A Scandal Bigger than Walter Reed – The Rape, Assault and Harassment of Women in the Military

[dogday]

Women are facing widespread sexual harassment and even rape by their male comrades in the military. The threat of sexual violence against female soldiers by their male colleagues is so great that women are warned not to out to the bathroom alone at night. This has resulted in women stopping drinking fluids at 3:00 in the afternoon and has even led to deaths due to dehydration.

How common are these problems? It is difficult to tell since the military has not published a complete survey but indications are that 80% have faced sexual harassment and 30% have been raped. This is a disgrace that should be resulting in hearings on Capitol Hill, independent investigations, policy changes and loud cries by women’s rights activists. It should be a bigger scandal than the problems at Walter Reed but so far there is mostly silence.

Women fighting in Iraq face two sources of potential post traumatic stress disorder: the traditional combat related action; and sexual assault and harassment by their fellow soldiers. With regard to combat related PTSD, while women are generally limited to combat-support roles, they are still witnessing a historic amount of violence. Roadside bombs and blind ambushes, civilians who look like insurgents and resistance fighters who look like civilians limits the difference between the stress of combat units and support units.

The rapes and sexual harassment of Navy women at Tailhook in 1991 and of Army women at Aberdeen in 1996 became national news. Regarding sexual violence there are sources showing widespread harassment and rape.


http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/21189

[BlueJazz]

1. Disgusting. Remember when Women were first trying to go into ...

...combat (and other important positions) ...

The Repugs were screaming "The Enemy can use, torture and Rape them for military blackmail!!

Yeah..Well, the Fucking Enemy is US.
1

[dogday]

2. It is disgusting

I think this is the next thing we should try to tackle.... To call our reps and send to news media, to get the word out there... Man war is tough enough, but these women have it so much worse....

[tbyg52]

7. They are still screaming it

Or at least Kathleen Parker is:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601549.html

[Morgana LaFey]

3. K&R

That's the best I can do at the moment, given my rage.

[merh]

4. I spoke with the mother of a female soldier working in the

Green Zone, doing payroll and other accounting duties.

The female soldier told her of the rapes that were happening, committed by our soldiers against our soldiers. The female soldier was more afraid of that than anything going on outside of the green zone. The mother was terrified about it all.

[dogday]

5. Now here is something we should be working on

Trying to influence our politicians to help these poor woman... Making this known to the press and public.... This offends the hell out of me...

[merh]

6. there has been "some" coverage of it in the MSM, but not much

One of the ABC magazine programs 20/20 or nightline had a segment.

The trouble with this being made "news" is that it conforms to the "anti-female as soldiers" concerns and it puts the military in a bad light. My odd perception of the public treatment of the troops goes back to the VietNam era, it wasn't that the public mistreated the troops, it was that it was okay for the media to spin the tale, that way, when the government neglected them, who cared.

I agree it is offensive and so damned sad, the problems stem from the rush to war, the lack of training and the overuse/abuse of the national guard, when you can't control your environment, when you are surrounded by death and destruction and paid to be killers and destroyers, your internal compass gets all out of whack and you start controlling what you can. The evil of this admin and the lives it has ruined. The victims are in the millions, from depleted uranium to post tramautic stress to broken souls.

[dogday]

8. Why is this not more offending that the Imus comment

The idea in Imus' head comes from the attitudes overseas in the military and this needs to be addressed just as much as any Imus thread... Black women, white women, hispanic women, oriental women... This affects us all....

[Marie26]

9. K&R nt

[Karenina]

10. Ditto!

[lonestarnot]

11. Too late to recommend, but kicking.