Sexual Assault in the Military

Sexual Assault in the Military

Abstract

Sexual assault in the military is a prevalent issue despite many initiatives that have been taken to deal with it. Without a doubt, the lack of advancement comes from the difficulty of sexual assault in the military and to establish productive programs and strategies, and we need to understand these difficulties.  This paper is going to explain the root and myths surrounding sexual harassment, and the cultural elements in the military that contribute to these problems. We wind up by providing a wide and inclusive set of recommendations, which contemplates various factors for establishing productive programs and strategies for terminating sexual harassment within the military.

Introduction

Sexual harassment a prevalent problem in the military, with almost twenty thousand active members experiencing sexual assault in 2004 (Morral, Gore, & Schell, 2015). According to Turchik and Wilson (2010), it is estimated that 9.5 per cent to 43 per cent of military women and 1 per cent to 12 per cent of men are sexually harassed in the US military. The Department of Defense has described sexual harassment as deliberate sexual contact, which is identified by the use of threats, intimidation and use of force or without the victims’ consent (Department of Defense, 2015). Therefore, sexual harassment acts may span from undesired sex to rape. To get a sentence for sexual assaults, the action or behavior must have happened without consent.

The effect of sexual assault on the victims can be shattering since it negatively affects their mental and physical health and military career. Sexual harassment often leads to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in both male and female veterans and active service members (Kang, Mahan, & Ishii, 2005). Depression and drug abuse have also been linked with sexual assault in linked civilian and service members. A broad scope of medical signs and symptoms have also been associated with sexual harassment. Sexual assaults are the primary reason as to why most females quit the military early. Because of the trauma, most of the female veterans struggle in making ends meet in civilian life as some of them end up homeless (Skinner et al., 2000).

Unlike the majority of the military worldwide, the United States’ military has been clear and transparent on matters concerning physical and sexual assault in its service members. The US military is focusing on terminating sexual harassment, as it wants to safeguard its service members’ health and safety. Therefore, terminating sexual assaults in the military is necessary to safeguard human rights and certify military readiness. To establish effective prevention strategies, discussions on this topic need to address the complications in sexual assaults. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to bring an open dialog on cultural, military, and societal factors that need to be recognized before any strategies to deal with sexual assaults become employed. To begin with, the myths and root causes of sexual harassment are presented and discussed. Second, the cultural and military elements that have contributed to sexual harassment are described. Third, the matters that are shunned in sexual assaults such as male victims are looked upon, and lastly, effective strategies to combat sexual assaults are developed and recommended.

Root causes of sexual harassment

Several theories concerning sexual harassment have been said, of which many of them are not mutually exclusive, and they include:

Gender Stereotypes

The military is presented with patriarchal structures that are influenced by various values like rank, protocols, leadership, camaraderie, and loyalty. Significance is placed mostly on masculine principles, which encourages the concept of aggression, risk-taking, and dominance (Hunter, 2007). The military history peer-group bonding in males encourages hyper-masculinity, which views masculine involvement as competition, dominance, and control (Hunter, 2007). The difference in power between the men and women within the military is based on leadership and the male-dominated system, which plays a critical part in sexual harassment (Turchik, & Wilson, 2010). More traditional and masculine beliefs have also been associated with sexual assault. Furthermore, the homophobic military culture has been encouraging sexual harassments.  The stigma and fear that results from being identified or labeled as “homosexual” always stop sexual assault victims especially the male from coming forward and report (Hunter, 2007)

Religious and Historical Influence

Historically, women across various societies have been viewed as a prize to the winning side during the war, and this has been a technique of maintaining good morale. In the military aspect, there are countries that have been providing sex workers to the military members as a way of fostering their relationship (Hunter, 2007). The ability of the military to kill and rape during the war has been viewed as a sign of power in the military’s tradition.

Past Personal Experience

Past experience from sexual assaults has been associated with sexual harassment and victimization in the future. Rates of adolescent and childhood sexual abuse within the military are usually higher compared to those among the public civilians. According to the Department of Defense (2013), about 6 per cent of the male and 30 per cent of the female members have revealed to be sexually assaulted before joining the military service. Research has shown that women who have a history of being sexually assaulted before are likely to be assaulted again during their military service (Sadler et al., 2003). A usual subject in re-victimization is that the abuse will not contribute to the risks, but mostly the behavioral and emotional outcomes of the abuse before and they include emotional numbing, interpersonal difficulties, and self-blame.

