Pentagon Releases Startling New Statistics On Military Sexual Assault

Discussion in 'Warfare / Military' started by CherryPanda, Oct 7, 2014.

  1. CherryPanda

    CherryPanda Banned

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2014
    Messages:
    298
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    http://mic.com/articles/72503/pentagon-releases-startling-new-statistics-on-military-sexual-assault

    Though the article is almost a year old, I don’t think that numbers have changed significantly. And they are, in fact, terrifying. The fact that it's even more dangerous to serve in the army than actually be at a battle field is disturbing.
    Trying to perceive the size of the problem, I can’t understand why this happens in the first place. What do you think?

    Plus, a little bit more of visual statistics:

    Militarysexualassault1_zpsb84353d4.jpg
     
  2. Taxcutter

    Taxcutter New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2011
    Messages:
    20,847
    Likes Received:
    188
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Looks like the armed forces are seeing deterioration of discipline. Either that or a redefinition of "sexual assault."

    Deterioration of discipline is an early sign of a demoralized force.

    The armed forces have indeed been demoralized since 2009.

    Rot starts at the top.
     
  3. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2011
    Messages:
    11,132
    Likes Received:
    4,899
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I will preface this openly saying that I am in no way, shape, or form condoning sexual assault nor am I justifying it nor making light of it. But you asked why it seems to happen to frequently and I will tell you what I believe.

    The Army is mostly men. Especially on combat outposts. There are a few women who are out there as well such as MP's and intel troops and whatnot but it's mostly men manning those outposts. That's the way it was at my outpost in Afghanistan. Putting women in an outpost with a bunch of rugged men for 9, 12, or 18 months at a time is almost akin to having inter gender prison cells. At my outpost there was a woman (civilian intel contractor) who worked there. She would routinely walk around the tiny outpost in red "booty shorts" whenever she wasn't working. Not something I would recommend you do in that environment.

    Male and female Soldiers routinely had sexual intercourse on the outpost. Due to the extremely stacked ratio of men to women many of the women there did have multiple sexual partners. In an environment like that where men and women are locked on a base roughly the size of half a football field for 12 months things like that are going to happen. Most of the time it's consensual because both sides are grown adults who have needs. Unfortunately it's not always consensual. We never had any sexual assault cases at my particular outpost that I know of, but I can easily see how such a place could erupt like a powder keg.

    Back in garrison things can be viewed as similar to the thread about frat boys in college sexually assaulting women. Privates in the Army can be best described as college frat boys. Almost all of them drink every weekend and it's not uncommon to see the barracks turned into a frat party house on a Friday or Saturday night. I was on 24 our staff duty one time as the NCO and I walked upstairs in the barracks to see what all the noise was about. I get to the third floor and open the door and notice the Privates, both male and female, had changed into their bathing suits and had poured laundry soap all over the hallway floor and were using it as a slip n slide. I simply shook my head and told them that it better be spotless by the time I get off shift in the morning and went back downstairs.

    Having a bunch of young Soldiers from all different parts of the country living together under one roof leads to a frat party type atmosphere. I have literally seen it all when it comes to the barracks living, nothing could surprise me anymore. But since it's like a frat house the issues that come along with that are there as well. Like I said earlier, the Army is mostly men. When a bunch of young men and a few young women all start getting hammered together at a party it's a disaster waiting to happen.

    And besides the examples I mentioned the Army itself is honestly no different than any other community. We are professional Soldiers but in reality we are people just like everybody else. We have "bad" people in the military just like there are bad people in society. We have alcoholics, drug addicts, robbers, and even murderers. Not all of the sexual assault cases will fall into one of the scenarios I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately the military has rapists too.

    But I honestly do believe the main reason why the numbers are so high is because of the examples I mentioned.
     
  4. Herkdriver

    Herkdriver New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2007
    Messages:
    21,346
    Likes Received:
    297
    Trophy Points:
    0
    According to the UCMJ back in the day; Article 120 has since been revised.

    Article 120. Rape and Carnal Knowledge

    (a) Any person subject to this chapter who commits an act of sexual intercourse with a female not his wife, by force and without consent, is guilty of rape and shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.


    Simply stated, anyone found gound guilty of rape in a court martial, should be put to death.
    Going by the book...and utilizing the maximum punishment allowable as authorized by Congress.

    I think you'll see a sudden increase in celibacy if we went old school and put those guilty of rape on their fellow personnel before a firing squad. It is the ultimate in betrayal to do this to someone on your side.
     
  5. Lil Mike

    Lil Mike Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2011
    Messages:
    51,284
    Likes Received:
    22,663
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Well that's the thing. They are using the term, "sexual assault" but not rape. So how exactly are they defining sexual assault? Does it include rape and touching someone on the shoulder? I really can't tell if there is a problem or not because I don't understand the data.
     
  6. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2011
    Messages:
    11,132
    Likes Received:
    4,899
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Take it from someone who just got out of the third sexual assault prevention class in the past 2 months. Not exaggerating but the theme of the class was pretty much "Don't touch the girls, at all, period".

    The instructor gave this example. If you see a female on the squat rack in the gym and she asks for a spot, walk away. If you go out drinking with your buddies and there are female Soldiers there then don't talk to them, hook up with the locals instead. Smiling at a female Soldier in a manner that she feels inappropriate is sexual assault, talking about "guy things" (You know what Im talking about) around a female Solider and she feels it inappropriate is sexual assault. Taking your shirt off to change it in the field and there are females around can land you a charge.

