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Female soldiers more likely to be raped by colleagues than killed by enemy fire

  2. mischabarrett
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Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq. In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were reported -- 73% more than in 2004. The Department of Defense's newest report, released this month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with data from previous years much more difficult.

At the heart of this crisis is an apparent inability or unwillingness to prosecute rapists in the ranks. According to DOD statistics, only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to courts-martial, the equivalent of a criminal prosecution in the military. Another 218 were handled via nonpunitive administrative action or discharge, and 201 subjects were disciplined through "nonjudicial punishment," which means they may have been confined to quarters, assigned extra duty or received a similar slap on the wrist. In nearly half of the cases investigated, the chain of command took no action; more than a third of the time, that was because of "insufficient evidence."
mischabarrett

43 responses // Female soldiers more likely to be raped by colleagues than killed by enemy fire

  • I'm not sure whether how good that is. It's bad that they get raped but it's good because it shows that you aren't killed very much by the enemies.
    superjake2004
  • Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

    No....I'm not the least bit surprised.

    **************

    Killed by the "enemy'? Oh! You mean the Iraqi civilians....
    dawnki
  • Interesting definition of "enemy". Anyone willing to rape another human being is certainly an enemy in my book.

    What does this really say about the military training in our own country? It's despicable.

    And Jake...actually not funny at all. At the least it's a poor reading of the statistics and a lame attempt at a joke; at most it's a blatant disregard for the damage that rape--especially by so-called comrades--does to a person. Maybe try saying it out loud before typing next time?
    recommended by  jade_azul16
    hollyg
  • Scary! Well you know also that your most likely to get raped by someone you know as oppose to a stranger. The sad truth is that women have to protect themselves aganist so many different things.
    Devishlysweet83
  • its not like its not normal, men at war, think like an animal...only instinct is survival, a little pleasure is women, so the usual prayer is to have a lay before they bite the next bullet, and if it come to rape so be it...which is what Psychologist today should be wondering, why? there is so much rape of women in any war since humans invented war...we are still the same human, even though a lot of our basic instincts have changed due our moral, ethical and community rules.

    We should abandon WAR alltogether.
    sinlung
  • Humans will never change. Regardless of how many centuries go by and how our toys get more sophisticated to make people think we have evolved with them, we are still barbarians. How is Congress dealing with this? What recourse will these women have? Rape is a crime of violence and it will traumatize these women for the rest of their lives. But of course, since the DOD is made up of men as well the majority of these cases won't be tried. But yeah, sexism doesn't exist in this country.
    JanforGore
  • with so many contraceptives available I honestly don't know why so many are still getting pregnant. And although I am reluctant to believe it, all arrows point at human stupidity.

    I'm still praying to God that somebody somewhere before I hit 20 develops a method that is 100 percent effective.

    (I do not have a god)
    So maybe the most rational thing to do is hurry up with my degree and get the work done myself....

    lol
    jade_azul16
  • funny that you mention the peace corps cause that's exactly what i plan on doing
    jade_azul16
  • If you want to be even more sure there is always the possibility of gettin butt raped, so there ya go!

    and i think that's funny...
    jade_azul16
  • im sure someone was whiny and got my post removed....so chalk it up for free speech!!
    so since "SOMEONE" clearly wants to whine ...im erasing my posts.

    yay!
    okinawanmajik
  • Oh, great! now i'm crazy and i talk to a ghost!
    jade_azul16
  • Um, the conversation made a left turn to Weirdvillle, but anywho......the military is a male dominated institution, many of them with hardly any education and some with backward ideas about the world, as it pertains to women. It should come as no surprise that some of these sexually oppressed individuals would have they're way with whomever they please.
    I would hope that these women could defend themselves better than the average woman, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
    Neghie
  • Wow, I'm amazed that it is somehow the responsibility of the victim to protect herself from being raped.

    I'm also amazed at how some commenters use the phrase "get raped".

    Lets be clear:

    Male soldiers are raping female soldiers. The rapists are responsible, regardless of the context of their crime. It is not the victim's responsibility to prevent the crime. It is the male soldier's responsibility to not rape their female peers.

    Unfortunately, the military is not doing its job to enforce the rules. They are creating a work environment where it is acceptable for soldiers to rape their co-workers.

