Sexual Abuse Of Female Soldiers Essay

For years women have been trying to gain gender equality throughout the working world, along with in the military. Since the beginning of a uniformed military, women could not serve in military occupational specialty (MOS) positions that put them in direct combat roles. Although many women have contributed in significant ways, they have not been authorized to serve in MOS such as infantry, artillery, or armor. As the war on terrorism has developed since 9/11, women have slowly worked their way farther into the military and its many roles. This resulted in women being placed into direct combat roles. Though women have been allowed into many different roles, there is still one battle that they have yet to win and this time the majority is not backing them. Women are trying to gain access to United States Special Operations units in every branch of the military and the majority of these operators are not happy about it. While some people believe women deserve equality and the chance to do what men can do in the military, that is why women should not be

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.

Canada’s military chief says sex assaults continue to be a problem in the Canadian Forces because, “we’re biologically wired in a certain way.”

“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

Throughout history, the United States Military has faced numerous scandals. From its role in the Vietnam War, to the Iran-Contra Affair, to the Iraq War, to the abuse and denial of due process rights to detainees currently held indefinitely at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; the Department of Defense has undeniably raised many questions about its ethics and treatment toward both civilians and fellow members of the Armed Forces alike. One recent scandal, which would now appear to be becoming the standard, is that of sexual assault within the military. However, due to a campaign of awareness, grassroots activism, and pressuring elected officials to do what is right, things are now beginning to change.

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

US Armed Forces is historically an organization lead by men, for men. It is comprised of about 14.5 % female and 85.5% male according to a 2011poll (CNN U.S, Jan 2014). In an organization with a rich history and legacy of obedience and restraint, it is hard to imagine the secret society of “The good ol boys”. It has been acceptable for men to “work hard, play hard”. We have all seen the movies where the men come back from overseas, invade the bars, have a good time, take a girl home, and it is acceptable behavior. What happens after they leave the bar? What happens when she says no? In November of 2013, there were 3,553 reported sexual assault cases (ABC News, 2013).

More than a decade after rape or physical assault during military service, women reported severely decreased health-related quality of life, with limitations of physical and emotional health, educational and financial attainment, and severe, recurrent problems with work and social activities.” (Para 4.) The article talks about the frequency of women getting raped or sexually assaulted, and the injuries that these women face physically and emotionally, even years after the incident occurs. In this particular study, a “Cohort of women veterans who served in the Vietnam, post-Vietnam, or Persian Gulf War era was selected.” (Para 9.) Around six hundred women participated in this study, and “Almost half the participants (48%) reported some type of physical or sexual victimization during their military service. Physical assault was reported by 35%, and most (58%) had been assaulted at least twice. Rape was reported by 30%, in 11% it was attempted and in 19% completed.” The seriousness of these situations recurring should not go

Basically, members of the military are looking to fit in; and they can take drastic measures for socialization. One issue in the military, Cohen explains, is gang rape, which “is much more common in war than in peacetime.” (cite) Unpleasantly, gang rape consists of more than one person, more often in insurgent times. Typically, when new members are forced into recruitment, also known as “abducted”, their fellow peers are strangers, so there is a need to be a part of the “distinct phenomenon” of raping. Cohen argues that gang rape “enables groups with forcibly recruited fighters to create bonds of loyalty and esteem from initial circumstances of fear and mistrust.” (cite) It is almost as if members are creating friendships by this disturbing

To explore the legacy of rape as a tool in war Nancy Toping Bazin’s and Jane Harmovit Lauter’s philosophy of domination is important to know. The philosophy of domination is the underpinning of all patriarchal institutions from domestic institutions, to government, and the military. Another usefully theory is one succinctly described by Katrina Lee Koo in “Confronting a Disciplinary Blindness: Women, War and Rape in the International Politics of Security”. Koo says, “the nation, the state, allies, and enemies intersect with gendered identities…sexual enslavement is politicized violence against women’s bodies that is both state-sanctioned and premeditated” in effect, during war time there is an intersection of gender with religion, ethnicity, nationality and anything else that represents the opposing side as an “other”. In this sense an assault on the women of a nation is a direct assault on their state, their culture, their religion, their ethnic group as well as the men in it. In her essay “Revisiting the Issue of Korean ‘Military Comfort Women’: The Question of Truth and Positionality” Hyunah Yang says, “by invading women’s bodies, rape attempts to possess the enemy’s property and leaves a rift in the most fundamental ground of the symbolic system that sustains the enemies group identity…belief that the woman’s body is a field underpinning the family, ethnic group, and/or nation” (61). During the comfort system the Japanese army was not only in control of the Korean

Even with the few meek attempts being made to stop the sex crimes in the United States Armed Forces, the truth is still that there is a cover up of enormous proportion in progress. No woman is totally secure. Everybody from women in the military to young women on the streets are vulnerable to this horrendous crime spree that has been going on for the past several years in the military. The worst part of this abuse is the fact that any women that are abused usually see their pursuers released with practically no penalty to them whatsoever, and it is very rare to see a woman's pursuer convicted.

The present Chapter introduces main concepts, theories and literature in relation to wartime sexual violence including the definition of gender based violence, sexual violence and wartime sexual violence. It presents a review of current theories and literature explaining the prevalence of sexual violence in armed conflicts but focuses on feminist and gender equality theories placing wartime sexual violence within a broader concept of Gender Based Violence. Some feminist authors consulted are Dubravka Zarkov (1997, 2007), Cynthia Enloe (1990, 1994, 2000), Judith Butler (1999), R.W. Connell (2005), and Skjelsbæk (2001). The main argument this Chapter is that wartime sexual violence is a form of gender based violence which underlying causes