Women Soldiers
Raped and Silenced
Thursday, March 6th, 2008The Pentagon fails to protect U.S. troops from sexual abuse — sometimes with deadly results.
When military sexual assault survivors call Susan Avila-Smith, she advises them to keep their mouths shut while she works on getting them home.
“It breaks my heart to do that,” she says, “but I want to get them out alive and that’s my main goal.”
Since she left the Army in 1995, Avila-Smith estimates that she has helped about 1,200 rape survivors separate from the U.S. Armed Forces and claim their Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. As founder of Women Organizing Women, an online support group for survivors of military sexual trauma (MST), Avila-Smith has heard it all. But lately, she’s been more sensitive than usual.
“Maria’s case has triggered something in me,” she says. “I imagine the VAs are filling up right now with women who never even stepped foot in there before.”
“Maria” is 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who disappeared from Camp Lejeune, outside of Jacksonville, N.C., on Dec. 14, 2007, one month before she was expected to give birth. As the local police enlisted the press to help reach out to Lauterbach and solicit information from the local community, it was soon reported that she had recently accused a superior at Camp Lejeune of rape.
Read the full story on AlterNet…
Raped, then Treated ‘Like A Criminal’ By The Army
Friday, February 15th, 2008Few problems have been more persistent or produced more bad news for the military than the issue of rape within its own ranks. Allegations that not enough is being done to help victims or prosecute offenders have been raised from the service academies to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan — where hundreds of cases of sexual assault have been reported by women in uniform.It was that revelation, plus pressure from Congress, that’s forced the Pentagon to once again examine sexual misconduct in the military - which has been done 18 times in the last 16 years. The result has been more recommendations and sweeping policy changes. But there are plenty of skeptics, and one of them is Lt. Jennifer Dyer, who talks to Correspondent Steve Kroft in her first interview after accusing a fellow officer of rape.
“They’ve done nothing but lie to me and treat me like a criminal,” says Dyer.
79% harrassed, 30% report rape or attempted rape
Friday, February 15th, 2008UI, VAMC Researchers Study Women’s Risk Of Rape In Military, University of Iowa News Release, March 11, 2003
Violence towards women in the military has identifiable risk factors, according to a study by Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and University of Iowa researchers. The study, involving more than 500 female veterans, found that workplace factors, such as the behavior of superiors, were highly associated with military women’s risk of sexual assault during their military service.
“While violence towards working women is commonplace, surprisingly little is known about predictors of workplace sexual violence,” said Anne Sadler, Ph.D., a researcher at the Iowa City VAMC who led the study. “Our findings suggest that if sexual harassment is allowed in the workplace, women in those environments have a significantly increased risk of being raped.”
Military Sexual Assault Reports Up 40%
Friday, February 15th, 2008By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
Reports of sexual assaults in the military increased by nearly 40 percent last year, the Pentagon announced Thursday, saying the increase was at least partly due to a new program that encourages victims to come forward.
According to a report released Thursday, there were 2,374 allegations of sexual assaults reported during 2005, compared to 1,700 in 2004. Of last year’s reports, 435 were initially filed under a new program that allows victims to report the incident and receive health care or counseling services but does not notify law enforcement or commanders.
Sexual Abuse By Military Recruiters
Friday, February 15th, 2008More than 100 young women who expressed interest in joining the military in the past year were preyed upon sexually by their recruiters. Women were raped on recruiting office couches, assaulted in government cars and groped en route to entrance exams. A six-month Associated Press investigation found that more than 80 military recruiters were disciplined last year for sexual misconduct with potential enlistees. The cases occurred across all branches of the military and in all regions of the country.
“This should never be allowed to happen,” said one 18-year-old victim. “The recruiter had all the power. He had the uniform. He had my future. I trusted him.”
What Women Experience in the Military
Friday, February 15th, 2008Women often join the military to gain skills and break out of traditional roles. However, while the range of military work open to women has increased over the years, women are still limited in the positions open to them. And within those positions, they are often given traditional tasks: according to one government report, “many women report that they are not allowed to work at the jobs for which they were trained . . . [and] that they are routinely assigned clerical or administrative duties instead of being given the opportunity to work in the full range of their occupations” (GAO/NSIAD-99-27, 11/98). Sexual harassment and rape are a real threat to women in the military. In 1995, the armed forces surveyed female members and found that 52% reported sexual harassment.
Before You Enlist, watch this
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008Before you go and sign up, watch this You Tube video. Several people talk about their experiences in the military, and what happened after they got out.
