Sexual Harassment By Midshipmen

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

Sexual Assault in the Military The way we interact with each other in our Army culture impacts the way we perceive behavior in relation to sexual assault and harassment. For instance, a culture that allows discriminating jokes or demeaning behavior helps to perpetuate an environment in which sexual assaults

When talking about the profession of athletic training, the first thing that always came to my mind regarding sexual harassment was an act made by a professional athletic trainer towards a student- athlete. After reading this articles, I learned that sexual harassment does not always only effect a student-athlete, but it may also effect other individuals, including “coaches, athletic administrators, certified athletic trainers, athletic training students, therapists, and other health-care professionals as well”.1 The statistic that struck me the most when reading the “Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Athletic Training” article was that during a survey of 525 undergraduates, almost 29 percent of men reported that they were sexually harassed by a collegiate professor at least one time”.2 Whenever I hear of sexual harassment, my first instinct is that the victim of the sexual harassment is a female, but after reading the articles I realized that many males are also affected by sexual

Introduction Sexual assault is an ongoing problem in the U.S military. But there is a large number of soldiers who will admit that during their time in the service they have been sexually assaulted but did not report. Any unwanted sexual contact should be reported; these soldiers should receive justice without being afraid of what might happen to them and their career. Not reporting sexual assaults is putting others in danger of being a victim, and is encouraging these assailants that their actions is acceptable and it’s not.

Of all of the subjects that we’ve discussed in class so far, I think the one that received the most feedback was the topic of sexual harassment/assault. We of course talked about the various forms of harassment/assault, and how public discussion of this topic raises awareness of the issue. Many consequences rise based on sexual harassment/assault; beginning with the victim on a personal basis. My personal reaction to this subject is one of familiarity due to my training in the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention Program (SHARP). Over the years there have been numerous incidents of harassment/assault in the Military which is why the (SHARP) program was implemented. With all the means of technology people currently use, they are informed of most incidents, which occur in this world. It is noticeable

Jamil E. Gutierrez Professor Sharp English Composition 2012 DEC 02 SHARP in the Military Work Force Women have been sexually harassed and assaulted in the work force for years, and for many years, the US Army has been dealing with this enormous and overwhelming issue, through the help of their agency known as the Equal

In 2013, nearly 28,700 military members that were sexually assaulted (Cernak). Sexual assault is one of the largest issues in the United States military and it is being handled very poorly. All of the military’s time and money that is being put towards sexual assault is being used for repetitive training that is obviously not working due to the fact the numbers of sexual assaults going the wrong direction every year. Due to this training, victims know the options available to them but, they are not reporting them. Training to educate a predator that sexual assault is not going to reach the issue at its core. Everyone knows that sexual assault is horrible and repetitive scolding is not going to fix the issue. The military needs to understand the significant amount of sexual assaults and also stop putting all their effort in training about sexual assault by taking actions to prevent it such as reestablishing the role of leadership positions. People are often unsure of what sexual assault actually is. Sexual assault occurs anytime that there is not consent given for a sexual action. Dickerson gives the Deportment of Defense’s definition of sexual assault as:

Harassment is an unpleasant situation which includes unwanted verbal or physical behaviour. All the incidents related to violence and harassment in the military are not reported due to the reason of hurt their careers, or even face retaliation from peers and supervisors. Discrimination, harassment, gender biasness in the military has a long history which is still continue in the military. Women and gays are facing problems, their fellow officers treat them as a weak person and they discriminate them. All these problems make the victims stressful and fearful. The leaders in the military like senior commissioned officers, neglect these issues and do not investigate it. The climate where such issues are ignored increase the problems related to violence or sexual assault.

