The Catch 22 of Ending Sexual Violence in the US Military

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/03/18-5



The Catch 22 of Ending Sexual Violence in the US Military
by Lucinda Marshall
Published on Monday, March 18, 2013 by Common Dreams

At its root, the problem of sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military is the quintessential Catch 22. As witnesses, Senators, and even representatives of the military admitted at a Senate hearing on the problem last week, the shocking amount of sexual violence that is going on in our military is being done by perpetrators who use it to assert dominance and power over those they perceive to be weaker as a way of telling them who is in control. Which is also precisely what dominant military forces do and have done since the beginning of patriarchal time with whatever weaponry has been available to them. And that is why it is so difficult, if not impossible to get traction in eradicating sexual violence in the military. To do so would necessitate confronting the very ethos of militarism.

The impact of sexual assault against women in the military has been and continues to be horrific. A notable point that was made at the hearings last week however, and one which is crucial to understand is that men actually make up the majority of victims of sexual assault and rape in the military. Given that men make up approximately 85% of our armed forces, that isn’t surprising although women are victimized at a much higher rate:

Of the estimated 19,000 reported sexual assaults and rapes in the armed forces last year, the majority were actually committed against men.

Men are assaulted at a lower rate — 1% of servicemen reported being attacked by a comrade last year versus 4.4% of women — but that still translates to more than 10,000 cases compared with 9,000 attacks on female recruits and officers.