Sexual Violence in the Military - Research Paper Example

Sexual Violence in the Military Abstract There are several forms of sexual violence. Rape is the commonest of all atrocities that are regarded as sexual violence. It refers to having the carnal knowledge of the other person without his or her conscious consent. The rape victim puts on some form of resistance against the perpetrator, but he/she is subdued by physical force, intimidation, persuasion or undue influence. The perpetrator’s means are generally coercive or unjustifiably luring. Sexual violence may encompass, besides rape, a wide range of abuses that include sexual exploitation, threats, assaults, molestation, humiliation, unintentional prostitution, torture, harassment, insertion of objects into genital openings and attempted rape. All these are forms of sexual violence that people can neither ignore nor be justify on whatever ground, be it of religion, traditional or cultural affiliations, social orthodoxy, physical or mental health or work and career. This paper analyzes the assumption that sexual violence particularly in the military is real. It gives a comprehensive demonstration and analysis of the issue as an interdisciplinary subject. Also in this paper is an analysis of the statistical evidence from the military, especially in the war torn areas. Introduction Focusing on the United States’ service women working in Iraq, Goldstein observes that the incidence of sexual violence against them shames the US government. She admits that the service women were more at risk in the company of fellow soldiers than in the company of the enemy. This is indicative of the truth that sexual violence indeed takes place and that the culprits are not the Iraqis but fellow US soldiers. She points out how the US service women reported sexual assault and harassment when in service. A good percentage actually reported having survived rape, almost one-third to be precise. She observes that in essence, this atrocity did not pick in Iraq but in the United States. An investigation undertaken by the Associated Press found out in the year 2006 that there is evidence that a good number of high school-aged women who turned out for recruitment into the military were actually raped on the couches, in the recruiting offices and in government cars. In an article that discusses gender violence among the Dinka during the wartime South Sudan, Jok agrees that gender violence is part of a married woman’s life. Domestic life in South Sudan is plagued with many archaic ideologies concerning man-woman relationship; traditional idiosyncrasies allow men to be aggressive and women to be submissive. These beliefs and cultural tenets condition men into violence. In this respect, soldiers’ consumption of alcohol and other substances that excite the mind to debase their morals leading to sexual violence is an obvious phenomenon. In areas of conflict, Carreiras (2008) acknowledges that there is rampant assault and rape in conflict zones since olden times. A research conducted by media organizations and women organizations pointed out the truism in the issue of sexual violence in such areas. The rape cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and the 1994 Rwandan genocide provided fertile grounds for sexual assault and rape. She notes that the Amnesty International recorded in 1992 how Croatian women who were detained in the town of Foca in what was formerly Yugoslavia were routinely raped and molested. In effect, in the year 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal indicted three Serbian men on 33 counts of war crimes against humanity. These crimes included rape and torture of Bosnian Islamic women. The same happened in Afghanistan , East Timor and Liberia and other war-torn countries of Africa and other third world countries where women are tortured even in front of their husbands, pregnant women raped and miscarriage induced by crude weapons, the military men mutilating their breasts and other unspeakable atrocities. Communities and families have played an immense role in perpetuating sexual violence in the military. The military elite and community leaders in South Sudan for example have indoctrinated the minds of many that in order to provide a military service for the nation; women have the reproductive front as the only immediate arsenal against the enemy. They vehemently state that this is an important weapon that cannot be overlooked any longer. Community leaders maintain that women have overemphasized their household and family chores while neglecting their contribution to the national welfare. Consequently, in their attempt to redefine their role, women are asked to be more proactive in their contribution in order to give men room for undertaking the more vital military activity. In consequence, especially in 1991 and 1995, the SPLA officers went about suggesting and urging people to motivate women to actively hold their reproductive front, something that badly translated into sexual molestation of women (Jok, para6). Melonas views unfounded traditional beliefs as being responsible for sexual violence in the military. He criticizes the general assumption that military service men and women constitute the workforce that operates at a higher standard and that men and women are disciplined and obedient. In fact, sexual pervasion that takes place in the military has made what is supposed to be the society’s cream a place of abuse and moral degradation. By virtue of this traditional belief, the society has failed to establish the reasons behind this anomaly that has become rampant and widespread. This is because the military has been glorified from the outset and therefore, it could not be deemed possible to have individuals doing such terrible acts. It is important for each institution, department or individual in the military to be treated as an independent entity and as well be treated individually so that everybody can take liability for his/her actions rather than taking a general assumption that has otherwise brought about this misconception. In this case, we can understand the reason as to why individuals engage in sexual violence in the military, and not the military as a corporate body. Melonas further blames sexual violence in the military on cultural definition. This definition is founded on the expression of power relations between men and women. What culture has defined as male has always taken patriarchy over the female counterpart. The most notable area is in physical strength and leadership positions. When women are technically found in such set ups, they end up being preyed upon. Here, such patriarchal attitudes are weeded and correlated and incidences of sexual violence in form of rape, sexual harassment and others are bound to prevail. Sexual violence in an establishment such as the military is an expression of such male dominance. In fact, in our society the military has the hyper-masculinity status. This cultural definition’s bones should be broken because it portrays the military differently and contrary to the