a. To begin with, Sergeant Fernando uses emotionally-laden words, which is a good way to generate emotional appeal (Lucas 344). Sergeant Fernando relentlessly uses language like “awful”, “horrid”, and “horrible” to describe sexual harassment. This forces the audience to understand how grave and revolting sexual harassment can be. This also makes the audience more attentive and receptive, because they know how serious of a subject sexual harassment is. Sergeant Fernando’s most effective appeal to emotion is when develops a vivid example of how a loved female friend of his was abused and the emotional turmoil and impact it had on her. This allowed the audience to see first hand how traumatic sexual harassment can be to the victim and I believe

The rare relationship between a military leader and their subordinate is both strong and delicate. This unique relationship is powerful enough that the subordinate could risk their life to serve and protect others. Yet, the relationship is frail enough that it cannot blossom in an atmosphere without trust. However, all

Sexual assault has been a huge issue for many years on college campuses and universities nation wide. As society has evolved, thoughts on sexual assault have also evolved, becoming more focused on the details of victim treatment than ever before. The topic of sexual assault is debatable and sparks many opinions on weather sexual assault on college campuses is becoming more frequent, or if there is just heightened awareness. Sexual assault can happen to anybody no matter the gender, race, religion, or age. Recently there have been many studies conducted on sexual violence on college campuses and universities producing ample amounts of statistics. One may argue that sexual assault rates are the same, but there are simply more studies and attention on sexual assault in the past 20 years. Gender roles have played a huge part in sexual assault on college campuses. Women and men have different expectations when it comes to roles in the relationship, men are often expected to make the first move. One may ask what causes a perpetrator to sexually harass somebody and think it is acceptable. There are various reasons as to why perpetrators do what they do, and may vary from person to person. Although sexual violence is a large problem for many colleges and universities, there is a surprising shortage of federal laws/rules and regulations regarding sexual assault. Colleges are able to develop their own personal policies and procedures for how they will prevent and deal with sexual

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace There are federal laws put in position to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Most employees sometimes don’t even realize what sexual harassment is are when they are committing this violation. On the flip side an employee may not realized when they are being sexually harassed and when is the appropriate time to speak up. Education on sexual harassment has increased within the workplace as cases are more public and fines are getting steeper.

Part B As seen in the case study, a court decision may be one way for any company to legally define what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace, but there are many ways to define sexual harassment. Everyone has different views and tolerance levels towards sexual harassment. When a case of sexual harassment occurs in a workplace, however, it comes down to how the courts define sexual harassment. The Supreme Court defines sexual harassment to be unlawful in two ways. “The first type involves sexual harassment that results in a tangible employment action;” this is referred to as quid pro quo. For example, if an employee complies with the harasser’s request, then she will get a raise. This unlawful act is usually presented in the workplace by a person who has an upper hand, such as a manager, to ensure that s/he will get what s/he wants. Employees are often victimized by fear that they will not get promoted or that they will get fired. They also dread that if a complaint is filed, it will not be handled correctly. “This instance of sexual harassment always involves another violation of employee rights; [sic] wrongful termination.” This would occur, for instance, when “a supervisor . . . tells a subordinate that . . . she must be sexually cooperative with [him] or . . . she will be fired, and who then indeed does fire the subordinate for not submitting” (“U.S. Supreme Court Defines”). [schwinlaw.com]

Sexual and Non- Sexual Harassment in the Work Place Sexual harassment is discrimination that involves any uninvited comments, exploits, or behavior regarding sex, gender, or sexual orientation. If any type of violation is made by a co-worker, a boss, a work acquaintance, or even a non-employee such as a client, vendor, or contractor, this will be considered unlawful sexual harassment within the work environment. Sexual harassment can create a hostile and uneasy work environment. Sexual harassment includes inappropriate verbal advances, unwelcomed physical behavior that creates an aggressive, hostile, intimidating or malicious work environment for employees. Sexual harassment includes sending suggestive e-mails, notes, and

In this case, the trainees are expected to learn about sexual harassment – how to identify it, report it, avoid participating in it, and their protection against it. Once the training is complete, the learning objectives can be evaluated in a variety of ways, such as pre-and post-tests on the specific training materials.