Cultural Acceptance

Both civilian and military victims describe the outcome of sexual abuse as being painful compared to the harassment itself. The military’s code of silence with its code of silence has often created a difficult environment for victims to seek help since they know and believe nothing will happen, and also they fear retaliation. According to the department of defense (2014), 62% of the women who reported have reported sexual harassment have received vengeance. Of almost 5900 filed reports concerning harassment assault in 2014, less than a third of the offenders received some legal or administrative actions (Department of Defense, 2014). Sexual harassment victims, especially in the military, have an invasion of their privacy, faced blame and sometimes dismissal even if the assault took place.

Myths Concerning Sexual Assault

Myths are the false notions that people have. In the context of sexual harassment, there are a number of false beliefs such as “it is only women who can be sexually harassed.” These myths surrounding sexual harassments contain non-logical evidence such as “she should have reported the perpetrator after the incidence of rape.” The incidence of rape and reporting are two independent scenarios; one cannot imply the absence or existence of the other. The most common sexual harassment myth entails blaming the victim, which usually has many logical errors and facts such as, “she should not have gotten herself drunk.” Even if the victim was drunk, how does that give someone any right to harass her sexually? Similarly, offenders of sexual harassments are often believed and not the victim. The best approach towards eradicating sexual harassments and their myths that depend on wrong thinking and ignorance is by education.

Military Culture and Factors Related to Sexual Assault

There are several sides of the military that may impart directly or even indirectly to sustaining and creating an environment whereby sexual harassments can happen and prosper. Since plenty of these elements are intrinsic in the military, they can create a good environment for sexual harassment. Those aspects are important to comprehend if early intervention and effective preventive strategies can be a success. In this section, we will recognize several attributes of the military culture, which should be pointed out to develop effective preventive strategies.

Value on Performance

Team and individual performance are valued in the military since it leads to successful missions. Placing a significant value on individual performance may easily encourage leaders to ignore claims of sexual harassment when a high performer is accused. This is troubling, especially when the offender deliberately seeks the low offender knowing that they are of lower ranks. Leaders now become in a tough position when it comes to choosing between a high ranked officer who is an excellent performer and a poorer performer who has lower ranks. Even if the administration tries to be neutral, there are high chances of unintentional biases.

Movement of Military Personnel

Intrinsic in the military culture is the movement of military personnel from one camp to another, which is important for development professionally and hence military advancement. Nonetheless, this often happens when a service member is vulnerable to being assaulted sexually. Offenders are always believed to be opportunistic and would harass a member who is getting ready to be moved to a new duty station or one who is new. This situation makes it hard for the assaulted victim to make a report since they are new to the unit and the feeling that there is no local support system established.

Team Allegiance

A team is an essential part of military service. Every duty and mission that is completed in the military is because of teamwork. Therefore, there is no team member who wants to disappoint the team, and forward a member of the team for sexual harassment is viewed as team betrayal. Therefore, victims often decide not to report the incident since they don’t want to be viewed as a disappointment to their teams. In case of a report being made, the team members would feel that the victim made a big deal out of something small that could have been let go. In any of the cases, the effectiveness of the team is usually affected. Paradoxically, offenders of sexual harassment often take the allegiance and trust of the team members to ensure that the report is not made.

Leadership Responsibility

The United States military administration always holds the military leaders accountable for creating a work environment where sexual misconduct is not encouraged (Department of Defense, 2014). Therefore, when sexual harassment reports are made, these military leaders feel at blame for allowing such behavior. If sexual assaults and harassments happen because of the leader climate, then is it not the fault of the leader? This could encourage them to deal not to deal with small and minor issues that are forwarded to them, which makes them brash off allegations such as those of sexual assault.

Confronting the Unpleasant Issues of Sexual Assault in the Military

Effective solutions towards the prevention of sexual harassment and assaults in the military will need addressing important issues that have been avoided, minimized, or denied.

