Sunday, March 3, 2013
Sexual Violence Within the Military
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/us/former-air-force-recruit-speaks-out-about-rape-by-her-sergeant-at-lackland.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
This article is about a young woman who was raped during her boot camp experience, but because the person who raped her was in an authority position there was nothing she could do about it. The person she would have to report something like this to, would be the man who raped her, Sergeant Walker. So she waited the long months in agony until she was out of boot camp and even longer before reporting it. Because of being raped, she had PTSD and life long emotional damage. She wasn't the only one put in danger by Sergeant Walker, "In July 2012, he was convicted on 28 counts, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated sexual contact involving 10 trainees (Risen).
This article brings up not only the horrifying experience of one woman, but also highlights the big issue of sexual danger for women in the military in general The sad fact is, 1 in 3 military women have been sexually assaulted ( a rate twice as high as civilians). This article has a direct correlation with some of the readings we've done in class, which bring up the real reason men are attacking women with sexual violence. It isn't human nature. Men are taught to be strong and dominant and when these traits are threatened, some men choose to act in these terrible ways. It all boils down to power. In this particular instance, where the military is concerned, we can see this play out. Women are starting to make up more and more of the military and are gaining more rights within it. Some of these men, in order to feel they are taking back some of this power and progress, sexually assault women to "put them in their place" and show their "authority."
Sadly, even with the very high rights of sexual violence towards women in the military, not much is being done to change it. "The reforms undertaken by the Air Force do not alter a fundamental fact of military life: commanders have final say over whether criminal charges are brought in military courts, and victims are expected to report crimes to those who oversee their careers" (Risen). Though changes have been made in an attempt to lessen this issue, the fact remains that men are in most positions of power in the military and having this unequal power imbalance gives them an unsafe advantage over women if they choose to pursue sexual violence against them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The second paragraph really caught my attention. I started to wonder how men in power in the military put men "in their place". If men are sexually assaulting women for power, and a higher percentage of women are being violated in the military, how is it that men in power positions gain power over the young men in the military. My female cousin joined the army a few years ago and talked to me about her experiences. She noticed that the generals yell at subordinates to install their power. In my own experience of seeing it in the movies, generals will use yelling as their power when communicating with men. It is disturbing that the action of sexually assaulting a woman to gain power over her is used when men are scorned and yelled at to establish the higher ranking of power. If women were seen as equal, they would receive the same treatment.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI actually saw this article as well. It was very brave of this individual to come out after all this time, and share her story. Like we've been talking in class, most women don't report to the police after they've been sexually abused. So it was very good that this particular person came forward. If she hasn’t come forward, the other cases her rapist was involved in probably wouldn’t have been found. It’s even sadder that her rapist is the one she goes to for incidents like this. She couldn’t even go tell anyone because he was the head in charge. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I was in her position. It must’ve been so hard for this individual to keep this bottled in for so long. Like you said in the last paragraph, it is sad that there is sexual violence in the military. Because isn’t the military supposed to protect our country in the long-run? Aren’t they the ones who fight for us and will do anything for one another? It’s sad to think and see that sexual violence and abuse happens in the military.