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Senator says Defense Department must eliminate sexual assaults »

Posted by: bubba2 1 month, 2 weeks ago

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Sen. Bob Casey says he continues to hear many complaints about sexual harassment and abuse from women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he wants the Defense Department to do more to stop mistreatment and provide more care for victims.

Read Full Story at armytimes.com

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Comments So Far: 29

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1-2-Oscar1 month, 2 weeks ago

Women in National Guard units deployed overseas are in a particular bind. All of the personnel in NG units are typically from the same community, and a complaint while on active duty may bring retribution after the unit returns to civilian status.
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  NG units are not from one community, but from a region. Please understand that retribution is a crime, both in the UCMJ and in the civilian sector.
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    1-2-Oscar1 month, 2 weeks ago
    
    The local unit, a transportation battalion which has done three tours in Iraq, is drawn from a three-county area. They are essentially one community.
    I understand that retribution is a crime, and I also understand that enforcement is virtually non-existent.
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Charlson1 month, 2 weeks ago

Complaints should be handled not through a chain of command, especially when the perp might be in that chain, but by an outside military agency set up to handle complaints anonymously.
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  1-2-Oscar1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  That's supposed to be the job of the Inspector General, but getting the IG to act is nearly impossible without evidence of a physical assault, and that office does nothing to shield complainants from retribution.
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    bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
    
    No, the IG is an auditing entity. Complaints are handled through the chain of command, up through the force commander. There also exists a hotline, available by 800 number and internet, and the DIS.
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      1-2-Oscar1 month, 2 weeks ago
      
      The Inspector General has the authority to investigate and to bring charges. In my day (admittedly some time ago), they did a helluva lot more than audit.
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raats66621 month, 2 weeks ago

FTA-"A March report by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office said there were 2,688 reports of sexual assault in fiscal 2007, the last year for which records were available, with about 600 of those reports resulting in service members being punished."
There is something REALLY wrong when barely 22% of reported crimes result in some form of punishment.
Since, generally, a FRACTION of sexual assaults are actually reported there are A LOT of sexual predators (in our armed forces) that are free to do as they please....unchecked. Since (with the chain of command doing the investigating which may include the chain of command) the 'fox is guarding the hen house'.
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  Dionys1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  Want to hear worse figures? Look at the DOD report on women in combat. One in three can expect to be raped by one of their fellow soldiers in the first year.
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    bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
    
    Dio, now you have my interest. I am ex-military, and was a field commander. I would be shocked to find my guys were raping at will. I have never disciplined anyone for any sexual activity, so please, please, please, provide me a source for these criminal statistics.
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      mrbs1 month, 2 weeks ago
      
      these stats include the "he touched my ta tas while pushing me to the ground when the grenade flew threw the window"reports ,and the "he looked at me funny".
      on the other hand i do believe some years ago when the possibility of of putting women in combat was being discussed the generals were shouted down for suggesting this might happen
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    Tcaros1 month, 2 weeks ago
    
    The reason is because there is a break down of respect for the law which started with the Bush administration.
    We have a weak President who appoints Attorney Generals who will not enforce the law. This selective enforcement of the law leads to total disrespect for the law or others. That is what the moral erosion is doing to this country.
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  Please understand that the UCMJ is a much more stringent standard than civilian law. There is little allowance for attitudinal exceptions.
  And, also, perhaps even with a strict standard, 78% do not meet the UCMJ definition of sexual assault.
  Everything that exists in the civilian world also exists in the military one. It would be an unrealistic expectation to not have some level of criminality. For example, what happens in your town? 600 convictions for sexual assault amounts to about 1 conviction for every 3000 service members. My town can't meet that standard.
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  Please consider the possibility that 78% of those accused were innocent.
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rightfromwrong1 month, 2 weeks ago

the army protects it's own and since the vast majority are men they will continue to do it. Maybe it is time to have all women divisions.
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  It's been done. It was called WACs/WAVEs, etc, and the forces were reconciled since WWII. Your idea is considered extremely sexist and not in the best interest of the careers of women.
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Hobe1 month, 2 weeks ago

