Pomtier 1

Sara Pomtier

Christina Camarena

ENG101

date

Intro

A report from the Department of Defense gauges 20,500 Service members, with about

13,000 women and 7,500 men being the subjects, encountered sexual harassment or assault in

2018. Thousands of men and women are plagued each year with the experience of unwanted

sexual advances, touches, and intercourse, leaving these individuals with the shadow of lifelong

trauma and a system that fails in prosecuting their offenders. The US military needs to deal with

the mass amount of sexual assault that occurs within each branch by providing proper discipline

to the perpetrators and reforming the system they must ensure service members and the justice

system takes full responsibility for the virulent environment that has been created through past

decades.

There are decades old reports of men and women experiencing sexual assault within the

military. A New York Times article states “A 2003 report financed by the Department of

Defense revealed that nearly one-third of a nationwide sample of female veterans seeking health

care through the V.A. said they experienced rape or attempted rape during their service. Of that

group, 37 percent said they were raped multiple times, and 14 percent reported they were gang-

raped.” The magazine also makes note of a study done by Veteran Affairs that shows sexual

assault and harassment are more prevalent when service members are in active warzones. These

statistics don’t seem to get better as time passes as the U.S. Government states 26,000 cases of
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sexual assault occurred in 2012 and only 3,374 were reported (Ziering 211). Most recent reports

show that, though in total, the amount of sexual assault occurring (specifically in men) have gone

down, 20,500 instances of sexual harassment and assault transpired within the fiscal year of

2018.

In some cases, the victims trauma pushes them to do drastic things, creating a domino

effect in their lives, and unfortunately the consequences are drastic. In an interview with

Democracy Now, Helen Benedict, a professor at Columbia University, shares the story of

Suzanne Swift, a soldier who was reported to have gone AWOL in 2006 after not appearing for

redeployment. Swift describes her reasoning for refusing to be redeployed as a mix of being

sexually assaulted multiple times by multiple commanding officers, and her reports of said

assaults not being taken seriously or completely ignored. Afterwards Amy Goodman, the

interviewer, states that after failing to report, Swift was arrested before being put back in her

original base and was put under the supervision of one of the officers that had assaulted her.

Benedict then goes on to say that Swift was court-martialed and was offered a deal; sign a

statement confirming you were never raped and receive a summary court-martial or face the full

consequences of failing to report. Swift denied signing the statement that would clear her

superiors' names and was sent to spend a month in prison before being shipped off to a different

base and serving two more years. This is just one of many instances where the justice system,

military and civilian, has completely failed our service members in aiding their fight for justice.

There are multiple laws in place that make these kinds of cases extremely hard for the

victims to even pursue. One of these laws is the known as the Feres Doctrine, a legal doctrine

that prevents service members from suing the federal government after being harmed during

their time within the military. Seeing as it is almost impossible to come out of training and war
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without a scratch, the doctrine makes sense in most cases. Unfortunately, it also umbrellas the

cases of trauma, physical and mental, caused by sexual assault and harassment and the military's

negligence in dealing with said cases. Back in 1999, a US Soldier by the name of Robin L.

Shiver brought forth a lawsuit against the United States known as Shiver v. United States, after

her drill sergeant allegedly raped her. The district judge overseeing this trial dismissed the case,

under the ruling that it is within the feres doctrines terms. This of course, allowed the alleged

rapist to go without any form of punishment or even investigation, and left the victim without

any form of justice. In recent times, this doctrine is still being used to excuse the crimes

committed within the military. For example, Chelsea Bailey, a reporter for CBS News reports on

a case that occurred in 2017 where upwards of 80 different Marine Officers were found

distributing explicit photos of fellow female officers without knowledge and consent of those

female officers. The Marine Corps launched a full investigation in which they scanned thousands

of photos and interviewed all that were involved. In the end, only one officer was sentenced to

any type of discipline, and the victims were left without compensation and the knowledge of all

but one of their offenders being let loose without as much as a slap on the wrist. The Feres

Doctrine keeps any victims in this case from pursuing legal action against the military or federal

government for negligence in handling this dispute.

Though the system in which it lives is decades old, there is a growing number of recent

victims, and the number is only increasing. In an article titled "No Mission Too Difficult:

Responding to Military Sexual Assault" located in The American Journal of Public Health Vol.

107, Author Rachel Kimerling, a researcher affiliated with the National Center for PTSD,

describes the after-effects of what female victims must go through after their own experiences in

sexual assault and even after reporting their own assaults (Kimerling 642). Dealing with personal
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trauma is an exhausting task and can be seemingly impossible to most, especially if what you

assumed was your greatest ally is one who is working against you. Kimerling pulls research from

another author, stating "Women who reported sexual assault had higher odds of demotion after

making a report and of attrition from service among those who received inpatient mental health

care than did controls. Effects for demotion are noteworthy: nearly one-third of active-duty

women who place official sexual reports perceive some form of professional retaliation." (qtd. in

Rosellini 734). With such an upsetting statistic, it's clear why some victims might want to keep

their trauma hidden and deal with it themselves, though this usually leads to long-term suffering.

