans using the VA Healthcare system refer to when discussing sexual harassment and sexual assault that takes place in military settings. “Much of the research literature with military veterans identifies the population of interest through the use of MST screening, for which a positive response can indicate a range of experiences, including rape, sexual Assault, experienced by the veteran during military service” (Street & Stafford, n.d.). Although most people focus the attention on women service members being the victims in a lot of the cases at VA clinics, “data indicates that 50% of survivors are actually men. For example, a 2011 review (Allard, Nunnink, Gregory, Klest, & Platt, 2011) of peer reviewed articles published up to December 2009 identified 74 articles focused on MST, but of those, only two articles focused on men only” (O’Brien, Keith, & Shoemaker, 2015). Sexual Trauma does not only occur during training or peacetime, the stress of war could be associated with rising rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment. “Research with Persian Gulf War military personnel conducted by Jessica Wolfe and colleagues found that rates of sexual assault (7%), physical sexual harassment (33%) and verbal sexual harassment (66%) were higher than those typically found in peacetime military samples” (Street & Stafford, n.d.). None the less, whether a service member is male or female or off to war vs training on US soil, the traumatic experience of falling victim to sexual assault forever change a person’s well-being. “Physical and sexual assault contribute to long-lasting physical and emotional suffering among men and women across the life span” (Bryan, McNaugton-Cassill, Osman, & Hernandez, 2013) therefor suicide rates are rising in sexual assault victims “because they adversely affect the victim’s sense of identity and self-worth, such that the victim begins to perceive him- or herself
The US Military has been one of the most powerful and respected fighting forces in the world; it is also a hotbed for sexual assault. Each year, thousands of men and women take an oath to serve and protect their country and each thousands of military service members are sexually assaulted. “Earlier this week, Pentagon officials released a new report which estimated more than 70 sexual assaults occur in the military each day.”(Shane III) Fear of retaliation, both personal and professional, and humiliation stop many service members from reporting their sexual assaults. Those few that make the bold choice to report incidents of sexual assault often finds themselves disappointed by the outcome; assaults that do get reported have an incredibly low rate of conviction of the offender. The US Military has proven over time that they are incapable of effectively dealing with the sexual assault problem that it faces.
According to legal dictionary (2013), sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behavior or advances, appeals for sexual errands, and other form of physical or verbal conduct or behavior that portrays sex nature and tends to make the working environment offensive or hostile. Any behavior or remarks that take such forms constitute sexual harassment when: Compliance to such conduct happens either implicitly or explicitly based on employment of an individual, rejection or compliance to such conduct is used to make decisions during employment and when such conduct interferes or affects performance of a person at the workplace. Sexual harassment ta...
Sexual abuse in the military is a prominent issue that many women in the armed forces have to face on a daily basis. However, many women entering the military do not realize the dangers that they face when they enlist. In order
The program alone support victims and give resources to all of across the Army. In 2017 FY, the reports of sexual assault and harassment nearly went up by 500. The program educates service members the signs of sexual assault and harassment and how it occurs. They want service members to help reduce and prevent the actions of sexual assault and harassment. But, in reality as the generations come up in the Army, lots of service members let it slip in their minds and just forget everything they were taught.
For some, sexual harassment and assault seem almost like myths or bad dreams. For others, it's a living reality. The United States Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” Sexual harassment and assault are demeaning, terrifying, and forceful behaviors. And yet, it’s happening every day.
“Sexual harassment is harassment involving the making of unwanted sexual advances or obscene remarks” (sexual harassment). It can happen to men and women by men or women. It causes a lot of distress and even emotional scarring on people. Ignoring and not doing anything worsens the situation and creates a sexual harassment rich environment. Sexual harassment has become more prominent in schools.
For instance some of the sign of the sexual harassment can be from small comments on women's breast, unwanted body contact, offensive graphic pictures being sent directly to any individual. Sexual harassment can happen in a form of belittling remarks regarding specific ge...