    Our tax dollars are paying for this. It needs to change. Rapists need to be held responsible for their crimes.
    Fenlon
  • I heart George Bush and the military.
    recommended by  jade_azul16
    stephenthomson
  • to Fenlon:
    I agree that to construct the verb as "get raped" is really weird. It evokes "getting laid" which is something someone actively does. Using "get" in place of "be" ("a woman got raped" instead of "a woman was raped") is not linguistically or grammatically incorrect, but it does, colloquially, blur the line between an active and passive action on the part of the victim.

    Anyway, obviously we can't really change anyone's colloquial speech, but we can and should definitely express outrage at the military's unwillingness to prevent this situation and their unwillingness to prosecute these crimes.
    vancookie
  • Who said anything about it being the responsibility of the woman to defend herself? I said, "I would hope they could defend themselves" better than the average woman seeing as they're in the military. that's all that should've been read into that.

    "It is the male soldier's responsibility to not rape their female peers..."

    Yeah, well there should be no world hunger, but there still is, isn't there? Believe me, I probably know more about what rape first hand than you do, so believe where I'm coming from isn't ignorant to the injustices rape victims face.
    Neghie
  • Just another glowing example of the stellar administrative job the military is doing....
    cybexg
  • This is due to the lack of psychological training on the part of the military, as well as the men who commit such heinous crimes against humanity. Often times these men are offered no outlets for the aggression bred from training killing machines, and so it is translated into acts of violence at home and abroad. If these men had a councilor to discuss their issues with, it could drastically decrease the numbers of rapes and murders committed by active and discharged soldiers.

    I am by no means excusing the actions of these men, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I am, however, offering a different persepective that the one that completely demonizes the millitary servicemen for the transgressions some choose to participate in.
    lifestudentno83
  • If a pre-rape victim shot another soldier, how punished would she be? We need to dissolve our military. What year is it?
    vagrantaesthetic
  • It's sad that you can't be in the military if you're openly gay, but if you're charged with rape, you get a slap on the wrist or more likely no investigation or punishment at all.
    MarinaDelRey
  • One of the children I babysat when she was young, went to Iraq and was raped continually by fellow "soldiers". She was not able to complain about it, so when she got back to the states, she went AWOL. She was then arrested, and sent to the military base where the rapes occured, and is still there. This is a true story. Military training is the problem. It takes a well rounded, sane individual, through humiliation takes away their soul, and leaves them hollow and a little bit insane. Training people to kill is WRONG.
    I told my children they could do "anything" they wanted, they could just NEVER join the military. They are still sweet, sane children.
    recommended by  jade_azul16
    SNJ
    • SNJ
    • 3 months ago
  • It is my understanding that the military has made it mandatory for women to use the buddy system when using the restrooms, along with carrying their sidearm.

    It's sad that our female soldiers actually need to beware using the restrooms...
    natenate
  • So, if male soldiers are raping their female comrades, either they have no respect for those comrades (which is probably more the case) OR, I cringe to think what they might be doing to "the enemy" (Iraqi civillians). If they are getting away with this violence against fellow soldiers, I suppose we'll hear Abu Graib type horror stories of soldier's behavior towards Iraqi civillians before it's all said and done. Yet another reason we should never go to war....it gives people an 'excuse' to behave badly.
    anjela3
  • This is sick. However, when someone is exposed to the conditions of war, what more can you expect?
    camp_ernest
  • In 2006 there were approx 15,000 US army women in Iraq. Presuming it's a similar number today, the number of assaults would imply that almost 1 in 5 have been assaulted by a fellow soldier. That's a huge number!
    Emily_RS
  • Astounding, but not suprising. I am not surprised that the Army IS NOT employing harsher penalties for rape, and being a gay male is dischargable penalty, These people deserve great respect, and I am totally against the invasion since 9/11. The Army treats women unfairly, as it's still considered a 'male' organization at the top. The highest ranking woman is fighting for Service Members' Legal Defense network, an organization dedicated to providing legal military defense for--guess, come on: homosexual discharge, mostly. I do not, for the life of me, understand how a fellow homosexual can put his life in the hands of the mass-produced automaton the Army wants a soldier to be (or has created?)
    jleemuse
  • I agree this just proves that the military needs to improve it's mental training and the huge holes that it has.