    This wasn't the first time I got a brief like that. I've been to a couple that had legitimate points to be made but for the most part the current theme on sexual assault training is telling the guys to just not bother with the female Soldiers. This leads me to believe that either they are trying to sweep this stuff under the rug and protect the guys or that many of these sexual assault cases are BS.

    I personally don't know. Like I said the Army is still pretty much a "mans world" and I can see how many of the guys could be predators. However, anyone who has been in the Army also knows how some of the female troops act as well. All Soldiers past and present know what term I'm talking about. Just like many of their male counterparts, many of the females in the Army are far from sexual saints. I am by no means saying all of them are lying, or even half, or a third, or even 1%. The problem is the double standard of how almost none of these rules apply to when a female does it to a guy, but if a guy does it to a female then thats your ass.

    There are some serious rape cases in the military. But I do believe that some of these sexual assault charges are akin to getting slapped with a child molester tag for peeing on the side of a building.
     
  7. Herkdriver

    Herkdriver New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2007
    Messages:
    21,346
    Likes Received:
    297
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Having a sexual assault case in your unit reflects on leadership... so commanders are motivated not to prosecute someone. These are deep rooted problems endemic to military culture itself. A powerpoint presentation offering up tips along the lines of...

    If you approach a car broken down on the side of the road, remember not to rape them.

    I wish this was a joke. It's no longer military training, it's sexual assault prevention training. 99% of those taking these classes don't need to be talked down to or treated like infants...it's the 1% sociopaths that do that sort of thing and a powerpoint slide isn't going to stop them. Given the culture on the leadership level, a prosecution looks worse on an OER than sweeping it under the rug.

    As Nightmare alludes, it is indeed a cluster.

    I'd almost say the only true solution is to ban women from serving...period..but then again males are sexually assaulted also.

    Given these are large institutions of predominantly younger people, I don't think it's possible to attain a 0% rate of sexual assault...it's just the nature of human beings. There is no way to screen for sociopathology beyond background checks.
     
  8. Strasser

    Strasser Banned

    Joined:
    May 6, 2012
    Messages:
    4,219
    Likes Received:
    526
    Trophy Points:
    113
    My brother is a retired Army Reserve officer who got called up for 4 years active duty and assigned as an MCJ investigator at a base here in the States a few years ago. This nonsense is an administrative nightmare up and down the ranks, and consumes a massive amount of time and energy that harms readiness and morale, creates a lot of completely unnecessary stress and tension. Most of these cases that show up in the stats are ridiculous and not 'assaults' by any normal definition that most people would consider valid, just pettiness and revenge games. The definitions and guidelines are absurd, and there is little doubt they're designed that way on purpose.

    Given the state of the Psychology and Psychiatric 'professions' and its politicization over the last 40-50 years I seriously doubt any testing and screening would be valid either.
     
  9. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2011
    Messages:
    11,132
    Likes Received:
    4,899
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I've heard similar stories as well. In the Army they just sort of randomly pick people to be the sexual assault prevention representative and I know quite a few people with the title. Many of them have said the same thing that your brother said as far as sexual assault cases being blown out of proportion.

    The Army is at point now to where its stuck between a rock and a hard place. It really wasn't until that movie came out a few years ago that all of this stuff started happening. Once the public found out that there was a sexual assault "epidemic" going on the Army felt as though it had to do something to save face. So they started with all of these crazy new policies. The problem is that many of these policies are indeed ridiculous, bias, and hurt troop morale and readiness.

    I wasn't joking when I said that taking your shirt off in the field to change it can lead to a charge. These are the types of things that are absolutely ridiculous and causes unnecessary stress among the ranks. It also causes a lot of resentment. Unfortunately many male Soldiers still feel like female Soldiers don't belong in the military. That is the wrong opinion to have. However, having females around is the reason why males have to walk on eggshells nowadays and that certainly doesn't help strengthen the bond between the two genders. If anything it makes even more male Soldiers believe that females don't belong here.
     
  10. Lil Mike

    Lil Mike Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2011
    Messages:
    51,284
    Likes Received:
    22,663
    Trophy Points:
    113
    What movie are you referring to?

    In my opinion, the problem started a few years ago when they had a poll on sexual assault on AKO, but again, didn't define sexual assault. That's why they have such high numbers for sexual assault on men. Does anyone really think there is an epidemic of men raping men in the Army? I mean, I realize it's a new Army but come on.

    You can't make good policy unless you have good data, and right now the military doesn't have good data. You can figure out the policy results from there...
     
  11. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2011
    Messages:
    11,132
    Likes Received:
    4,899
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The Invisible War

    Media took that and ran with it. We had reporters running around town randomly stopping Soldiers to interview them and stuff. It was bad. It made it seem like there was this huge epidemic of sexual assault going on that the Army was keeping a big secret. After that movie came out all hell broke loose, class after class after class on SHARP training, new ridiculous policies such as you can't take your shirt off to change it in the field, no hugging in uniform, those on barracks CQ duty instructed to walk the halls during after hours to ensure no females were in the barracks (nobody really cared before). Commanders giving briefs saying to not even interact with the female Soldiers unless it was work related, etc.

    It was a mess. That movie is what started all of this. Sexual assault does happen in the Army but I don't think its anywhere near extent people think.
     
  12. Strasser

    Strasser Banned

    Joined:
    May 6, 2012
    Messages:
    4,219
    Likes Received:
    526
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I've never heard of that movie before. Thanks for the info.
     

Share This Page