[Handsome Creepy Eel]

This article is probably very biased because (naturally) it speaks in an anecdotal fashion instead of statistical, claiming that statistics are not collected properly because of the way the military tribunal system treats women. Who knows?

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/new...stpopular2

Quote:

The Rape of Petty Officer Blumer
Inside the military's culture of sex abuse, denial and cover-up

In the hierarchical culture of the military, there's another complicating factor. According to a recent DOD report, sexual assaults in the armed services ­generally involve men who outrank their victims, the vast majority of whom are women under the age of 25, who feel that as subordinates, they can't fight back.

"He was my superior," explains former marine Nicole McCoy of why, when in April 2010 her alleged assailant groped and kissed her, it didn't occur to her to scream or, despite her combat training, to fight. "You're taught to be nothing but ­respectful. It makes it hard to stand up for yourself, or to report it." McCoy was able to extricate herself, but decided to report the assault attempt when she realized her assailant had the master key to her quarters. The investigating agent asked McCoy whether she ­sustained injuries while fighting off her superior's advances. "No," she answered. "But emotionally I felt completely violated and didn't feel I had the right to say no and have him stop." The agent persisted, asking McCoy why she'd followed the sergeant into his room, why she didn't object when he closed the door, and what she'd been wearing. Her case was swiftly closed.
....
With witnesses rare, sex-crime cases inevitably become "he said, she said" credibility contests, further stacking the deck against subordinate victims, since higher-­ranking troops are considered ­inherently more credible. Hard-driving soldiers with pristine military records – "water walkers" – are especially immune to criticism. "There's a belief that if this guy is a fabulous performer, then it makes him less likely to commit this crime," says defense attorney Bridget Wilson. (The notion that a "good soldier" is incapable of bad acts is even encoded into the military justice system with the "Good Soldier" defense, wherein at court-martial a soldier can win an acquittal on the strength of his service record – a defense famously used in the 1998 sexual misconduct case of Army Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney to ­successfully counteract the testimony of six women.) In the case of Lt. Elle Helmer, she reported her 2006 rape by a well-regarded major so promptly that he was still passed out and pantsless at the scene of the crime. But then, she says, "They circled their wagons and turned against me." Helmer's rape kit mysteriously disappeared, and investigators dismissed her case – because she was knocked unconscious during the struggle, and so couldn't remember the assault itself.
...
Last year, of the cases brought before commanders, less than one-third were referred to court-martial; among those dismissed were cases that the commanders themselves somehow determined were "unfounded." The rest were moved outside the legal system into nonjudicial punishments of the commander's choosing – penalties include extra duties, verbal reprimands or docked pay – to avoid what military lawyers call "the stigma of a conviction." That stigma is considered so repellent that, in yet another quirk of military justice, there's even an escape hatch provided for those few defendants referred to court-martial: They're given the option of "resignation in lieu of court-­martial," where in exchange for admitting guilt and quitting the military, all charges are dropped and the offender slips back into civilian society – an opportunity taken by 10 percent of military sex-crime defendants last year. It would be like if a civilian rape defendant was allowed to avoid trial by simply quitting his job and leaving town. "Due process just screeches to a halt," says SWAN policy director Greg Jacob, a former Marine captain. "It's ridiculous."

Of course, if this is true, it is not just plain wrong and needing to be prevented, but it also makes false rape accusers all the more hilariously sad and callous when they contribute to women really were being raped being treated this way.

Thoughts?

[vinman]

The military is composed of misfits, miscreants, and ne'er do wells. Is rape condoned? Not officially, or unofficially. But military men have seen wives fuck over husbands, boyfriends, and sometimes both at the same time. It's a mess. I was in infantry units where there were ABSOLUTELY no women in the units, nor could they be in our barracks. As a team leader and squad leader I was glad that I didn't have to suffer through the bullshit that "split tails" (euphamism for women) could bring. We didn't think they were mission essential. Strictly recreational use only. Maybe that's why there is rape in the military?

[Mr.Barbarian]

From reading the news and from talking with my acquaintances in the military I have noticed a strong perv streak in that line of work. A lot of affairs, many of them covered up and brushed over because of rank, station, influence. Just like anywhere.

[Faust]

Without any kind of statistics its really impossible to say. One or two anecdotes means nothing, unfortunately. Are women raped in the military? Certainly. Does it occur at a higher rate than it would in the general population? Don't know

[Tytalus]

(03-05-2013 11:13 AM)Faust Wrote:  

Without any kind of statistics its really impossible to say. One or two anecdotes means nothing, unfortunately. Are women raped in the military? Certainly. Does it occur at a higher rate than it would in the general population? Don't know

From what i've read women are 3 times more likely to be raped than women in the general population, and that's from DoD statistics. Which is pretty fucking awful if you ask me. I read an article where an Canadian Army Captain (female) always had a male escort to avoid getting raped when she had to move around the camp in Kandahar at night.

[MrLemon]

I just don't care. Military organizations are violent, ruthless organizations designed to take misfits and low-life, and near-criminal mentality and turn them into human missiles. Any woman going into that environment can expect to run into a lot of rapists.

The solution is not to make it safer. There is no way to make it safer. The solution is not to have women in that environment. Period.

[kdolo]

There are typically 4 types who enter the military:
1. People who have a family tradition of service
2. True Patriots
3. Ne'er do wells who want "a job"/benefits/career
4. Sociopaths who want a legal excuse to murder/destroy

All of these types are then further trained to be highly effective killers and to transgress all the norms of civilized behavior.

Rape is going to happen and is unavoidable in such a hyper masculine environment.

The only solution is either no women in the military or separate units or extra security.

[TheRookie]

A lot of men are raped in the military as well.

If you want a rape culture I'd say go to the Congo. Liberia is also pretty bad. In the Liberian civil war there was rampant rape, human sacrifice, and cannibalism, all fueled by cocaine and heroin. Many men are both victims and perpetrators of rape. Rape in South Africa is pretty bad. The UN army is filled with pedophiles who prey on the downtrodden and powerless countries they are assigned to "pacify."

Instead of bitching about rape culture in the U.S., maybe feminists could parachute into these countries with AKs and actually "fight rape culture."