Senator says Defense Department must eliminate sexual assaults
WOW..., who would ever think this would happan????
The current Congressmaen and Senator's Need to be Voted out Of Office....
Special Intrest controls their every move...
VOTE the Lifer's OUT OF OFFICE Both sides, stop the corruption, Scandel and Waste of hard working Americans Tax Dollars.......
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  Eliminating sexual assaults must be a worthy goal. I'm sure the good Senator has this well in hand. I will check to see the rate of sexually related crime in his district; I'm sure it's 0.
  /sarcasm
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Poulenc1 month, 2 weeks ago

When I read stories like this I'm reminded of how little has changed in the realm of (straight) male-female relations, at least in a "closed" setting.
And people make a big deal of the "morale-destroying sexual tension" that they're certain will ensue if gays are allowed to serve openly in the military.
Bottom line: men respect one another; not so when it comes to women.
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  In my estimation it is quite the opposite. Men tend to respect and protect women, which is why there are real concerns about mixing women and men in full combat operations. Men don't respect each other any more than they have to, either through duty or mutual dislike.
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    mrbs1 month, 2 weeks ago
    
    put three women in a room give them a task and see what happens.
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Natureboy1 month, 2 weeks ago

Sexual assault, abuse and rape are so prevalent in the military that they have their own syndrome "military sexual trauma."
Read, and be disgusted -
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3912/is...
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  bigurn1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  Military sexual trauma is, from the article, a domestic violence problem. Moreover, this entire piece is so poorly written it is difficult to make sense of it. The author jumps between domestic problems and military problems, confuses the two, and uses terminology that combines two different inputs into the same output (assault).
  The kinds of abuses include "economic abuse", which goes undefined. Also, it does not say what constitutes any of these abuses, so conceivably any behavior could be construed as abuse (quite possibly in the eye of the victim).
  I gave up on page 5. My kids write better than this.
  I was disgusted. At the author.
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    Natureboy1 month, 2 weeks ago
    
    "Rates of marital aggression in the military are 2 to 5 times higher than civilian rates. Surveys show that rates of physical and sexual abuse of military personnel have risen from 18.6 cases per 1,000 in 1990 to 26.5 cases per 1,000 in 1996 and 2001. In addition to physical abuse, approximately 9 to 14% of female military personnel experience sexual abuse, depending on the service branch."
    Is that difficult for you to make sense of?
    Obviously, denial aint just a river in Egypt.
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Poulenc1 month, 2 weeks ago

Interesting, bigurn.
The protection of women is a form of condescension, isn't it? One is saluting one's own powerfulness/another's "weakness"--and thereby drawing a line in the sand. In any case, "equal" won't do.
My experience is that men may be mutually competitive---god knows, they are!--but when push comes to shove, as it so often does, men fear the strength of their own sex, the ability to do damage.
Men DO rape other men, but hardly as often as they do women. There's a lesson there, I think.
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nikkibabe1 month, 2 weeks ago

They are raping innocent Iraqi girls and women. On top of it, they kill them, their families and then set the whole house on fire or bomb it down to ground.
What a bunch and they are called the "BRAVE".
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  Natureboy1 month, 2 weeks ago
  
  Don't forget the "man's man" action. Male on male rape within the military is far more common than most would think, and it is really taboo to speak about.
  http://www.refusingtokill.net/rape/malerapinthe...
  
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Tcaros1 month, 2 weeks ago

Where's Alpha Fartsies (AlphaGnosis)?
I'd like to know the spin to hear on this one. Let's see "Bush is not responsible for actions within the DOD." Is that a good one?
Fartsies: If you condone illegal activities, coverups, smear tactics, and selective enforcement of the laws starting at the TOP, then this is what happens. A total break down of respect for the law.
That is why we 70% of (real) Americans dissaprove of this administration. You republican hangovers are a bunch of idiots.
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Poulenc1 month, 2 weeks ago

mrbs, in answer: they complete it through co-operation.
Were you suggesting that a "cat fight" would immediately ensue?
If so--how backward of you!
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