Victims of sexual assault within the military go through extensive amounts of treatment after

their experiences, and in most cases, the treatment they receive is more "[intense] than that did

controls" (Kimerling 643). When looking at the effects that sexual assault has on victims' mental

state, their career, and even the help they receive in order to overcome their trauma, it's clear that

dismantling the system that it is based on is extremely important.

When the subject of sexual assault (of any kind) comes up, people are quick to assume

that the victim is female, and rightfully so, as many sexual assault victims are women. Though

statistics show a clear target victim, reports still reveal that thousands of male service members

experience sexual violence within in their time of service and deployment. These male victims

face a different set of cultural and medical obstacles when dealing with their trauma. Almost

50,000 male veterans that were screened in 2010 by the VA showed signs of military sexual

trauma, this is around 20,000 more than when the same screening was done in 2003 (Ellison).

Another instance in 2010 was when the pentagon anonymously surveyed on-duty soldiers that

had been sexually assaulted, revealing that nearly 50% of those who were surveyed decided to

remain silent under the fear of their peers finding out, almost 30% were under the impression
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that nothing would come of their reports, and another 30% admitting there were afraid of the

consequential retaliation from their offenders or commanding officers (Elllison). It’s seen that

when dealing with sexual trauma, men are more likely to suffer from substance abuse and

anger/aggression problems (Tiet 93). Since the majority of sexual violence victims are female,

there have been female oriented programs to ensure the need care is provided for victims dealing

with their trauma. There have also been a prevalent number of case studies done in order to

pinpoint the best resources and treatments for female victims. The unfortunate case for male

victims, is that there has been little effort made in finding out the best care methods for dealing

with their sexual trauma. The toxic cultured within the military that convinces male victims to

stay silent, coupled with the lack of specialized care for their type of trauma, leaves male victims

of military sexual violence in a state of limbo as they try to deal with judgmental peers and

personal turmoil.

Regrettably enough, not much has been done by any branch of the military, or even the

federal government to stop this long-standing culture. Year after year, the Department of

Defense releases new plans on how they are to prevent the immense amount of sexual violence

that occurs. Plans that are filled with training seminars, “culture reforms”, and promises to hold

commanding officers accountable but hold no weight, as statistics continue to rise in victims.

However, as of the fiscal year 2019, The Department of Defense has provided a few new ways in

dealing with prevention of sexual assault and harassment within each branch of the military.

 Body of text talking of those who disagree with the movement

o Reasons why

o Interviews by officials that disagree

o What have they brought forward to the situation

 Body of text with first hand accounts

o Those who have taken cases to court

o Court decisions

 Body of text of foreign statistics

o How do other countries deal with this issue?

o Are rates lower

o What systems do they have in place? Punishments?

 Body of text of future improvements

o Proven methods

o Types of punishment

 conclusion

Works cited

1. Kimerling, Rachel. “No Mission Too Difficult: Responding to Military Sexual Assault.”

American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017, pp. 642–644. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303731.

2. Rosellini, Anthony J., et al. “Sexual Assault Victimization and Mental Health Treatment,

Suicide Attempts, and Career Outcomes Among Women in the US Army.” American

Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017, pp. 732–739. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303693.
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3. “Sexual Assault: A Stain on the U.S. Military.” Journal of International Affairs, vol. 67,

no. 1, Fall/Winter2013 2013, pp. 211–216. EBSCOhost,

ezproxy.olympic.edu:2078/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=92960958&site=ehost-

live.

4. Corbett, Sara. “The Women's War.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Mar.

2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/magazine/18cover.html.

5. Department of Defense, 2019, Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault

in the Military Fiscal Year 2018, int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/800-dod-annual-

report-on-sexual-as/d659d6d0126ad2b19c18/optimized/full.pdf#page=1.

6. Kimerling, Rachel, et al. National Center for PTSD, 2009, PTSD Research Quarterly,

www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Kimerling/publication/228515915_Military_Sexual

_Trauma/links/0912f50cf56962609f000000/Military-Sexual-Trauma.pdf.

7. Bailey, Chelsea. “Marine Sentenced After Pleading Guilty in Nude Photo Scandal.”

NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 11 July 2017, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-

news/marine-sentenced-after-pleading-guilty-nude-photo-scandal-n781791.

8. “Task Force to Address Gender Bias, Harassment, Social Media Misconduct Continues

to Make p.” United States Marine Corps Flagship, www.marines.mil/News/Press-

Releases/Press-Release-Display/Article/1242163/task-force-to-address-gender-bias-

harassment-social-media-misconduct-continues/.

9. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/34/321/2462669/ . Shiver Vs.

United States. 4 Feb. 1999.

10. Ellison, Jesse. “The Military’s Secret Shame.” Newsweek, vol. 157, no. 15, Apr. 2011, pp. 40–43.

EBSCOhost, ezproxy.olympic.edu:2078/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=59820476&site=ehost-live.
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11. Tiet, Quyen Q., et al. “Military Sexual Assault, Gender, and PTSD Treatment Outcomes of U.S.

Veterans.” Journal of Traumatic Stress, vol. 28, no. 2, Apr. 2015, pp. 92–101. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1002/jts.21992.