Camouflage: Annotated Bibliography

In the past, military news typically evolved tragic training incidents or deaths during overseas combat. However, over the last several years many incidents involving military personnel and sexual assault have made headlines across the United States. Military women and men have brought to light the lack of justice for victims of sexual assault, and the prevalence of such attacks. Questions arise as to why victims do not report incidents or seek assistance when they are physically or sexually assaulted. Many reasons are due to how the system of reporting is established within the military, retaliation and further re-victimization within the chain of command. Modifications to the current system have begun within the Department of Defense and

Throughout the world, deviant acts and social controls are committed everyday. An incredibly significant one that is often unreported is sexual assault within the military. Sexual assault is already determined as an extremely deviant act throughout the world. All acts of rape and other abusive acts should never be dismissed or ignored, but rape within the military is often not reported or recognized. If it is brought to light, the victims are generally in fear of losing their positions, rankings, homes, relationships with their spouses and families, etc…. This is not to state that men are not also victims of sexual assault, but women are much more prone and vulnerable to being attacked and harassed. I will be focusing on the female victims of military assault in this paper.

Military Sexual Trauma (MST), includes any sexual activity where you were involved against your will. When assessing a service member for MST it is important to use a biopsychosocial approach. Some biological or physical responses to MST may include, sexual difficulties, chronic pain, weight or eating problems or gastrointestinal problem. Psychologically, as a result of the MST service members may have PTSD or depression. They may also experience strong emotions, difficulties with memories, feeling of numbness, or trouble sleeping due to nightmares. Socially, service members may experience difficulties in their relationships. As a result of all of these symptoms, as service member may have problems with alcohol or drugs to cope with the emotions or memories they may have regarding the incident.

“The most shocking cover up in the United States Military is not what you would expect (The Invisible War),” reports of sexual assaults over all branches of the military have tremendously increase every since women have been allow to take part of the military. According to the Secretary of Defense, over 500,000 male and female soldiers have suffered of sexual abuse from senior peers and commanders. During the past years, many women reported a variety of cases of sexual abuse. Sadly, the victims were only ignored, blamed and punished for the events. Sexual assaults are considered a scandalous subject which our military has decided to avoid, but by doing so, the number of rapes has increase even faster. Rape is a repetitive criminal;

Throughout many wars that the United States of America had endured within the 238 years, recently America have another war to handle which is Military Sexual Trauma. Only recently the social media decided to take part of acknowledging that many veterans have mental health issues. However, they are mainly focusing on one problem which is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The society needs to learn that PTSD isn 't the main source of conflict for active service members and veterans. There is a secondary leading mental illness that these soldiers are experiencing and that is call Military Sexual Trauma (MST). Although the public has not mentioned or announced the existence of MST. As a member of the community, we need to teach the world as well as one another the meaning of Military Sexual Trauma, the effects of it that cause individual to have certain symptoms when dealing with MST and lastly the different kind of treatments that are offer by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to assist many family members, friends and spouses who have MST because it is the secondary leading mental health problem for veterans right next to suicide.

Presently women are sacrificing their lives serving this country in all branches of the military in the United States. Women are more involved in combat situations since the war began in Afghanistan and Iraq. With the increase of women in the military came the increase of sexual violence. In the beginning, very few reports of sexual violence were reported; over time the number of reported cases became a huge issue that brought awareness to those that work with the President of the United States. At that moment, processes were being looked at; changes needed to be made to find ways to give confidence to victims, to feel safe enough to report the crime of sexual violence. The Department of Defense is currently working on measures to alleviate the problem. Sex crimes on women in the military can have intense effects on their mental, physical and emotional well-being. Sexual harassment and sexual assault also extends to include

In “The Invisible War,” it is noted that “women who have been raped in the military have a PTSD rate higher than men who have been in combat” (The Invisible War, 2012). The impact that military sexual assault has on victims is tremendous. Both physical and mental trauma are common, and they play a significant role in how victims of sexual assault are able to return to their daily lives.

Today I am here to talk to you all about a problem that is sweeping the nation. In 2012, 8.3% of veterans that are women compared to 6.9% of male veterans were unemployed. Most veterans miss out on going to college and getting proper education for getting jobs. The Veterans Health Administration did a poll and the poll showed that one in five female veterans had Military Sexual Trauma. Many women in the survey did not want to say that they have been abused. Women have gotten raped or had attempted rape while serving in the military. There is a girl named Sarah and she told her story about the time she almost got raped by a military guy. Sarah had said that she was having an alcoholic beverage because she was finding out if she got into a really

Many question women’s overall mental ability to handle the extreme circumstances during war. But the truth of the matter is that no human is immune to mental effects and trauma (Sisters in Arms). According to former Marine officer Jane Blair,“Post-traumatic stress disorder is an unfortunate consequence of war, especially for those who have served multiple deployments — and sadly, no gender is immune to it (Blair).” Blair makes a very clear argument about how men and women are all human and that we are all subject to discomfort from conscious decisions. Troops, whether it be male or female have no control over their mental state after seeing some of the harsh effects of war, whether it be a fallen friend in their batoon, or having to take the life of an innocent child in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things like this can have a powerful effect on any person, no matter their gender.

It is common for war veterans to return home with physical and emotional damage from the traumatizing sights they’ve seen and terrible places they’ve been. It is also common for women to return home with MST (Military Sexual Trauma). This occurs when a woman has been raped or assaulted by another person in the military. When these women return from duty, they suffer greatly. Many of them become homeless. Two dozen female veterans were interviewed, and of them, 16 said they were assaulted in the service. 53% of homeless female veterans experiences MST.

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

The first is increasing the employment rates by providing vocational and training services to improve veteran’s chances at gainful employment. Secondly, offering Health Services that could provide much needed mental health care to the women who return from combat suffering from not only Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) but also from Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reports that women veterans who have experienced MST along with PTSD are at greater risk of facing homelessness (Tsai, Rosenheck, and Kasprow par. 3). This program will help address some of the unique needs of these women

This study aims to examine a very specific subset of a wider population, that wider population being military veterans. Within that wider population, this study plans on testing males in combat oriented occupations but who have not experienced major combat trauma yet. The reason for this is the because the military is already made up of primarily men and the experience that women have in the military varies too greatly to be included in the same study. Furthermore, it wasn’t until very recently (2015) that women in the United States Army could enlist in combat

While some laws have been created to protect women from various social vices, evil done to women in both military and other professional fields is on the rise. Women in the military are sexually assaulted, and they cannot also raise a legal complaint about fear of losing their jobs and remuneration benefits. Besides, women in the army have been stereotyped as not suitable to carry out the military duties such as killing, and instead are regarded as objects of pleasure at the workplace. This has seen many women occupy low ranks in the army, compare to their male counterparts. It is also of concern that women who persist and prove their capability to perform the same tasks as their male counterparts are mistaken to be lesbian.

This paper will point out the discrimination of women in the U.S. military. The paper will describe the sexual harassment that is constantly occurring and has been increasing in counts over the past twenty or so years. It will involve many debates about whether women should be in combat role or not and how that history shows that women have already been around the harshness of warfare. Then bringing up, if women are not able to be away from home with just a big time job how will they be able to react to being on the front lines in combat.