Essay On Military Enlisting

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

such cases and the consequences for these actions are little to none. These actions should be stopped and better monitoring a long with proper punishments should be enforced.
A soldier’s life is put at risk daily, as their safety fluctuates depending on the state of war. Besides just dealing with warfare, most soldiers encounter sexual harassment from their own members and respected officials. These soldiers become victims of verbal, physical, and psychological abuse. The act of sexual harassment is unbiased within the military for both men and women suffer from this calamity. The majority of the cases involving sexual assault never become public. Victims fear the consequences of telling officials, and some even suffer for reporting the events. The military does not execute the proper procedures to stop or lessen the act of sexual harassment.
The term sexual abuse is referend to unwanted sexual acts generally involving the genitals of an individual. These are sexual acts done without consent and can vary in different situations from minimal contact to rape. This does not exclude rude and provocative comments made by individuals that are also a form of sexual abuse and harassment. Contrary to popular belief, females are not the only victims of sexual abuse and sexual harassment in the military. According to a survey done by the Department of Defense Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members, “41 percent of women and 20 percent of men reported experiencing crude or offensive behavior and 23 percent of women and 8 percent of men reported receiving unwanted sexual attention.” (Defense Manpower Data Center, Human Resources Strategic Assessment Program, 2013).
Although these numbers may be smaller than the ones involving female victims, they clearly portrait sexual abuse and sexual harassment as a problem involving both genders.

In addition, having in consideration that the military is mostly made up of males, twenty percent is a high amount of male soldiers subjected to sexual assault and sexual harassment in reality. Victims of sexual abuse and harassment are generally involved in different situations, but according to a study performed by the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, “men are more likely to experience military sexual assault and harassment from a same-sex perpetrator, whereas the perpetrators of women’s military sexual assault and harassment experiences are most often of the opposite sex”. (Street et al).
Regardless of gender, these victims are both abused and harassed, most of which deal with long-term effects. These effects can range from emotional problems, to trust issues, and even mental conditions like depression. The Department of Veteran Affairs describes the effects of these inhuman acts as MST, or military sexual trauma. In most cases, victims have a hard time readjusting to sexual acts. With the trauma inflicted by the attackers, these individuals fear sexual contact and

affection.
Emotionally conflicted individuals will take their anger out on their family and other people, for these sexual assaulters have seriously traumatized them. “Anger is often a component of survivors’ reaction to sexual assault and harassment, along with an aggressive, hypervigilant stance toward the world, to ward off being “prey” again,” this leads to the aid of psychological therapy. (Bell, Karpenko, & Turchik). Other forms of emotional distress includes sadness and grief, but because of the great impact society has on the way males are viewed, males are often less likely to express their grief. With that being said, “women survivors of sexual assault or harassment may oscillate between not allowing themselves to fully engage with their feelings of anger and periodically displaying explosive outbursts.” (Bell, Karpenko, & Turchik).
Sexual confusion is another effect sexually assaulted individuals deal with. After being assaulted by the same sex or the opposite sex, their views and morals are often changed. Not knowing right from wrong, male victims are more likely to be confused; “gender identity may be less of an issue for women who experience sexual assault or harassment.” (Bell, Karpenko, & Turchik). Some victims blame their sexual orientation as the reason why they were attacked. With sexual equality in the military being slow but progressive, a lot of soldiers who are referred to as gay, or lesbian, are often targeted by these sexual offenders. In addition, because of the harsh impacts of society, male victims are judged greater than female victims are. In some cases, these males are blamed for being assaulted, “as studies show that male victims of rape are blamed more than female victims; are often assumed to be gay.” (Turchik & Edwards).
Other effects of sexual assault and sexual harassment include eating disorders and self-esteem related problems. After being subject to rape, victims sometimes end up hating their own bodies. With sexual acts deemed as a personal and a special thing, these victims feel tainted, by the attackers. Each gender approaches this effect differently, “for men usually feel betrayed by their bodies and females victims feel that their appearance contributed to the assault.” (Turchik & Edwards).
Victims who have experienced sexual assault or sexual abuse rarely report the attacks. The main reason being fear, these victims live their life repressing those memories. When confronted about these attacks, victims prefer to deny the events. Judgement being a common thing associated with sexual assault and sexual harassment, victims feel discouraged and ashamed of the abuse they have endured. Several excuses are given when some of these victims are confronted on their lack of action these include, “not thinking the incident was serious enough, not wanting to cause trouble, fearing retaliation or ostracism, fearing negative impact on their career, and perceptions that nothing would be done.” (Steiger et al, Turchik & Wilson). However, without telling someone or reporting the events to the proper authority, sexual assault and sexual harassment will not continue to be a common act in the military.
The number of sexually assaulted victims in the military is quite high, and although the number of cases seem to be increasing, actual progress is slowly being made. With monitory and the establishment of new rules, slow progress has been made present in the Navy as well as other military branches. “A Pentagon survey of 90,000 service members released Tuesday showed that, overall, sexual harassment in the military is declining but still common, involving more than half the women in the military.” (Diamond). This survey helps address certain flaws that are dealt with the sexual assault and harassment in the military, and with a lot of work and time, these sexual acts could be avoided.