Sexual Assaults in the Military Services

Sexual assault is still an awful problem in military academies (see title link above) and also in the active military. Women remain vulnerable to being raped by men in the military, just as civilian women remain vulnerable to sexual assaults in our society at large. Though the incidence of rape appears to be declining, more than half of all rapes are never reported, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

In Baghdad the Army reported Friday that an investigation has been ordered because of an alleged rape and murder in March of an Iraqi woman, and the suspected murder of members of her family. To quote from the Reuters story,

U.S. soldiers may have raped an Iraqi woman and then murdered her and three
members of her family, including a child, U.S. army officers said on Friday.
Confirming another major investigation into alleged killing and abuse of Iraqi civilians by at least three U.S. troops, one official said the incident in March just south of
Baghdad had initially been blamed on insurgents active in the area.

A Coast Guard cadet was sentenced Thursday, June 29. He is the first to be court martialed from the Coast Guard Academy for such an offence. The Feminist Majority has the story.

Congress continues to investigate the academies. The Baltimore Sun reported on a hearing held Tuesday June 27, chaired by U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut). It was broadcast and rebroadcast on C-SPAN. Quoting from the Sun article,

U.S. military academy officials say they have made solid progress in curbing sexual assaults on campuses, but one former cadet who says she was raped alleges that little has changed. . .
Former Air Force Academy Cadet Elizabeth L. Davis, her voice faltering as she described being "raped and assaulted repeatedly" while at the academy, said women who report crimes are often threatened, degraded and driven out.
Davis said little has been done to change the male-dominated culture of the academies.
"We're still hearing cases of women coming out of the academies absolutely destroyed," she told the panel. . .
U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican and chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, led Tuesday's hearing into how officials are handling sexual assault cases in the military and its academies.
Military officials said they have worked hard to improve critical areas such as victim support and confidentiality while providing training for all cadets to prevent sexual harassment and assault. Congress created a task force in 2004 that recommended many such changes.*

Former cadet Beth Davis was repeatedly called "courageous." In Davis' hometown newspaper, reporter Katy Stafford, wrote an article in the Durham Herald Sun detailing the former cadets riveting testimony. To quote,

Beth Davis of Durham, a former Air Force cadet allegedly raped by a classmate, criticized a Department of Defense report on sexual assault at a congressional hearing Tuesday, saying its solutions to sexual assault at military academies were inadequate. Davis told a House government reform committee hearing that the report, issued last year, also did not completely convey the prevalence of sexual assault at the academies.
"The recommendations are devoid of any leadership accountability," Davis said. "Cadets believe that if their leadership isn't held to the standard of academy life, they shouldn't be either."
In emotional testimony, Davis recounted the story of her alleged rape and gave eight recommendations to help prevent and respond to sexual assault incidents. Among them: allowing a victim to consult civilian legal counsel and commissioning an independent, nonmilitary congressional investigation into the problems of sexual assault at the military academies and the military at large.

Ironically, however, the Air Force Academy class of 2010 has the largest number of women ever entering basic cadet training. According to the AFA news release,

As of June 26, 1,352 had accepted appointments, including 1,075 men and 277 women. Forty-eight appointees are prior-Air Force enlisted members. The Class of 2010 boasts the largest number of women entering basic cadet training in Academy
history. Of the 277 total, 72 women represent minority groups and two are international students. At 20.5 percent, this is also the largest percentage of women in any Academy class.

Clearly there is no lack of brave women willing to serve their nation in the military. They deserve better protection than they have received from their leaders up to this point.
*Reference for the April 2004 (pdf-114 pgs.) Task Force Report
Tags: military service academies Christopher Shays U.S. House of Representatives Iraq War sexual assault