With Obama’s call for increase service, both military and non military, I’m wondering if his administration is going to help clear some of the debris off the path of service, making the path less hazardous for women?
The Lavena Johnson case has yet to be reopened, the Army refusing to acknowledge the large lie in which they had the audacity to categorize the brutal murder post rape of this 19 year old honor student from Missouri, only weeks into her service in Iraq, as suicide. Comforted only by the gratuitous posthumous PFC promotion given to her, how easy it must have been for them to throw a bone to the family of their murdered soldier like this, Lavena’s family still has no answers, no truth.
They can give all the classes they want, review and revamp their policies, it takes only a few clicks of the mouse to see that for years there have been calls for revamping and renewing commitments to address and correct the pervasive problem of sexual abuse and brutality toward women in the military, yet in real life it doesn’t appear anything has changed. From this article written in 1995, Sex Abuse of Military Women Alarming rates of harassment, rape reported, to Colonel Ann Wright’s Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up, we continue to see no progress, if anything it appears to be getting worse.
As jobs become more difficult to come by military service is going to become an ever more attractive option for those whose alternatives are limited, those who feel they have no other option. As they dangle the carrot of education in front of women who might otherwise not be able to afford it, those with fewer resources for recourse should they be put in a situation where they suffered a sexual assault or worse, I wonder if they will willingly flaunt the history of sexual misconduct and abuse along with the record of how they deal with those situations.
In an Oversight Hearing on Sexual Assault in the Military last summer Rep. Jane Harman cited Veterans Administration statistics that one in three women in the military has been sexually assaulted, but prosecution rate of those accused of raping fellow military service members is abysmally low,with only 8 percent of the cases ending in court-martial of the perpetrator.The statistics are alarming, but even if you look and say “ah that’s not so bad”, woman considering military service should be made aware of both the statistics and the history of the military in dealing with sexual assaults of their own soldiers.
The Sharp Program is useless when deeds go unpunished or unacknowledged. Here is to the hope that in the future women will be able to serve in our military without fear of being sexually assaulted, and to the hope that the practice of falsifying the cause of death of any our soldiers, male or female, becomes a thing of the past.
In Their Boots — Angie Peacocks Story
Army Sergeant Angela Peacock joined the military in February 1998. She wanted to travel, serve her country and gain some life experience. In 2001, while deployed in South Korea, Angie was raped by a fellow soldier. She was encouraged by her command not to tell, so she held it in, and in 2003 she took it to Iraq with her. She led her unit courageously, but silently struggled until she couldn’t stay quiet any longer.
Victims of sexual abuse in military share stories.
Congress Hears Voices of Sexual Assault Survivors in Military.
War With Ourselves: Sexual Violence In The Military. Contains a list of practical policy solutions.
Sexual assault in military ‘jaw-dropping,’ lawmaker says
Lavena Johnson Site
An addendum link added thanks to Melissa’s commet, Stop Military Rape Dot Org. Please check it out.
