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Sexual Assault in the Military Essay

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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). The Military is very diverse. Gender, race, and sexual …show more content…

Paula Coughlin is an attractive female Naval Aviator and in 1992 there were only a hand full of female aviators, remember the first female aviators to join the navy were in 1974 and to date female aviators consist of 13%. This was, and still is, a male dominant work force. The problem has surfaced repeatedly as an organizational issue. More recently in 2012, news broke out about Sexual Assault scandal at Lackland Air Force Base basic training center. Just last year the director of the Air Force’s sexual assault and prevention program was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault (Winerp, 2013). Sexual assault is a counterproductive work behavior, it takes members out of the work centers so that they can attend PowerPoint-based training on how to avoid sexual assault or how to be a Wingman. This is what the Air Force considers buddy-up or collaborating mechanism to increase personal accountability and vigilance. The Wingman concept is used to ensure that you watch your friends closely when you go out to bars or parties. More importantly however, it is counterproductive for the victim for both professional and personal reasons. Uniform Code of Military Justice (USMJ) is what the military uses to prosecute and court-martial its members. Yet in the UCMJ, Commanders have the authority to overturn a guilty verdict in the case

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