standards under which the men and women who serve there should operate (para7). Brooks witnesses that sexual violence in the military has taken on a new dimension; it is now a matter of chauvinism; the supposed strong preying on the perceived weak. He concurs with Jok that it is because of unequal power relations. The strong have developed a weakened emotional and mental disposition and hence have the opportunity to bully, stereotype, marginalize, violate and disenfranchise the weak. By extension, a vicious cycle follows that the weak preys on the perceived weaker. Undue sexual advancements characterize sexual harassment in the military. It is a serious complex considering that it originates from the larger society where men and women engage in this behavior on a daily basis. In fact, it is not an absolute invention of the military. The general relegation of women did not start in the military but in the larger society which only takes women as subordinates of men who can only measure up to homemakers. This attitude spills over to the military and here, male chauvinism is highly glorified. According to Brooks, for many years, the larger society has tolerated sexual harassment and has always viewed life to work like that. This is unlike in the past when unwanted sexual advancement and job displacement was completely unheard of. Weak-minded superior officers with misplaced priorities see the assignment of female officers to positions that were previously the preserve of men as an opportunity to prey on their perceived vulnerability. In such a scenario, the female officer who fears losing her job and jeopardizing her career either gives in to such advances or leads the perpetrator into a compromising situation and then reports him. Jamail on his part blames sexual violence in the military on misogynistic tendencies and pornography. The military is notoriously misogynistic and sexist beyond words. The normal drills and instructions given to new recruits is done by addressing them using words that are full of sexual connotations, words such as; pussy, girl, bitch and the like. Through this, the new recruits get used to such language as it fills the air. Such use of unprofessional crude and crass language tunes the minds of new military recruits to sense no harm whenever there are sexual advances from the seniors. Jamail also confirms that many high-ranking officers use their positions to intimidate and coerce women to sleep with them while in the system, low-ranking officers have leeway because their counterparts in the felony are in high positions of authority. The perpetrators of whatever rank are free within the system and they can therefore confidently move about without fear. The bureaucracy in the military is also a very big undoing – it is the main reason for the so few sexual assaults being reported in the military. The same is the reason why most women who are assaulted choose to keep it to themselves. During the training sessions, the drill sergeant ensures that reporting becomes a nightmare and so many victims just cower. This creates a very bad precedence in the military, one that is hard to break. There is evidence that this is employed by the ranks to have women’s reportage of their being raped impossible. Women who go through assaults are trained to shut up and the heinous acts continue. Worst of all and more disheartening is the fact that great majorities of the culprits are honorably discharged from the military and no penalty is meted on them (Jamail, para25). Brooks analyses what happens to the victim after the harassment. She talks of the lack of privacy protections. She says that no privacy is accorded to victims of sexual violence due to the nonexistence of any protective law that may shield that act and safeguard the reputation of the victim. On the contrary, what exists is the law of mandatory reporting and when the victim does report, she thinks that it is to her advantage. The details of the violence are disseminated and filtered past several other persons as well as departments within the hierarchy of command. The military code does not spell any prohibitive clause against any member talking about such matter, and this is to the detriment of the victim. She also mentions the serious impact of sexual violence on the victims for they continue to serve with those who assail them. Worse still, they serve in the same unit, saluting them and showing their perpetrators military respect. This is insult upon injury on the already traumatized victim. Conclusion It is apparent that Sexual violence is not an assumption any longer. This issue is primarily societal. However, it is a high time that the stakeholders started detaching themselves from it as it is supposed to be an individual’s responsibility. An analysis of the underlying reasons behind sexual violence in the military helps sanitize the entire system and restore its tainted image. Cultivating a well calculated intolerance towards violence perpetrated on others in the military irrespective of age, gender or military rank will lead to improvement. Improvement cannot come on a silver platter. The military medical providers need to have a better education that may entail military forensic expertise. Military men also need to be in the forefront in helping to stop sexual violence among them. The men need to develop a change of mindset that will make them aware that women need protection in whatever situation. They also need a specialized training to be part of the program to combat this embarrassing reality. The military system should have a serious examination unit that designs the reporting and the entire process that may bring the culprits to book including future preventive measures that military personnel can use. As a rule, alcohol consumption should be completely outlawed from the military environs. A lot of rigor should be undertaken in scrutinizing the background of those being recruited. This will avoid bringing on board those who come from abusive homes. Works cited Brooks, E. (2007). Sexual Harassment: The Weak Preying on the Perceived Weaker. Retrieved 21st August, 2010 from http://www.wcsap.org/pdf/Connections%20Military.pdf Carreiras, H. (2008). Women in the Military and in Armed Conflict. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, Goldstein, D. (2008). War with Ourselves: Sexual Violence in the Military. Retrieved 22nd August, 2010 from http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/04/08/at-war-with-ourselves-sexual-violence-in-the-military Jamail, D. (2009). Culture of Unpunished Sexual Assault in U.S. Military. Retrieved 22nd August, 2010 from http://dahrjamailiraq.com/culture-of-unpunished-sexual-assault-in-us-military  Jok, J. M. (1999). Militarization and Gender Violence in South Sudan. Retrieved 22nd August, 2010 from http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62195361.html Melonas, A. (2009). Addressing a disgrace: military sexual assault. Retrieved 22nd August, 2010 from http://virginiaveteran.org/womens-issues/addressing-a-disgrace-military-sexual-assault Read More