    they would never admit this happens, but i bet they know about it and wouldn't do much at all, if anything.
    Not_Doody
  • as appalled as I am by this...i still feel it only deserves the obligatory brainwashed shill response...

    it isn't a war...it's a global humanitarian relief operation spreading liberty and freedom to the poor and under priviledged of the world.
    It isn't torture...it's aggressive interrogation tactics....so naturally...there is also no such thing as rape...these are aggressive courtship coercion rituals. To say you are against our troops getting their aggressive courtship coercion rituals on...then you must be a lefty anti-american, anti-capitalist, terrorist sympathizer. SUPPORT THE TROOPS! YAY!!!! GO TEAM!!!
    RAH RAH!! /poms poms in the air...WOOO!

    btw to all females...join the armed forces...we are running out of victims...er sorry...dates to the roofies parties in barracks 666. muahahahahahaha
    ablindeye
  • Rhis is a huge, disatsrous situation, particularly endemic in the air-force. I know one woman who was raped, reported it, and punished and de-commisioned for having sex - the rape.
    jaytee11941
  • Thats really sad, I have a super hot girlfriend who (god knows why!!) joined the army and is in iraq, I havent talked to her since she left but I can only imagine how they would be all over her, GOOD LUCK OUT THERE FANNY!!
    rigellianaire
  • Why? Did she believe Bush that this is noble? I've been in the military. andf it is nothing like freedom.
    jaytee11941
  • Good luck? as in don't get killed but kill as many as you can?

    or as in i hope nobody rapes you? i think this one is the one you meant

    how serious was your relationship?
    I wouldn't let any of my loved ones join the army.

    My brother was thinking of doing so, and I would have taken every measure possible to prevent him from going, but a conversation with him was enough to convince him to stay.

    jade_azul16
  • Good luck as in surviving AND not being raped. Not much chance of not being somewhat abused, as that's what the military is. Good for you for talking your brother out of it.

    I wrote a screenplay that changed some minds about the Vietnam war. Even after fighting in it they realized it was 'all for nothing'.

    The lady I spoke to was someone I interviewed for a book. She was a psychologist who became an escort after the rape
    jaytee11941
  • this is a horrible story. but i find that there are a lot more stories out there

    http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/03/8078/

    this link is to a similar story. the person here is not in the military but with a contractor out in iraq. she too is a victim of a military assault.
    titopadilla
  • SNJ:

    Holy shit! Will you try to help her case?
    CarlosIsDown
  • The case is long over. The military let the rapists go free, and CONVICTED her of having had sex - BEING RAPED... Booted out of the aservice, disgraced. She is now a prostitute, but as a psychologist she has formed a support group to help other women escorts. This is not a new or current case.
    jaytee11941
  • this is incredibly disgusting. Add tthis to list of crimes against humanity by the current adminstration. We need to show that the man is not more important than the job. Hold Bush, Cheney and the lot of them culpable and vote for a candidate who believes that this joke of an adminstration don't get pardons! Just my opinion from a draft dodger during the Viet Nam war.
    fox61chief
  • Wow, I was shocked, I wasn't shocked, and then, Yup Shocked! Really?? Wow. So then they finish their tour and get released to the public having been taught to kill and with no fear of rape prosecution or retribution. Not cool. It makes me a little sick. The whole thing is awful.

    p.s. Bush didn't raise these rapists. He didn't make these rapists. Maybe you ought to focus on the people around the rapists most of the time like: their parents, friends, drinking buddies, etc. Bush didn't make these people rapists, you're getting it twisted. What he could do though is demand more prosecutorial power in those issues and show he truly condemns the action. That is where he is failing.
    TDubs
  • where I Agee that the criminals should indeed be held for these attacks,the administration that turns a blind eye to these needs to be held equally responsible.
    fox61chief
  • You are getting beyond the point. These are cultures within the defense departments. The air-force demands Christianity, and it along with the Army fosters the culture of manhood over all. Women don't count. You are never going to get the politicians to 'pay' for this. The first step might be to punish the soldier and stop calling servicemen 'heros' all the time.
    jaytee11941