Skip to main content

FM
Former Member

Rape in the U.S. military

How a fraternal culture and a habit of blaming the victim leave sexual violence unexamined and unpunished.

 

Anne K. Ream's recent Op-Ed sheds much needed light on how the U.S. military continues to trivialize rape and sexual assault committed by members of the armed forces. Writing about whether a man who is convicted of rape in a civilian court should still be entitled to a traditional military funeral, Ream points out that although barring full honor burials in such a situation is largely a symbolic act, "the military policy of allowing honors burials for veterans convicted of rape sends a chilling message to victims: Even the most heinous sexual violence does not trump prior military service."

 

The case Ream refers to is not an isolated incident of fraternal militarism being used to excuse sexual violence. In a recent court case in Lebanon, Penn., an Army Reserve sergeant was convicted of indecent assault after rape charges were dropped when fellow soldiers who were present at the incident refused to cooperate with police. Responding to the verdict, the defendant's attorney said she thought he should have been cleared of all charges. "After all, he did serve his country."

Unfortunately, this mind-set is consistent with the Pentagon's very poor record of prosecuting sexual assault and rape within the ranks while at the same time disregarding and further victimizing those who report these heinous crimes. To put these cases in perspective, there were 2,947 reports of sexual assaults in the military in 2006, an increase in reports of 24% over 2005. However, very few of these cases tend to be prosecuted. A Pentagon report [PDF] in March 2007 found that more than half of the investigations dating back to 2004 resulted in no action. When action was taken, only one third of the cases resulted in courts-martial.

Indeed, in many cases, the military seems more intent on intimidating and harassing the victims than investigating and prosecuting the charges. In 2004, after Lt. Jennifer Dyer reported being raped by a fellow officer at Camp Shelby, Miss., she said she was held in seclusion for three days, read her Miranda rights and threatened with criminal prosecution for filing a false report. After finally being given two weeks leave, she was threatened with prosecution for being AWOL when she would not report for duty to the same location where the man she had accused — who was later acquitted on assault charges — was still posted.

Lance Cpl. Sally Griffiths was also accused of lying after she reported being raped by a fellow Marine while stationed in Okinawa, Japan. It wasn't until she got access to her case file and found a statement by the Marine that confirmed her story that she was able to obtain the discharge she sought. The Marine she accused was never prosecuted. He continued to serve in the military and was promoted several times.

After Army Spc. Suzanne Swift went AWOL instead of staying in the same unit as the soldiers who she accused of sexually harassing her, the Army court-martialed her when she refused a deal that would have forced her to remain in the military and sign a statement saying she had not been raped.

More recently, there have been the well-publicized cases of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who was murdered after accusing another Marine of rape, and Jamie Leigh Jones, who says that she was gang-raped while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq. Jones claims that after she reported her rape, the company put her in a shipping container and warned her that she would lose her job if she left Iraq for medical treatment. The rape kit collected by military medical personnel was lost after it was turned over to Halliburton/KBR. The Pentagon has refused to investigate or to testify before Congress.

In allowing convicted rapists to be buried with full honors, the military continues to perpetuate the culture of impunity that allows soldiers to commit sexual violence with little worry of being brought to justice. As Ream concludes, it is sadly ironic that even though rape and sexual violence are now considered war crimes, our own military persists in practices that perpetuate those crimes. Unfortunately, this is merely one more example of the misogyny implicit in military culture. Women's bodies and lives have always been considered the spoils of war. The military's continuing disregard and disrespect for the safety of women's lives even within their own ranks, and in disregard of international law, should give us pause to wonder just whose freedom we are protecting.

Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer, activist and founder of the Feminist Peace Network.

 

Source: LA Times:

Replies sorted oldest to newest

We have seen the United States Soldiers in action in Iraq and Afghanistan raping and brutalising women and children and it continues unto this day, the evil that men do will certainly do comes back to haunt them.

 

When one walks the Streets of New York and sees a bum on the side walk with a cardboard hanging on his neck saying "I serve my country in the military" now begging for alms.........makes you think long and hard before you ever want to give that dollar for him to get some food. The evil that men do live after them.

 

FM
Originally Posted by asj:

We have seen the United States Soldiers in action in Iraq and Afghanistan raping and brutalising women and children and it continues unto this day, the evil that men do will certainly do comes back to haunt them.

 

When one walks the Streets of New York and sees a bum on the side walk with a cardboard hanging on his neck saying "I serve my country in the military" now begging for alms.........makes you think long and hard before you ever want to give that dollar for him to get some food. The evil that men do live after them.

 

then go home or move to Afghanistan punk. Lots of my friends served in Afghanistan and Iraq and they served well. Indeed they deserve more of a safety net on their return home but to say the Government's failure to reward them sufficiently for their selfless  service and that whatever misfortune befalls them as a result is because they were evil can only come from a Taliban loving freak like you.

FM
Originally Posted by Stormborn:
Originally Posted by asj:

We have seen the United States Soldiers in action in Iraq and Afghanistan raping and brutalising women and children and it continues unto this day, the evil that men do will certainly do comes back to haunt them.

 

When one walks the Streets of New York and sees a bum on the side walk with a cardboard hanging on his neck saying "I serve my country in the military" now begging for alms.........makes you think long and hard before you ever want to give that dollar for him to get some food. The evil that men do live after them.

 

then go home or move to Afghanistan punk. Lots of my friends served in Afghanistan and Iraq and they served well. Indeed they deserve more of a safety net on their return home but to say the Government's failure to reward them sufficiently for their selfless  service and that whatever misfortune befalls them as a result is because they were evil can only come from a Taliban loving freak like you.

Strike two. Storm is on the money once again. What did you have for breakfast today ? Cause you are bang on this one.

FM
Originally Posted by cain:

The way I see it is like Storm havin' asj for breakfast here.

Methinks differently, seems like D2 is ashamed so he changes nick, to a more appropiate one, having a man riding his back   suits the fag got

 

The resident welfare bum now aka stormborn. Now your name matches with your perso......a real Jackass!!!


 

FM
Last edited by Former Member
Originally Posted by asj:
Originally Posted by cain:

The way I see it is like Storm havin' asj for breakfast here.

Methinks differently, seems like D2 is ashamed so he changes nick, to a more appropiate one, having a man riding his back   suits the fag got

 

The resident welfare bum now aka stormborn. Now your name matches with your perso......a real Jackass!!!


 

ASJ, let us debate the facts and avoid the personal attacks. I disagree with Storm all the time but do not take it to a personal level. We all know that he is D2 so his record stands.

 

I prefer that we keep it clean.

FM
Originally Posted by asj:
Originally Posted by cain:

The way I see it is like Storm havin' asj for breakfast here.

Methinks differently, seems like D2 is ashamed so he changes nick, to a more appropiate one, having a man riding his back   suits the fag got

 

The resident welfare bum now aka stormborn. Now your name matches with your perso......a real Jackass!!!


 

As a moderator on this site and you presume you can take direct malicious uninformed attacks on posters, be warned. I do not give a *f*u*c* about you or your presumptions. I am giving you clear warning. As you will notice from your moderator panel  the IP I am posting from is in  Europe. Feel empowered to pretend to know something special about others and I will paste your ugly mug and personal data down to your underwear color on this site. If as a moderator you cannot be civil you will get what you deserve.

FM

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×