Sexual Assault in the Marine Crops Essay

The Hunting Ground, directed by Kirby Dick, shows several examples of women in the United States being overjoyed at their acceptance into prestigious universities. Many American women also have a strong desire to join the military. Even though parents sending their daughters off think that they will have great, safe experiences, this is not always the case. Dirk’s documentary shows that many women on several prestigious college campuses, including but not limited to Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Southern California, the University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University are raped. The act is most commonly performed by men who take advantage of drunk women, although men often times have to resort to physical force to rape women. Rather than confront the problem of rape culture on college campuses, many colleges try to cover up the problems in order to not lose their prestige. The Hunting Ground shows that on the occasion that college women do report having been raped, many administrators try to (partially) blame the incident on the victims and make excuses for the perpetrators. According to Dirk’s documentary, “more than 16 percent of college women are sexually assaulted while in college”. In the case of the military, women soldiers are vastly outnumbered by male military members and have difficulty keeping up with them physically. The Invisible War, also directed by Kirby

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

Over the past three years, the Secretary of Defense “directed initiatives to fundamentally reform” sexual assault prevention and response.2 The Department of Defense (DoD) has instituted over 100 Congressional sexual assault provisions, “the most comprehensive reforms to the Uniform Code of Military Justice [UCMJ] since 1968.”3 This year, the draft National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016 includes a specific section (sec. 538) that directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to improve prevention and response for male victims of sexual assaults in the armed forces.4 The Military Workplace Study by RAND

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.

Major General Dennis Laich went on camera revealing why senior officers do not report the abuse. Partly because they do not want higher command to view them incapable of supervising their platoons. Filmmakers reached out to different Marine Veterans who stated they were punished for disclosing the assaults. Ziering and Dick want the audience to see the inconsistency the military is displaying. Building on the emphasis that factual proof is the basis for the argument. Staff Sergeant Stace Nelson recalled an incident in which he witnessed a fellow officer belittle a rape victim while subsequently dismissing her case. Department of Defense records show that out of every 3000 people guilty of rape, only 175 of them will do jail time. On a more alarming note, many of the 175 sent to jail will serve less than 30 days. 800 of those cases will never be investigated(Ziering and Dick The Invisible War). In most cases the offenders often maintain their rank while others are even promoted. This can lead an audience to believe the military has been covering up for the issues at hand. Due to the increase of incidents over the years it can be implied that future offenders will not face punishment either. With numbers has high as 300 victims per offender the need to tackle the issue is greater than ever(Ziering and Dick The Invisible War).

Sixty-five years after President Truman signs the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act more than 200,000 women are serving in the military. These women are engaged in real combat and experience the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion like every soldier out there. But what’s more is that in the first three quarters of the fiscal year of 2013 3,553 sexual assault complaints were reported to the Defense Department. Of these, only one hundred and seventy-five of the alleged attackers were criminally charged. All of these numbers have been complied and given meaning through Kirby Dicks’ film The Invisible War. As a director Dick has been nominated for both the Academy and Emmy Awards for best documentary director. Like most of his

According to the National Defense Research Institute, policies and programs should be improved to increase reporting of the full range of sexual assaults, including those not perceived as sexual acts. They should expand sexual harassment and gender discrimination monitoring, prevention, and accountability practices and equip commanders with data and guidance to take effective actions. Prevention and enforcement efforts should target bullying, hazing, and other demeaning behaviors. The factors contributing to risk and prevention of sexual assault and sexual harassment should be identified. Lastly, current sexual assault training that service members receive should be assessed (Morral, Gore & Schell, 2014). There needs

One of the most complex issue is the assessment of sexual assault in the military and how to provide proper medical, psychological treatment, proper reporting procedures and fair justice. Lisa Schneck (2014) a law student at George Washington University Law School, she discover survey conducted on more than 1,100 women severing in Afghanistan and Iraq. She reported that shockingly 92 percent of reported assaults never come before a military court because first responders frequently fail to collect forensic evidence of an assault within the 72-hour deadline stipulated by current guidelines, and more often than not, the victim’s superior decides against proceeding to court-martial anyway (p. 581). The Army treats all victims of

I would like to bring awareness, give insight about the actual victims, and possibly educate you about sexual harassment of women in the military. Sexual harassment can be connected to sexual assault, beginning in one form and escalating to another level. The definition of sexual harassment is: unwelcome sexual harassment behavior of a sexual nature that is related to one’s job or work surroundings. Harassers can be male or female. In the military, the soldier can be a supervisor, coworkers, or a third party. But, why have we not heard anything about this issue? As a

military. Nevertheless, one woman soldier observed “ There are only three things the guys let you be if you’re a girl in the military a bitch, a ho, or a dyke.” Not all military men see women soldiers this way, but many do. The hostility is shown by undermining women’s authority, denying promotions, denigrating their work, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape.”(4) Many women take these words and actions to heart, leaving a mark on them forever, even causing post traumatic stress disorder from events like this in the work place on top of the post tarmac stress from war. “ A 2004 study of women veterans from Vietnam and all wars since, who were seeking help for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), found that 71% said they were sexually

The military’s conflict with sexual assault is not a new issue. The problem has existed for decades and is continuing to poison the ranks of today’s service members. Many

Many times personnel who are active in the military and whom are veterans face traumatic experiences related to sexual abuse. Some of them may report their abuse but many of them who experience rape trauma do not report the incident to high up’s who may be their ranking officer. One-third of the personnel in the service are not effectively educated on how to properly report events of abuse or misconduct, and one-fifth believe that the rape is to be expected in the military profession. Abuse within the military is very common but it causes many to face with mental issues because of it. Researchers noted that “Despite its pervasiveness, many clinicians fail to recognize as many as 95% of cases among veterans and active duty personnel” (Valente,

Sexual assault and harassment is one of the most common reported cases in the military. Sexual assault can be defined as intentional sexual contact such as grabbing, touching, sexual penetration or sexual intercourse with an object without consent. Sexual harassment can be simply defined as unwelcoming or threatening verbal/physical contact with someone. This has been an issue that has been on the rise for the last decade. In direct combat roles troops are expected to be out in the field for extended periods of time and are supposed to work in very close quarters. How is this issue supposed to be handled if women are going to be integrated into direct combat roles? The majority of sexual assault cases happen on base when men and women are deployed in a combat zone. Incidents in the military of sexual assault and harassment are much higher than in civilian populations. A study by the Department of Affairs said that “It’s difficult to give precise data on how common sexual assault and harassment are, because both crimes often go unreported. However, the Pentagon and Department of Defense (DoD) note that reports of sexual assault increased dramatically from 2009 (2144 incidents reported) to 2013 (3210 incidents reported). Historically, there are higher rates of assault during a war. Statistics show that 23-28% of women service members are sexually assaulted while in the military, and 11% are

“More than 70 members of the US Military encounter coerced and abusive sexual contact, aggravated sexual assault or are raped every day. That's three every hour” (Chemaly). This numeric data is terrible, and should not be tolerated in any type of society or agency. Male servicemen are also assaulted and raped in the United States Military, however it is obvious that woman are raped and assaulted more than men, since men are usually not

Lohman, A. (2015). SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: GIVING VOICE TO THE PROBLEM OF RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES. Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, 10(1), 230-279. Retrieved from https://nuls.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.nuls.idm.oclc.org/docview/1667167592?accountid=25320