Risk prevention

Proposing procedures that military women should take to secure themselves is often perceived as ‘blaming the victim” (Van den Bos, & Maas, 2009). Nonetheless, it should be recalled that sexual harassment is a serious crime. An essential point of reducing sexual crimes is to aim at things that sexual victims are able to do to keep away from being victimized again. Sexual harassment risk prevention training may be an important attempt to reduce sexual violence. However, this does not mean that men and women should be criticized if they get to be harassed again, even after following the preventive measures.

Male Sexual Assault

There is a misconception that sexual harassment only happens to females and not males. Even though it is the women who are at a higher risk of being sexually harassed, the actual number of assaults on the male is the same as that of female (Turner, & Frayne, 2004). Male military members also face the same issue of reporting sexual harassment as do female service members. Despite this issue, society and the army leaders do not discuss the issue of male sexual harassments because the issue is not pleasant. The military training in preventing sexual assaults has inadequate information concerning male victims and the problems they face when reporting their cases.

Complicated Military Reporting System

The military reporting system is a complex one with restricted pathways that involved multiple people within numerous agencies of the military with several chains of command. Given the complicated nature of the system and the people involved, it becomes difficult for the service member to report sexual harassment. Services members who have forward their cases of sexual harassment are not believed and usually face retaliation from their team members. Therefore, reporting sexual assault in the military brings along an enormous threat to an individual’s career.

Restoring Respect and Human Dignity

Fundamentally, acts of harassment and assault sexually amount to a lack of dignity and respect on others. Establishing a culture of respect and dignity that is free of sexual assaults will need major alterations in the military. First, sexual assaults should be acknowledged mainly as problems in the cultural and leadership aspects. The Department of Defense acknowledges the leaders’ primary role in the prevention of sexual assaults and places them as the main pillar in preventing sexual harassments. Leaders should be held responsible for all accounts of sexual assaults under their watch as they allowed the culture to exist. Second, sexual harassment prevention training should be established to center on risk reduction skills. Prevention training is required to be comprehensive to look at what leads to sexual harassment and the role they have in the culture of the military. Third, the military’s reporting system should be reformed to make it easy for victims to report their cases to the relevant authority.

Conclusion

Sexual assault and harassment within the military amount to significant threats to the military as it leads to poor performance and health problems. The military’s attempt to end these issues appear to be half-hearted and sporadic. What is required to terminate these assaults in the military is an inclusive strategy that contemplates the root causes and false beliefs that surround sexual assaults, the cultural elements in the military that have contributed to these assaults, and the issues that surround sexual harassment, which is usually ignored. The military’s strategy must depend on evidence approaches so as to eradicated sexual assaults effectively.

References

Department of Defense. (2015). Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program, January 23, 2012 [Incorporating Change 2, Effective January 20, 2015]. Retrieved 28 January 2020, from https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=761622

Department of Defense. (2012). Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members. Retrieved 28 January 2020, from https://www.sapr.mil/public/docs/research/WGR_ActiveDuty_2012_Report.pdf

Hunter, M. (2007). Honor betrayed: Sexual abuse in America’s military. Barricade Books Incorporated.

Kang, H., Dalager, N., Mahan, C., & Ishii, E. (2005). The role of sexual assault on the risk of PTSD among Gulf War veterans. Annals of epidemiology, 15(3), 191-195.

Morral, A. R., Gore, K. L., & Schell, T. L. (2015). Sexual assault and sexual harassment in the US military. Volume 2. Estimates for department of defense service members from the 2014 RAND military workplace study. RAND NATIONAL DEFENSE RESEARCH INST SANTA MONICA CA.

Skinner, K. M., Kressin, N., Frayne, S., Tripp, T. J., Hankin, C. S., Miller, D. R., & Sullivan, L. M. (2000). The prevalence of military sexual assault among female Veterans’ Administration outpatients. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15(3), 291-310.

Sadler, A. G., Booth, B. M., Cook, B. L., & Doebbeling, B. N. (2003). Factors associated with women’s risk of rape in the military environment. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 43(3), 262-273.

Turchik, J. A., & Wilson, S. M. (2010). Sexual assault in the US military: A review of the literature and recommendations for the future. Aggression and violent behavior, 15(4), 267-277.

Turner, C., & Frayne, S. (2004). Military sexual trauma: Veterans health initiative independent study course. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs.

Van den Bos, K., & Maas, M. (2009). On the psychology of the belief in a just world: Exploring experiential and rationalistic paths to victim blaming. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(12), 1567-1578.